Modeling plants for games : Which technique/tools to use ?
vertex
Hey hey hey,
I am very new to modeling (I literally just started haha) so I am trying to learn the basics.
I would like to be able to create some simple small plants like those : http://prntscr.com/gcxbh2 to put them in my first scene.
After doing some researches, I realised that a lot of 3D models of plants I find on websites like Sketchfab are actually created by using a technique called "photogrammetry". Apparently all you have to do is take in real life pictures from the plant you want to have in your scene and some sort of software turns your pictures into a 3D model (At least, it's what I understood from it). From what I saw the results are absolutly amazing!
Now that I know that I am starting to wonder if games with realistic plants like Pikmin are using this technique instead of modeling their plants ? (Here is a pic of a plant from the latest Pikmin game so you guys can see what I mean : http://prntscr.com/gcxeki )
So my question is : Knowing that I am a beginner, would it be better for me to learn how to actually model plants or can I use the photogrammetry technique ? Isn't it better to learn how to model plants the "normal way" first ?
And by the way, is Autodesk Maya a good tool to model plants ? Because I find it pretty hard to make "organic shapes" with Maya, so I don't know if it is a good idea to use it for modeling plants/rocks/animals/... If no, which tool should I use ? Something like Z brush maybe ??
Thanks for reading all of that haha, I hope someone will be able to answer my noob questions !
I am very new to modeling (I literally just started haha) so I am trying to learn the basics.
I would like to be able to create some simple small plants like those : http://prntscr.com/gcxbh2 to put them in my first scene.
After doing some researches, I realised that a lot of 3D models of plants I find on websites like Sketchfab are actually created by using a technique called "photogrammetry". Apparently all you have to do is take in real life pictures from the plant you want to have in your scene and some sort of software turns your pictures into a 3D model (At least, it's what I understood from it). From what I saw the results are absolutly amazing!
Now that I know that I am starting to wonder if games with realistic plants like Pikmin are using this technique instead of modeling their plants ? (Here is a pic of a plant from the latest Pikmin game so you guys can see what I mean : http://prntscr.com/gcxeki )
So my question is : Knowing that I am a beginner, would it be better for me to learn how to actually model plants or can I use the photogrammetry technique ? Isn't it better to learn how to model plants the "normal way" first ?
And by the way, is Autodesk Maya a good tool to model plants ? Because I find it pretty hard to make "organic shapes" with Maya, so I don't know if it is a good idea to use it for modeling plants/rocks/animals/... If no, which tool should I use ? Something like Z brush maybe ??
Thanks for reading all of that haha, I hope someone will be able to answer my noob questions !
Replies
Yes Maya is a good tool to model plants, zBrush can be also good
Keep in mind that you can use alpha to create this kind of geometry on card, depending on your game budget etc
gl !
I wanted to learn how to do that in Maya but, i don't know, in every plants Maya tutorial the flowers/leaves always look a bit geometric ;-; I tried it and I obtained the same geometric shapes so I thought that Zbrush would give me a "smoother" result?
are kinda easy to do in Maya, but if you're more comfortable with zBrush go with zBrush but my advice'd be to stay in Maya !
IMO it's better to learn how to model everything from scratch than using photogrametry,
or be this guy : https://www.artstation.com/artwork/QJGgr
gl !
http://www.speedtree.com/
I don't know much about Maya at the moment so that's probably why I have trouble creating "organic" shapes in this programm ><
And yea I've seen this motorcycle not long ago (I think I saw it on sketchfab ?) and it is AMAZING.
@Mark Dygert Yea I've heard about speedtree and I tried it but it feels a bit like cheating haha. I think I should learn how to do trees from scratch first and when I will be able to create my own trees I will use SpeeTree if I get lazy while doing a scene with a lot of trees
But can we use SpeedTree for small vegetation elements like grass/flowers/... ? Isn't it for trees and bushes only ?