Creating Custom Trees and Plants in Vue Infinite
(version September 16, 2007)
Do you need an unusual effect? Do you do abstract art? Are you working on a science fiction project? Are you a biologist who has discovered a new plant species? If you can answer yes to these questions or would just like to have some fun, then using Vue Infinite 6 to create a custom plant might just be up your alley. We have an excellent tutorial from asileFX which tells you all that you need to know in order to get started. The tutorial is available online in the 3D Animation Lab. The tutorial uses Vue Infinite 6 and Adobe Photoshop. If you wish to do custom plant creation at home after working through the tutorial, and do not have this software, one suggestion is to download the free Personal Learning Edition of Vue Infinite 6 and download Artweaver, a Photoshop look-alike that will allow you to carry out the same operations (some buttons are in a different location in Artweaver than they are in Photoshop, but the functionality is all there). Other art programs could be used as well, such as Project Dogwaffle (in the 3D Animation Lab) or Corel Painter (not in the 3D Animation Lab).
This article reviews briefly the steps that are need to make custom plants in Vue Infinite following the ideas presented in the asileFX tutorial. The purpose of this article is to get you started in working with Vue tutorials. The ones for asileFX are well done and teach the things you need to know. The also open up creative passageways for you to explore taking the ideas further.
The custom plants you learn to build in this tutorial are quite exceptional, because they rely on a technology from e-on Software called SOLID GROWTH. Many 3D programs have plants in them, but Vue Infinite does something rather special. Have you ever noticed how in a forest of trees that no two trees are exactly the same? In most 3D programs you get exactly the same tree when you insert a plant object. Vue Infinite does something different: each plant is randomly generated so that you get unique plants. (If you really want a exact copy a Vue plant, just copy and paste it.) In that way, as you build a scene, the trees change as you create them. You get a more realistic tree or plant. What if the randomly generated plant is not exactly what you want? Go into the Plant Editor and request another one. You will get the kind you want as you make successive choices.
Vue Infinite also supports static plants, the kind that are the same each time you click on them and insert them into your scene. With regard to plants and trees, you get the best of both technologies: randomly generated and statically generated. This will make you work more exciting. SOLID GROWTH is also used for other kinds of objects in Vue Infinite, such as Rocks. These can be randomly generated giving you a more nature technology to apply to your projects.
Having SOLID GROWTH vegetation comes in really handy for Ecosystems, a feature in Vue Infinite. A topic for discussion at the end of this article addresses this issue. Take a look. But now we are ready to walk thought he highlights of the Creating Custom Plants tutorial.
Getting Started on Custom Plant Creation in Vue Infinite
This is an ADVANCED TUTORIAL in Vue Infinite. This covers topics which a beginner will not be familiar with. If you are new to Vue Infinite you will find that you may want to re-read this information. The tutorial will present some challenges. By working through these notes first, the strain will be minimized. We consider this a highly important topic. Trees and vegetation will greatly enhance your 3D work. A good foundation in this area will help you make great leaps in projects.
Note on the tutorial author Nicholas Pellegrino. Nicholas founded the company asileFX which has products for a number of 3D applications. Visit the asileFX Web site to get a better idea. We have a number of asileFX tutorials, presets and textures in the 3D Animation Lab. (These are only available from one of workstations in the 3D Animation Lab.) Vue Infinite has a Web store (Cornucopia 3D) where you can also find some of Pellegrino's work. Here is a sample of a tree texture available from Cornucopia 3D done by Pellegrino.
Let's switch back to the discussion about the tutorial. The presentations are different for trees and plants, because Vue Infinite handles these very differently. Trees have branches as well as leaves, but plants do not have branches. The tutorial works off existing tree models supplied with the Vue Infinite 6 product. The viewer is given an introduction to the Vue Plant Editor, which is very useful to know about. The Plant Editor allows you to customize plants and trees using basic editor controls. There is also some exposure the the Vue Function Editor, a powerful tool in Vue that keeps out of sight unless you want to open it. Some of the work is done in Photoshop. As mentioned, you can use Artweaver instead.
The initial chapter of the tutorial works with trees and plants and gives you some basic techniques for working textures used with vegetation.
In the Second Chapter (see image below) you work in higher resolution to build custom branches. The process involves creating realistic branches and applying seamless bark textures. To do so you use asileFX seamless textures. The collection of bark textures is available for use in the 3D Animation Lab at the workstations.
You also make use of the asileFX Leaf Collection, which is also located in the 3D Animation Lab, to add leaves to the branch. The interesting thing is that we can use any leaf at all in building our custom tree. One example from Chapter 2 involves using a leaf from a weed. All that is really needed for the leaf is an image, so you can take anything that you find freely available on the Web and work with it. Another possibility is scanning leaves on your own from plants that you have. In this way you can produce great realism or exotic effects. The leaves that you work with in Chapter 2 are clustered using Photoshop. Some leaf clusters are also available on the asileFX Leaf Collection. Using the techniques shown you could create a tree with several different kinds of leaves. Following the steps in the chapter you begin to produce an image similar to the one below.
In Chapter 3 there is further work on creating clip maps, bump maps and transparency maps for use with the branch and leaves. All these aid in the process of building realism.
Here is an example of one of the clip maps produced.
In Chapter 4 the work in Photoshop is taken back into Vue Infinite.
The branches and leaves that were designed in Photoshop can be applied to a wide range of trees. You can experiment with using various trees as a basis for your new vegetation creation. You could, for example, work with the Plum Tree or the Cherry Tree in Vue Infinite as a base for your custom creation. In the image below we are in the Plant Editor and ready to apply our new branches and leaves.
And here is the result of the custom work prior to changing the trunk bark to match the bark texture used for the branches.
Chapter 5 shows techniques in Vue Infinite for creating custom plants (not trees).
Chapter 6 works mainly in Photoshop showing custom leaf creation.
If you become skilled at building custom plants you will find that Cornucopia 3D is a Web store run by the e-on Software folks, makers of Vue Infinite, where you may be able to market your models. You should take a trip through the store to see what is available in the plant and tree sections. Before you make plans to market with Cornucopia 3D be sure you contact the store and understand the possible relationships there are with vendors. Be clear on what the requirements are and what kinds of restrictions there may be. That is good advice no matter in what store you would like to market your products.
If your interests are in botanical illustrations, this tutorial is highly recommended. What better way to show off a plant species than as a 3D model which can be scaled, positioned and rotated to show the entire plant.
This concludes our article.
Additional articles will appear in this section.
Topics for further exploration and reading on your own
1. Vue Infinite pioneered the idea of Ecosystems for creating vegetation. An Ecosystem is a combination of plants, rocks, tees and other objects you choose and apply like a material or texture. For example, build you own Ecosystem. Create an island and apply you Ecosystem as a material type to the island. Suddenly your island looks like a real island with vegetation randomly everywhere and slight variations in the plants, trees or rocks. Read the section in the Vue Infinite manual on the workstations in the 3D Animation Lab.
2. Create your own custom Ecosystem and use it to apply a material to a terrain.
3. Work through the custom plant creation tutorial in the 3D Animation Lab. Learn how to be an expert in making trees and plants. The tutorial discusses numerous aspects of materials and textures, and your knowledge of this entire area will expand.
4. Create a custom plant using the ideas in the tutorial.
5. Extend you knowledge of Vue Infinite even further: learn about the function editor. There is a tutorial in the 3D Animation Lab called Introduction to the Vue Infinite Function Editor. Vue Infinite has a large toolset, and this is one of the components of the toolset that gives you great flexibility in your projects. Learn how to use it. The function editor can be used for a variety of purposes: creating terrains and creating materials are just two of the many possibilities.
6. Be sure understand using Layers in programs like Adobe Photoshop, Artweaver, Project Dogwaffle or Corel Painter. This is a fundamental idea that will be used in many areas of your work with images. It is very important in the area of custom plant creation. You can use the first three products mentioned in the 3D Animation Lab, where you can find tutorials or manual that will help you through understanding how to work with Layers.
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