This Blender tool transforms 3D models into pencil sketches

We're big fans of Blender. The free, open-source program has a place in our guides to the best 3D modelling software and the best animation software. And it turns out that it can be given another interesting use: creating sketches that look like they were drawn by hand.

One of the great things about Blender is the huge range of third-party plugins constantly emerging. CGMatter has already made a whole bunch of addons, and one of his latest is the hand-drawn sketch emulator Pencil Pro (also see our roundup of Blender tutorials).

Pencil Pro Tutorial - YouTube

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Pencil Pro is a Blender addon that can be used to imitate the look of hand-drawn sketches. It works on any kind of mesh, and it's more detailed than converters that rely on materials because it actually simulates how someone would draw.

It deals with the placement, direction and pressure of strokes and decides if cross-hatching and shading would work for every frame on the fly. No UVs are needed and it can work with any lighting.

As creator CGMatter notes, believable drawings come from a combination of shading and general pencil strokes, and Pencil Pro accounts for both. It uses screen coordinates rather than grunge on a 3D mesh, so you never run out of shading detail, and it looks at edge flow to approximate how pencil strokes usually follow the curvature of an object.

In the video below, CGMatter puts the tool to use to create the content to make a flipbook in Blender.

Animating a Flipbook for an Animation?? // Blender Tutorial - YouTube

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You can get the Pencil Pro plugin from Superhive for $15. It also comes bundled in the Genie pack.

For more Blender news, see OK Go's animated video and Blender's Nvidia DLSS upscaling. You might also like a Blender plugin that delivers instant '90s video game graphics.