Any Australian (only an!) will tell you that the only REAL tree is an Aussie River Red Gum of some several hundred years old. I can not get close in the tree generator and really need several in the Carrara tree "bank". Can any one help please!

Well you can certainly forget about the tree generator altogether. You'll have to build it yourself. I would use the vertex modeler. One thing you can try is to make a long bent-up bough and then break pieces off of it to construct the various parts of the tree, so you don't have to start each branch and root from scratch. After that, great textures will be the key. You might be able to do the leaves with a texture, so you don't have to model them. This is true in C4 especially, because you can use the alpha feature to cut a single polygon into a spray of needles (or whatever those are), which would save a lot of modeling.

The tree generator certainly has some limitations but I wouldn't give up on it totally. You can affect the look of the tree quite a lot by making your own leaf. This version uses the 'no name yet' leaf as a starting point. I simply duplicated the model in the VM, rearranging the duplicates to form a nice bunch. This was then restricted to the branch ends in the advanced options of the generator [Leafless Margins]. The shading of the tree also makes a big difference. You can add quite a bit of bump to the trunk, for example, and leaf colour helps to define a plant species. I don't pretend that this is an exact replica of your gum trees but perhaps it will give you some ideas. Mark

Some very clever people on this site. You have set a very big learning curve for me Mark. Thanks. Brian.

I'm glad to help when I can (and I like trying to solve problems!). I'll send you the .car files (tree and leaf)if you think it would help. Send me a message with your email addy. Mark

Mark, Very nice tree

Mark I would like to see the .car. How about putting it here for everyone! I think to get what I really need I am going to have to put in a lot of work. No two trees are alike but an Aussie will pick a near miss from a mile away! Brian

Wild wiggly branches!

Thanks folks for the comments. :-) OK Brian, here's the .car file, just change the extension from .txt to .car. I've changed the leaf type to the 'maple bunch' because my leaf weighed in at over 500K but this will give you the general idea. It's a C4Pro file so I'm not sure if it will open in C3. If you can't open it let me know and I'll sort something out.

HTH,
Mark

Message edited on: 11/18/2004 01:36

Glad to see someone else likes to hurt the tree editor as much as I do!:) Brian

Mark. It opened up ok--I have C4 now.I'me beginning to think I don't have the nouse or the patience to get the really acceptable end result. Perhaps I should sponser a contest with a HUGE prize!!!!!! Thanks all for the interest to date. Brian.