Zbrush Tree WIP: Anyone have suggestions, tips or critiques?

whyareyoumakin1

This is a high poly version of a tree I'm working on for a friends senior project. The project is an AD for Cherry Coke and it is going to be of a spider making a cherry cocoon that evolves into a bottle of coke.

I'm working primarily in Zbrush and photoshop. I'm using spotlight to apply the texture and colors by working from a few high resolution bark textures. I've been testing out the HD geometry function in Zbrush, and according to my point count I have a total of 36 million points (although even when I have HD layers active I've never seen my active point count go above 7 million)

I had a meeting with the project team today and they generally liked the tree but have asked me to make some of the soft "pudgy" curves of the tree to be refined and hardened up to look more realistic in form and do an overall polish.

Anyone out there have any thoughts, critiques, suggestions, or techniques that they think i should use or know of? Thanks all!

Lucas Michel

Low

I think you jumped too fast into subd'v's. You have your shape and you have very tiny details. Basicly you need a medium instances of details and shapes.

danpaz3d

Agree, it's way too smooth, not the small detail, but if you look at the whole tree. Get some ideas from referencing real trees and go for a more defined look.
A couple of ref's:
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/203/c/1/Fantasy_Tree_Trunk_by_Baq_Stock.jpg
http://img3.photographersdirect.com/img/13717/wm/pd1126816.jpg

whyareyoumakin1

Update: Second Pass

tweekedgirl

Looking better! The middle branches look nice, but at the minute I think it looks a little bit like a tree monster, rather than a natural tree. When arranging the branches, try to have them make a chalice shape around the central trunk, so they look like a circle when seen from above, as the tree looks quite boring from the side view.

Hope that helps

Rockley Bonner

so far, its believable but It can be pushed.

I suggest more definite transitions in short to large in the trunk to improve interest, vary the shaps of the limbs, thier too alike, make transitions from roots to ground. smash it and break it and vary the texture, needs rest areas in the texture. This is where you as an artist come in and make this awsome.