Maya High-Poly Workflow: Creating Trees

bretonvictoria

Hi everyone,

I'd like to create a forest scene in Maya. However, before starting, I was wondering if someone could walk me through the workflow of creating a forest with the intention of using it in a high-poly industry (ie. commercials / film / television series). After doing a bit of research, there seem to be a variety of different methods regarding the actual creation of trees and foliage.

How are trees typically created for commercials / films / television series? For example, do they rely on editing pre-existing models via Maya's paint effects tool? Or do they model from scratch? And if they do model from scratch, do they model it within Maya itself (from a cylinder, perhaps) or do they use an external program like zBrush or Mudbox?

Sorry for all the questions. Any input would be wonderful.

Thanks!

Steppenwolf

They most likely use proceduraly created trees (aka something like Speedtree). Would be way too much work to model a super realistic forest by hand.

Here is an example for speedtrees used in Avatar:

http://www.speedtree.com/avatar/

bretonvictoria

Hi, thanks a lot for the information and the link! Do you think that method would be impressive to showcase on a portfolio? Or do you think companies would prefer to see trees modeled from scratch?

Ideally I'd like to create trees and foliage the way most companies in the high-poly industry create them, while also adding interest to my portfolio.

m4dcow

Alex Alvarez over at Gnomon Workshop just released a set of DVDs that covers creating different types of foliage, aimed at high poly types of industries.
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/