OK, what it seemspeople are referring to as "berries" here are the actual flowers..

closer view..

That's true...the berries come later and start out green then turn red (so the birds can see them better...LOL) in autumn.

Yeah they do...

Looking good so far!

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the "story" about the dogwood tree/blossom yet.

Dug it up in case anyone was interested:

The Legend Of The Dogwood Tree

When Christ was on earth, the dogwood grew

To a towering size with a lovely hue.

Its branches were strong and interwoven

And for Christ's cross its timbers were chosen.

Being distressed at the use of this wood,

Christ made a promise which still holds good:

" Not ever again shall the dogwood grow

To be large enough for a cross, and so

Slender and twisted it shall always be

With cross-shaped blossoms for all to see.

The pedals shall have bloodstains marked in brown

And in the blossom's center a thorny crown.

All who see it will think of me,

Nailed to a cross from a dogwood tree.

Protected and cherished this tree shall be

A reflection to all of my agony."

WEll, I had an idea. Do a good limb with flowers for close up shots and a good tree (maybe a good one in XFrog) with just the planes to use a flower pic on. Most tree renders wouldn't be close up anyway. That make any sence to anyone? I think I actually confused myself.

Not confusing at all. Like you said...the whole tree wouldn't need a LOT of detail but some detailed branches...a different story.

Hm, time outs eat your posts! OK, Here is a cheesy example of why I shouldn't render stuff, lol. I'm just taking a break from XFrog and poser crashing (or adding crap to the model that shouldn't be there...arg!) This shows two slightly different versions of the dogwood in xfrog...not really happy with them still. I think it's the overall shape or distribution of the blossoms! Suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'll post one without all the extra junk. eric

OK, after reviewing the pictures above...I think the bracts (I actually learned that at work...) are still way too big. Back to xfrog.... eric

OK, here is the smaller blossoms (left) with the better of the other two (on right...of course!) Still not really happy, but it's certainly closer than those other, eh? If you have any suggestions as to what might be causing it to look bad (other than lousy textures...or lack there of), please don't hesitate to comment. eric

This is one really incredible looking tree! If I recall, doesn't x-frog have a polyon reducer that's sorta designed to help out? Couple suggestions, as well (and I do want this, no matter how big, lol): for trans flowers, two flat plane rectangles at right angles to each other and sligthly curved, maybe double sided , with a half sphere in the middle for the thingies. This would still be heavy en masse, but would definitely help for more distant renders. And could you release just the flowers alone, as well? Those are wonderful! Truly wonderful!

XFrog does use a slider to help reduce poly counts. This is at about 10%...and runs about 88K. At 100%, it's over 500K....ugh. As far as the flowers in renders this size, a flat alpha plane would probably suffice, since it's hardly got any depth to it as it is...However, considering the reduced state, it might have already been reduced to that by xfrog itself... XFrog also has a limited set of primatives, so some of those things might not be possible...I'll lookinto simplifying it a bit more, though. eric

Your bracts are too big at the base and small at the tips. Look at the image in post #3 for a better idea of overall shape. Wide tips with notch are what says "dogwood"! Carolly

Yeah, the shape is off...I'll fix that. As for the notch, I'll have to let the whole tree version rely on transparencies for that. Good point, as usual carolly:) eric

OK, still no notch (I'll get there carolly:) but I think it's getting better. Any comments? Bloom size, general tree shape. I believe this little guy rolls in at 72K polygons with all leaves and blossoms. How is that for file size....acceptible, way too big? eric

The only difference between these two, BTW, is the ambiant color for the bracts...I find that makes a huge difference with flower petals and colorful leaves. eric

Oh, I think this version is looking very nice. At least it's an improvement in my opinion. I don't know if 72k is big or not. In Vue, I use much more than that. BTW, how many polygons does V3 have (test question...LOL)?

I think it's looking quite good, but I've only seen dogwood "in person" a couple times in my life (knowingly, anyway). So I'm not a dogwood expert. :)