Introduction A contour image represents the essence of a scene, a simplified reality. Contours are used in non-photorealistic images for comics and cartoons to illustrate geometric shape, spatial relationships, color, texture and illumination. This article describes traditional and computer-generated contour rendering, gives examples of contour placement and styles, discusses some practical issues, and describes the contour shader interface of the rendering program mental ray. The first use of contour lines to illustrate objects can be found in prehistoric cave paintings. The Bayeux tapestry is another example of early use of contours, it illustrates William the Conqueror's conquest of England in 1066.
Contour lines are an important part of the styles of comics and cartoons.
Since then, comics have developed into a genuine art form. Jean-Claude M zi res and Jean Moebius Giraud from France just to name a few. Since there are many frames per second of animation, the in-betweening and painting stages represent a huge workload. Computer-Generated Contour Images Computers offer advantages in modeling, animation and rendering of animations. For modeling, when an object has been modeled in 3D, it is easily viewed from all directions.