AuthorTopic: Ye Old Tree  (Read 2673 times)

Offline Zizka

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Ye Old Tree

on: November 01, 2016, 12:06:34 pm
Hey guys,

So I thought it was time to tackle the challenge of a tree, here's my progress:


So where should I go from there do you think?

Offline eishiya

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Re: Ye Old Tree

Reply #1 on: November 01, 2016, 12:44:25 pm
Try making trees with a bit more character next. Something asymmetrical, something with multiple clusters of leaves rather than one blob. Perhaps play with trunk shape too.

Offline Zizka

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Re: Ye Old Tree

Reply #2 on: November 01, 2016, 04:03:29 pm
Right. So the shape is symmetric but not the clusters. At this size, it's kind of hard to play with the trunk size I find.

I tried to do tuffs of leaves:


I think it's better than before but not quite "it" yet. Might be a color issue.

Offline eishiya

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Re: Ye Old Tree

Reply #3 on: November 02, 2016, 01:04:11 pm
At this size there is plenty of space to play with the shape of the crown (why should it be symmetric?), as well as the shape of the trunk. Trunks tilt and twist, they have remnants of old branches. The scale you're working with is big enough to show that sort of thing.
Tree crowns are usually not one blob either, but instead multiple blobs in various positions. This example has very exaggerated, clear spheres that make up the crown (note they're not arranged symmetrically). These examples feel more tree-like because the clusters vary in size and are not as clearly separated. These examples are at a higher res than yours, but because these clusters are a large-scale feature, it's actually easier to get them looking good at your scale than it is to get decent-looking leaves.

I think this latest leaf texture is a big step in the right direction! The colours are alright except from that weird warm dark green at the bottom, I think the main problem is that the shape is so artificial and symmetrical, it doesn't correspond to the nice texture at all.
« Last Edit: November 02, 2016, 01:07:02 pm by eishiya »

Offline Zizka

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Re: Ye Old Tree

Reply #4 on: November 15, 2016, 05:44:01 pm


I've started to experiment with doing groups of leaves. It's looking worse than the previous version because of that; you have to start somewhere. Also the trunk has an outline and the leaves don't yet.

I'm thinking bigger leaves would probably help here in order to make the whole thing less messy and more controlled than copy pasting groups of leaves with different brightness.

Offline Zizka

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Re: Ye Old Tree

Reply #5 on: November 16, 2016, 01:25:16 pm
Added texture to the bark. Practicing leaves clusters with comments:

1. Unreadable because of colors.

2. Much better, a lot more readable due to bigger leaves. "top" leaf looking weird though. Too symmetric perhaps. I think that leaf size is  just right. Anything bigger would be overkill, anything smaller gives somethings as in example 1.

3. Tried to go for a texture of leaves instead of individual leaves. It's not convincing though. Maybe I could use more various in the texture shape clusters.



This is if I just stick to the older design:



Arranging the leaves around is very challenging. Let me know if you have tips and suggestions.