Palm Tree for UDK scene

leleuxart

I'm working on a palm tree that will be used through a level I'm working on with a friend in UDK(there will be a thread when we get more stuff done).

I haven't really modeled foliage before, so it took me a few tries to get it to where it is now. But, I'd like to get some feedback before I call it done and move on to another. Current tri count is 1305, but that can easily be cut down more.

Wireframe:


Two Marmoset shots. I set up tessellation in UDK for the top of the tree and I tried it out in Marmoset too.


*Ignore the sand texture. I created it for vertex painting and not to be used as a single texture.

Everything for the tree is on one 1024x1024 image with plenty of space left, so I'm gonna add more objects on the sheet. I'm also thinking about adding a few browner/dead fronds...

Lando_Viggo

Looks nice man, would definately blend in nice into a beach scene or something. There's, as you say, a couple of splits there on the trunk that doesn't seem to "give" anything to the silouette, so unless they'

ParoXum

The base of the trunk could use more work. in a game that's what the player will see the most with the canopy.

At the moment the trunk is like \/ into the ground where it should look like /\ to give it more stability.

I'm not too sure the tesselation and displacement in the core of the foliage is necessary if that's what it is, because you will hardly ever notice those details.

The density of the foliage is not good enough, it would gain to have a few branches going almost straight up in the air with the top of their ends curving slightly down due to gravity. Also 5-6 more branches that are older, placed under the ones you have right now, and bent more due to gravity.

A nice addition is also to have one more layer under these old branches, made of dead leaves, very short and almost falling.

In the end it should give you a canopy silhouette closer to a sphere and more pleasing to the eye than the ellipse you have now.

jimmypopali

Even something like this? (base)

leleuxart

Lando_Viggo wrote: »

Looks nice man, would definately blend in nice into a beach scene or something. There's, as you say, a couple of splits there on the trunk that doesn't seem to "give" anything to the silouette, so unless they'

m4dcow

If you are going for a coconut type of palm I would lose the bulbous thing at the top, that belongs to a date tree or something with thinner branches. The coconut trunk is doesn't bulge out at the top, the branches basically flare out at the bottom where they attach to the tree. This also adds these little semi moon shapes along the trunk

so your trunk texture needs some refinement.

Like others have said the base bulges out at the bottom of the tree.

Another cool thing you may use to your advantage, is that coconut trees grow to where the light is, so on the edges of a coconut tree grove they will have some that are growing almost horizontal.

leleuxart

m4dcow wrote: »

If you are going for a coconut type of palm I would lose the bulbous thing at the top, that belongs to a date tree or something with thinner branches. The coconut trunk is doesn't bulge out at the top, the branches basically flare out at the bottom where they attach to the tree. This also adds these little semi moon shapes along the trunk

so your trunk texture needs some refinement.

Like others have said the base bulges out at the bottom of the tree.

Another cool thing you may use to your advantage, is that coconut trees grow to where the light is, so on the edges of a coconut tree grove they will have some that are growing almost horizontal.

Sweet! Thanks for this! I think I'll modify my texture on this tree and then change the mesh up a bit and do the tall palm like I planned, but without the top part where the tessellation is.

leleuxart

Okay, I removed a few edges from the trunk and from the bulbous area at the top. I rotated and twisted some more of the fronds. I changed the trunk texture and I tried out tessellation on the trunk to give the trunk more of a jagged silhouette(tessellation isn't at the top anymore).

I want to give the base of the trunk more of a gradual change, instead of how it is now. My alpha on the dead leaf is also really bad. I'm gonna redo the texture.

Tri count is now at 988.

konstruct

your fronds need to droop and curl a bit more. right now they kind of jut upward.

leleuxart

Re-did the dead leaf texture and tried fixing some of the fronds to make them look like gravity is effecting them more now.

I took some Marmoset screenshots, but I didn't realize that the screenshot didn't use the alpha until now. But I have a UDK shot that has a similar PP style that I think we'll be going for. One of these days when we have more stuff, I'll make the post for the project.



(After viewing this again, this might not have been the best example. The leaves look more dense than they really are.)

I'm not liking how it's being lit, so I think I'm gonna have to work with the custom light material that is gone over the Foliage Modeling for UDK video. Does anyone have any experience with that or Subsurface scattering? I'd like to get some transparency in the leaves. I think I'm gonna call this one done now, unless there's some major flaw. I really need to start on another asset for the project.