AuthorTopic: Trouble with big tree trunk (baobab)  (Read 4781 times)

Offline startselect

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Trouble with big tree trunk (baobab)

on: February 10, 2017, 04:56:57 pm
I'm making a savanna tileset and some vegetation, I really like the first two trees but I can't figure out how to make the large tree trunk of the baobab tree look good. Any tips?
And ofc all feedback on the other trees and/or other parts of the trees is also really appreciated!



Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: Trouble with big tree trunk (baobab)

Reply #1 on: February 10, 2017, 05:14:01 pm
I dunno, it looks fine to me! Perhaps scatter more of the pockmarks across the trunk?
Roots, perhaps, on the smaller trees?
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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Offline dotodrymo

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Re: Trouble with big tree trunk (baobab)

Reply #2 on: February 10, 2017, 06:25:29 pm
Wow, I love this! That middle tree, especially, is looking great. Some stuff that stood out to me:

-savannah trees often have redder bark, like in the reference. I'd also strengthen the hue shift on the trunks.

-try yellower, less saturated foliage

-baobob trees come in many shapes, but ones like your ref are a lot taller and thinner. baobob trees also tend to be much taller than acacia trees (your middle tree?).

-the point of origin on the centermost branch of the baobob is a little weird. It's hard to tell if it's coming from the front, back, or center.

-the way the foliage is lined up on the baobob (all in a straight line of leaf tufts with the edges barely touching) makes it look like the canopy is all on one plane instead of projecting radially. Maybe darken some of the leaf tufts to make them look like they're behind the rest/add a couple in front of the branches, like you have on the center tree?

-the cluster of pockmarks along the bottom of the tree is a little visually distracting. thin them out, maybe?

-it looks like you copy/pasted leaf clusters into a rough canopy shape for all of these. it looks pretty good, but savannah trees (including acacia) tend to have flatter canopies, not so much tufts of foliage arranged into a sphere. I don't think you need to completely redo the leaves or anything, but maybe reshape the silhouette a little?

Edit: Color suggestion

« Last Edit: February 10, 2017, 09:35:03 pm by dotodrymo »

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Re: Trouble with big tree trunk (baobab)

Reply #3 on: February 14, 2017, 12:03:56 pm
Thx for the replies!

@MysteryMeat:
- In the references I've looked at they don't seem to have any roots that can be seen above ground.

@dotorymo:
- I switched to your proposed colors for the canopy which I think looks great!
- I tried using the redder bark color curve but it felt to strong for me so I lowered the saturation, I might make it less red to but I'll let it stew for a while to see how I feel about it when I haven't stared at it for for some time :)
- I would love to make them insanely huge, but I had to replace reality a bit to fit in my game and make it a lot shorter.
- The canopy silouette is exactly what was bothering me but I couldn't put my finger on it, I tried making a tiny canopy to enhance the feeling of how large the stem is and how weird the shape of the baobab is in general but I wen't to far and couldn't see it. Tried a new canopy which is larger and less "tufty". (I do indeed copy paste clusters to create each canopy but in layers, first the darkest clusters behind the trunk, then increasingly light clusters in layers in front of the trunk, trying to build up interesting shapes and volume)
- I tried to lighten the pockmarks at the base and add some more random marks on the trunk
- I tried softening the transition to the middle branch to, hope that helped.

Here's the new version of the boabab with the old for comparison:

Offline eishiya

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Re: Trouble with big tree trunk (baobab)

Reply #4 on: February 14, 2017, 02:43:14 pm
The more saturated brown colouring feels very sunsetty to me, I'm used to baobabs in daylight having more neutral colours, closer to the original colours.
The foliage definitely looks better though!
Another nitpick I have of the edit is you added another bulby bit on the left side of the trunk that's almost identically placed to the one on the right side of the trunk, I think it looks too symmetrical. If you move that elsewhere, it should feel more natural.

What projection is the tileset meant to have? This doesn't appear to be side-view, but it's too close to side-view for 3/4 or isometric tiles. If it's meant to be more from above, I think making the bottom, where it meets the ground, rounder and adding some shadows suggesting more of the top behind the branches should help. The middle tree has a similar issue, because we're seeing the back leaves primarily below the rest of the crown, it looks like a side-view tree.

Offline startselect

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Re: Trouble with big tree trunk (baobab)

Reply #5 on: February 14, 2017, 03:10:10 pm
Thanks for the reply!
Quote
adding some shadows suggesting more of the top behind the branches should help
Do you mean shaded foliage or shaded branches or shaded trunk behind the branches?

It is mean't to be 3/4 view and this isn't the first time I end up almost in side view :/
I'll try your suggestions as soon as I have more time to draw (almost exclusively draw on my lunch hours)

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Re: Trouble with big tree trunk (baobab)

Reply #6 on: February 14, 2017, 08:26:02 pm
Starselect yeah, they usually don't! However, people are used to roots on trees. It's suggested as a stylistic change rather than a realism criticism, sort of like how cars in movies can do big jump stunts without the suspension falling apart instantly.
PSA: use imgur
http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=19838.0 also go suggest on my quest, cmon
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Offline eishiya

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Re: Trouble with big tree trunk (baobab)

Reply #7 on: February 14, 2017, 10:44:27 pm
Quote
adding some shadows suggesting more of the top behind the branches should help
Do you mean shaded foliage or shaded branches or shaded trunk behind the branches?
All of those would help.

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Re: Trouble with big tree trunk (baobab)

Reply #8 on: February 15, 2017, 05:20:06 pm


- Added some branches behind the existing branches which I'm very pleased with.
- Lowered the lighter canopy a bit and added more dark canopy to get a more 3/4 look, probably more could be done with this but I'm not quite sure what.
- Rounded the base of the tree and redid most lines stretching across the trunk following the same curvature, I think it works best at the lower part of the trunk but it still feels a bit flat below the transition to the branches.

I also tried a new color curve, I fiddled with it until I couldn't think straight and if I fiddle with it now I always think it looks worse, please tell me what you think of it, I could really use some new eyes on it.

Offline Runensucher

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Re: Trouble with big tree trunk (baobab)

Reply #9 on: February 15, 2017, 09:26:36 pm
Ow, this thread surprised me. I've never heard about baobobs before.
You made great progress. The new color choice, the lower right, is way better and it looks more natural now.
What bothers me is the thickness of the trunk. It does not scream "TREE!" to me, even if baobobs look like that. So this is an artistic choice. You can make it to look more like a tree to everyone who doesn't know baobobs or you can leave it as it is to be more correct.

Oh, and try to loosen up your outline a little. It's really cartoonish currently.

EDIT: Ahaha, Baobobs are called "Affenbrotbaum" in german what's corresponding to "monkey bread tree". And of course I've known them before, they just look different as home plant.
« Last Edit: February 15, 2017, 09:30:24 pm by Runensucher »