<Rendering the external character Spider-Man in Toonit>

[Custom External Characters]

External custom characters refer to 3D character models created outside of Toonit Studio. These models can be imported and used within the Toonit environment. Creators may begin with the provided Toonit base character or import a completely original model.

[Summary of Workflow]

1. Download bone data

2. Import external data

3. Assign skeleton

4. Rename objects

5. Rigging (weight paint)

6. Material setup

7. Remove unused materials

8. Add outlines

9. Submit files for Toonit QA via email: marketing@toonit.com

Guide File

🔑A base file to begin custom character creation.

Toonit_basic (A pose).blend

Guide Info

💡 Guide Info

• The guide uses Blender 3.6.0 (language: Korean)

• This guide does not cover basic Blender operations, but explains the structure required for using custom characters in Toonit.

• Gendered characters may experience limitations (e.g., clothing or pose compatibility).

• The sample model used has no pre-existing rigging or bones.

Please check the following settings in advance.

Based on the top-level “Aramature”

Creating a custom character proceeds in the following order.

1. Import external data

2. Apply the skeleton

3. Rename the skeleton

4. Rigging (weight)

5. Rename objects

6. Materials

7. Handle unnecessary materials

8. Outline

9. Toonit review

1. Import external data

Open the Toonit basic (A pose).blend file and import the external file through File-Import. (Example modeling Spider-Man.fbx)

• Convert triangular faces to quadrilaterals to tidy up polygons. (Blender shortcut Art+J)

2. Apply the skeleton

• Please set Spider-Man's parent to Armature.

• In the Object tab, specify the parent as Armature, and add it in the properties tab as 'Add Modifier - Armature', then specify the object as Armature.

  • If you specify Armature as the parent, the object's size may not match, so set the scale appropriately under transform.

• For correct rigging, adjust the skeleton to the appropriate position. (Please designate the Hair_joint bone at the top of the head)

3. Rename the skeleton

• It is necessary to rename specific skeletons to reduce errors that may occur when using the server.

• You should change the names of the bones corresponding to the left and right, excluding the middle bone.

Modify the name 'Clavicle_L'

Rename bone (Ctrl + F2)

After modification, it is changed to 'CC_Base_L_Clavicle'

• Select all bones corresponding to the left and activate 'Rename bone'. (Blender shortcut Ctrl+F2)

• Set options to match the names.

1. Select bone from the existing object

2. Use Find/Replace to specify the '_' at the end of the name as a space

3. In 'Set Name', select 'Prefix' and designate it as 'CC_Base_L_' (for the right side, designate it as 'CC_Base_R_')

• Set the bones corresponding to the right side in the same way.

• After renaming, proceed with rigging.

3. Rigging (weight)

Blender 'Weight Paint'

Register keyframes and switch to pose mode / edit mode

• Once everything is ready, select the object and skeleton, and proceed with automatic weight (With Automatic Weights).

(If the size of the object changes after automatic weight, please adjust the scale in the transforms menu)

• If you register the location value of the current pose in keyframes, the current pose will remain registered even when you switch between edit mode and pose mode.

  • In pose mode, select all bones and specify 'Insert keyframe menu - Location, Rotation, Scale' mode. (Blender shortcut i)

    The bottom frame tab in Blender should always be set to frame 1.

4. Rename objects

• In the case of Spider-Man, since there is only one body, specify it as CC_Base_Body

(Left) Existing node structure / (Right) External data

Body ｜ CC_Base_Body

Eyeball ｜ CC_Base_Eye

Teeth｜ CC_Base_Teeth

Tongue｜ CC_Base_Tongue

Hair｜ Sty_Hair_HairName

Clothes｜ Clo_ClothesName

5. Materials

• To wear clothes, please divide and assign meshes according to their respective material positions and set the names and structures to be the same.

Toonit character material structure (same for male and female)

Materials designated for dressing external characters in Toonit

• Please set the created textures according to the designated material positions. The material structure is as follows. (Please proceed in the specified order)

⚠️ For characters created externally, issues may arise when using costumes/expressions/poses aside from the 'rigging' function.

• To register an external character with gender, you must follow the same material structure as the materials provided.

• If the material data is missing or the order is changed, errors may occur when using Toonit.

(Left) Basic structure / (Right) Reset to comply with Toonit structure

Assign unnecessary materials to empty spaces (see the document at the bottom)

• For example, the existing 'spider man' material has been changed to 'Std_Skin_Head', and material names are set according to the remaining structure.

• No polygons are assigned to the polygons that are assigned Std_Skin_Body ~ eyebrow = No data exists

  • Assign empty spaces to materials that have no existing data (see right example)

  • The method to resolve these materials is outlined in the document at the bottom.

6. Handle unnecessary materials

Example 1

Example 2

• In order to use the character on the Toonit server, you should not change the order of the material structure or remove them from the list. The effective way to handle unused materials is as follows.

• Create an invisible mesh inside the body to handle unnecessary materials (based on the example)

  • Select the body object and switch to edit mode.

  • Select polygons, use Shift + D to duplicate them, and place them inside the body to make them invisible.

  • Select the unused material and click the Assign button to apply it.

  ⚠️ Please ensure that no other polygons are selected other than the specified polygon ⚠️

7. Outline

Outline material structure (same for male and female)

• Add an outline using 'Add Modifier - Solidify' in Blender's modifier tab.

  • Refer to the right image for solidify options

• Add a material and specify it as 'outline_name'.

  The texture of the node is not necessary, but check the color of the outline and enable the 'Backface Culling' option to flip the face.

Outline option setting

• The basic settings are as follows, but the thickness and options of the outline can be set differently according to the scale of the object.

• When setting Solidify, you can adjust the thickness by adding weight.

  • Go to the Data tab and add one vertex group. Icon display

    

    Data tab

  • Name the added vertex group as outline.

  • Return to the solidify options and set the 'vertex group' to the recently designated 'outline'.

Adjust thickness in weight mode (ALT)

• Select the object and switch to weight mode to adjust thickness using weight values.

• After adjusting the thickness, apply the properties.

⚠️  Applying the properties complicates the process of resizing the outline, so it is recommended to save the file before applying (Ctrl+S) ⚠️ 

The eyelash texture with applied Alpha does not assign an outline

• For eyelashes, since they involve Alpha, proceed through the same steps to Solidify, and additionally assign ('Assign') the 'Std_Eyelash' material once again.

7. Toonit review

• Please send the completed character file to the Toonit email. Through review, final data can be registered on the server.

• Please prepare a few things for accurate review work.

• Toonit email | marketing@toonit.com

• It may take about a week for registration after review is complete.