Toon Shading / Cel-Shaded 3D

In plain words

3D characters and backgrounds get two or three flat steps of shading plus outlines, so they look like hand-drawn cartoons even though they are 3D.

When to use it

Game trailers, action short-form videos, anime-style music videos, and character ads.

Example videos

Arcane | Official Trailer | Netflix — Real: Look at how the 3D characters and backgrounds are rendered like hand-painted pictures.

GuiltyGearXrd's Art Style : The X Factor Between 2D and 3D — Explainer: Watch a talk where a developer explains how they recreated the look of a 2D fighting game with 3D graphics.

Will AI handle it well?

Official preset available — Higgsfield Genjutsu styles 'Cel-Shaded CG Anime' and 'Comic 3D' (checked 2026-10-13). The animation style list in the Veo prompt guide includes 'cel-shaded animation'.

One-click prompt

Toon-shaded 3D look, cel-shaded, a young traveler with a backpack runs across a grass hill, hard-edged two-tone shadows and thin black outlines, vibrant colors, game cutscene feel, slow orbit around her, bright sky, adventurous mood, 5-second shot.

Tell the AI like this

cel-shaded 3D animation, toon shading with two or three hard-edged shadow bands, bold outlines around characters, hand-painted textures, stylized lighting, 3D camera moves with a 2D illustrated look

Example films

Arcane (2021) — Mixes 2D and 3D animation to create a hand-painted look · Guilty Gear Xrd (2014) — Uses cel-shaded 3D graphics instead of hand-drawn sprites so it looks like a 2D fighting game

See it in real films and ads

Wikipedia — Cel shading

AI-made examples

Morphic — Cel Shading AI Videos

← Ink-Wash Animation Look Rule of Thirds →