Originally posted on 14 April 2016. Scroll down for news of the commercial release.

Tools developer Jan Białek has unveiled Point Render, a new non-photorealistic rendering system intended to recreate the graphical style of classical artists like Albrecht Dürer or Gustave Doré in Houdini.

Recreate a range of classic graphic art styles in Houdini
According to Białek, who works as a matte painter and concept artist at Chimney in Warsaw, the main aim of Point Render is to “revive old, classic artistic techniques in order to [reinvent] computer graphics”.

Judging by the demo videos, Point Render can generate both still or animated output in a range of striking monochrome styles, mimicking the look of anything from etchings to comic books.

Białek says the add-on provides a library of “brushes and styluses” plus tools for controlling and modifying lighting effects. There are also a couple of subtle digital touches, like support for depth of field.

Updated 9 July: Point Render is now shipping for Houdini 15 and above via the Orbolt store. Full commercial licences start at $250, with discounts for users of the Houdini Apprentice edition.

Białek says that he hopes to extend the toolset to other platforms like 3ds Max and Maya in future.

Read more about Point Render on the software’s website

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