My 2nd Full Animation

So after a little bit of trouble rendering my animation it's finally completed. Really happy with the final product of this one. 

How To Create A Simple Sketch Effect In Blender

In this tutorial we will look at how we can use Blender's compositor nodes to create a simple sketch/drawing effect. 

To start off we need to set up our scene. For the purpose of this tutorial I've created a simple scene with 3 spheres. 

Once the scene is all set up go to the drop-down menu at the top of the screen and switch it from default mode to compositor. 

Once you click on this option your screen should look something like this:

Next you need to go to the toolbar and click the box next to where it says "use nodes". This should make these two nodes appear. 

If there is an empty box in the render node press "f12" and your scene should appear in the box as long as you have set the camera up correctly in the scene. Now that we've got the basics of the compositor set up we now need to add in the rest of the nodes to create the sketch effect.

First we need to add a filter node to the scene. Click one the "add" button on the toolbar and scroll down to the "filter" option. Another menu should appear with another series of options. Scroll down this new set of options and click on the "filter" option. 

This should add a new node to the scene. Drag and drop this onto the with line which is already connecting the two nodes, the node should click into place and be connected to the others. If this doesn't work click on the yellow dot on the right hand side of the first node and connect it to the yellow dot on the second node. Once this is all set up click on the box which says "soften" and select the "sharpen" option from the menu which should appear. 

Repeat the last step to get another sharpen node. At the bottom of the sharpen node there is a factor value. Leave the value on the first sharpen node as it is and then change the factor value to 0.5 on the second sharpen node. 

Your node setup should now look like this. Next up we nee to add a "greater than" node. Scroll down to the "add node" button and click on the converter option and then click on math. 

When the new node is added click on the add menu on the node and select "greater than" from the menu. After that change the value setting from 0.5 to 0. Now connect the image dot from the 2nd sharpen node to the first value dot on the greater than node. Your setup should now look like this.

Next up we need to add a blur node and set it to "Fast Gaussian". Click on the add node button and and scroll down to the filter option and add a blur node.

Now change the setting of this node to fast gaussian and connect it to the previous node. Now to add the final node to finish up the effect. The last node you need to add is a another mix node. Click on the add button, scroll down to the color option and click on mix. Change the gaussian option to screen and connect it to the composite node which should be on the right hand side of your setup. You may have to change the color in the little white box at the bottom of the screen node to whichever color you want to make your scene should show up in the render box. 

Here is what your final setup should look like. 

You should now have a very simple sketch/drawing effect in your render. If you have any problems following this tutorial please leave a comment and i'll be sure to help you out. Also I'm looking to start making video tutorials for all of these so keep an eye out for those :)