Making Tree's by hand - question

mobpapst

hey guys,

i know that there are some very experienced nature artist out there and other with a big knowledge of foliage and stuff.

i want to know whats the best way to make really good tree's in a AAA quality. i dont wanna use programs like speedtree and stuff and i went them for a game later on.

my attempt (3ds max)

-making the trunk with cylinder and also the big branches
-making roots if needed
-baking 1-3 twigs with leaves and stuff onto a plane
-use this baked plane and stick it into the big branches
- make the planes criss cross
-texture the trunk and the big branches aswell
-integrate in engine (ue4) and make the planes double sided

Is this still a common and good way? what would you do, how get i really good result?

i hope to get some qualified answers

cheers

Steppenwolf

Well, most studios use speedtree or similar nowadays, unless their foliage is highly stylized and sculpted. Why don't you want to use it? The subscription is cheap for UE4. Seems like you already know the basics so all it does is to remove all the tedious and repetitive steps from your workflow. And you need to be a good artists to get good trees out of speedtree either way. It's just a tool. Using it is not cheating.

mobpapst

Hey there thanks for your answer. i heared sometimes that its more "legit" to make it all by hand and that it's "cheating" to use speedtree. i know that a lot of company use it and get great results - but they need a good skillset to create an good output out of speedtree. but if this is a legid one then i will get the ue4 speedtree one. thanks sir

Eric Chadwick

Speedtree is just another tool, and a good one. But it does have some limitations, like you can't use the models outside of UE4.

We have some tutorial resources here on the wiki.
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Foliage

Steppenwolf

mobpapst said:

Hey there thanks for your answer. i heared sometimes that its more "legit" to make it all by hand and that it's "cheating" to use speedtree. i know that a lot of company use it and get great results - but they need a good skillset to create an good output out of speedtree. but if this is a legid one then i will get the ue4 speedtree one. thanks sir

If this notion of it not being legit is actualy a thing then it will die soon because the future belongs to produral tools. The thing is, all it does is make your life easier but it doesn't replace your artistic input and instinct. You are still in full control pretty much. You can import custom meshes and textures if you want. It's you who decides on all the parameters and distribution of details. It's true someone, with no artistic skill can make a halfway decent tree relatively easily but it will be just a generic, procedural looking tree. A skilled artist on the other hand can push it a few levels further and it will show.

That said, it certainly doesn't hurt to learn and know the traditional way of doing things but don't feel yourself pressured to do it like that just for the sake of it. Ther's no competition that says you have to do things in the most tedious way. As an artist who is smart you will use whatever gives you the desired result in the quickest fashion.

mobpapst

Thanks Steppenwolf this helps me a lot!