Okay, so, one of the tutorials I accessed via the wiki links mentions tree trunks via extruding along a spline. This is a good idea, it seems to me, but I'm having a rather embarrassing problem, namely that I can't find the button to do that. (3Dsmax 2012.)
Basically I'm now on an amateur team that needs some rocks and trees, and everything I've done much modeling for up to this point has been explicitly man-made, with the exception of a small handful of unfinished humanoid characters. I do know ZBrush a bit, but the geometry that would go into that program is important too…
That's a very broad question. But a great place to start is the Polycount Wiki. Rocks and Trees for example. There are some great tutorials and videos around that show from start to finish. Start making your way through them, and if you run into any problems, come on back with some more specific questions and you'll get…
As long as there's no unnecessary geometry and the norals are all facinmg outwards it should be ok. Concentrate on the shape of what you are trying to create, then ensure all faces are quads or tris. Make sure you UVMap now so as you can texture. If you plan to bake normals, you can take it into ZBrush and divide it…
Basically I was kind of wanting to know if there were hard and fast rules of "never do this" that I might not have run into while doing "regular" artificial props, but I'll check those wikis before asking any more questions, thanks.