Landscaping..What do you use?

[camby]

hey everyone...i was wondering if anyone recommends a certain product or methodology when it comes to adding the 'green' to your images. colorful flowerbeds and shrubs can really help an image. so what do you think works best?

[STRAT]

i suggest to look for the best plugins available for your chosen app.

 

i use max/vaz and cinema 4d.

 

for max i use RPC contents. absolutely the best there is. so realistic. goto Archvision.com to download the free comprehensive demo.

 

for cinema i use maxon's EXTERNALS cd. full of opacity/alpha mapping based folliage models. cinema has wonderfull memory handling architecture meaning using bit tree models isnt much of a problem like compaired to max.

 

i also over the years modelled and moulded my own realistic folliage.

[nisus]

Hi Camby,

 

Personally I don't like photogrammetry like RPC and stuff alike, because it looks too real, and therefore contrasts with your models.

Too often these photo's stand out because the lighting does not go along with your scene.

As a result they ask all the attention, whereas your design is forgotten.

 

I like real models better, although they come at a great cost: rendering speed/time, but as I interprete things more like a painter this is not a nightmare at all.

I search ways to visualize complex objects very simple, much like a painter paints a few strokes to simulate a complete tree.

It's got an artistic touch and you keep control of the total face count in your scenes.

 

Another main reason why I stick to 3d-models is animation. It's very nice to feel real depth in trees and bushes, something I've not seen in photogrammetry yet.

 

Pls check out some trailers at:

http://www.ams.be/eng/projecten.html and than click on "animations" (in the left column). The first two projects have lots of trees and shrubbery in their trailers and stills.

 

So how do I paint trees?

First I wrote a script called "treepaint" to import the models with a click, than I've been working on a database for over a year now (doing lots of other stuff in between of course).

I've finished lots of trees, shrubbery, flowers, grasses etc. based on Gary Gresham's technique of modelling simple trees.

 

You can find his collection at http://www.nsight3d.com/tnb1.htm

 

If you prefer models instead of photogrammetry like I do, I suggest you study his techniques but remember: go for the allreound idea and don't model everything, because you don't paint/draw every leaf on a tree.

 

rgds

 

nisus

[Don McClure]

Being the Worldbuilder guy, I can recommend trying WorldBuilder

 

www.digi-element.com

 

It will composite 3D trees and landscape with your Max or Viz scene during render time, so you can add trees and imagery without modifying your production pipeline.

 

Even witht he Standard version you can import Max or Viz objects and get a good renderable 3D scene.

[nisus]

This looks fine too... http://www.afterworks.com/DSBfirst.htm