Renzatic on 20/6/2011 at 01:07
Yup. You've got an option to assign an extra texture for brighter textures, or set certain materials to emit a glow. It's not the most robust thing in the world, but it's enough to make my windows shine at night.
By the way, is that lantern in T3 or the UDK? It looks great either way. The only thing I'd suggest is making the texture bloom out just a tad bit more, so it just barely overtakes the edges of the darker splotches on the glass.
And speaking of the UDK. I dunno if I love Speedtree or hate it. I love it because, damnit, it's slick. I watched a 5 minute tutorial on how to use it, and suddenly I'm making trees like it's nothing. Once I got the hang of all the settings, I made this little birch tree in about 10 minutes.
Inline Image:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3018396/Speed_Tree_1.jpgIt's 1100 tris. That's nothing, specially considering how nice it looks. The only complaint I have about this tree is due to a fault of mine. My leaf textures are too flat.
But then I hate it because they want $10,000 for me to be able to export my trees to .obj. Oh well, so much for doing things the easy way. Cockteases.
zombe on 20/6/2011 at 09:02
Maybe (
http://www.frecle.net/index.php?show=treed.about) this is of some use to you?
Quote:
tree[d] is an easy to use tree generator!
An accessible user interface allows you to create nearly any type of tree within minutes. Use the included media to try out the many options, to create realtime trees for your games or visualizations.
Once you have created your perfect tree, make an infinite number of variations by clicking a single button. And export the tree as a 3D model or as a billboard texture.
Export 3D models to .x, .obj or .b3d
Best of all tree[d] is free to use, and you can include the trees you make in your own projects, commercial or free, as long as they are not model packs, texture packs, 3D model generators, or texture generators.
Renzatic on 20/6/2011 at 18:06
Eh. I wasn't impressed. It doesn't have the exacting control of Speedtree, and, most importantly, doesn't give you the option to manually edit each piece of the end results. It's basically a hit randomize until you get something you like affair. It's good for what it is, but I'd like something a little more flexible.
Really, this is something I need to learn how to do myself, by hand. Right now, I can almost produce trees as good as what you get in Speedtree (trees aren't all that hard when it comes right down to it). The problem is, I end up spending 5x the polygons to do the exact same thing. I guess for now, I'm gonna keep studying up and practicing until I can get it right.
(
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3018396/SpeedTree.jpg) Damn, this is just absolutely fan-freaking-tastic. Didn't even take me 15 minutes to make this. At the very least, it's teaching me cool ways to do polygon cages for my leaves and branches, and how to lay them out properly for best effect.
Judith on 21/6/2011 at 18:34
Hah, I knew you'll love SpeedTree :) I don't know how much they charge for standalone version, though. When I tried to check that on their site, some legal document flashed before my eyes and that scared me so much I didn't read a word :sweat: I hope it's not $10k, that's the price of 3ds Max, Maya or equivalent, right?
Nameless Voice on 21/6/2011 at 19:41
Do you think it could create believable trees at around a 1-1.5k poly budget?
Thief could really do with some new tree models. It's one thing I could never improve in the Thief EP, because I couldn't even begin to wrap my head around how to make a good tree.
Nameless Voice on 21/6/2011 at 20:00
Eh, right, I even read that and it was what put me in mind of mentioning making trees for Thief... but I read it yesterday, and by the time I got around to replying, I had forgotten! :o
I wonder if it would be possible to create a tree that fit a certain rough shape (e.g. fit the shapes of the original T2 trees, but looked a lot better)?
Renzatic on 21/6/2011 at 21:15
Quote Posted by Judith
Hah, I knew you'll love SpeedTree :) I don't know how much they charge for standalone version, though. When I tried to check that on their site, some legal document flashed before my eyes and that scared me so much I didn't read a word :sweat: I hope it's not $10k, that's the price of 3ds Max, Maya or equivalent, right?
It's $10k. But you have to keep in mind that it's a realtime in-engine tree renderer, not just a modeller. When you buy a license, you get the complete SDK, which includes the source code alongside the modeling software.
The cheapest option you have is the lease, where you pay $1500 up front, then pay the remaining
$8500 $9995 for when whatever media project you're using it for gets published. You only get limited access to the source code that way, but it seems to be the best (and truthfully, only feasible) option for the hobbyist who just wants to make trees and export the geometry to use as statics in their stuff.
Still, regardless of efficiency, $1500 is pretty steep for a program that just makes trees. I'd be willing to pay that much for a modeler, but not for something with such a narrow focus.
...or they could quit focusing solely on studios, and release the modeler standalone for relatively cheap so everyone can have a go at it outside of UE3/Expensive High End Commercial Project.
edit: (
http://www.speedtree.com/sales/#sdk) Here's the pricing. Ahh, to be rich...
Quote Posted by NV
I wonder if it would be possible to create a tree that fit a certain rough shape (e.g. fit the shapes of the original T2 trees, but looked a lot better)?
You mean those conical shaped, leaf sheet trees, where you model only the trunk, and leave the branches to be handled by alpha masks? You could improve those just by adding more geometry. Use a smaller, more granular leaf texture, and up the polycount from the 40 you've got in the originals, to about 300, and you'll have much fuller looking trees without much more effort.
I used a similar method for those dead pines I did back in January. I think I ended up using about 650-700 tris for them.
demagogue on 21/6/2011 at 23:33
Personally I'm saving my money for SpeedTurd. Only a $50,000 License fee and I can make all the 3D turds I want, complete with chunky textures and ambient buzzing flies & wafting stank particle effects.
Renzatic on 21/6/2011 at 23:58
It's easier than making a real turd. Just a flick of the wrist, and a single grunt is all it takes to create multipoly, ambient occluded poops. Plus Speedturd completely processes nuts, so your turds always come out nice and smooth!
Buy now, and receive the crapbrary catalog free of charge!
