Check out a free trial of speed tree modeler for UE4. Automates most of the common performance practices, but still gives you plenty of control to tailor the assets to your needs. Really fast and easy to learn -- and easy to make tons of iterations of assets so you can just test in engine rather than speculate. I don't…
You can use the free trial to look at how the trees are made in there, still. So you can see the visual difference between using different types of cards, see what the tri-count difference is, and so on. Again, it allows rapid iteration -- so you can do your testing and figuring with the free trial to dial in what you…
You should be able to do a free trial of speedtree for ue4. In any case, the program is month by month payment, and it's $19, IIRC. Can't get much cheaper than that. But, only you know all the factors you got to juggle to get your work done. So this is just a suggestion for a tool I found helpful. Maybe it works for you,…
Yes, it's not easy scouring the internet and relying on other peopels goodwill to learn... but you can do it. Many people -- in fact I'd wager most people here -- learned this way. What you have to do is find all the info you can, and then start experimenting. Other peoples goodwill information can only get you started.…