Hello,

I am trying to make a garden using Bryce, and I have a question about tree sizes.

If I create different species of trees using the tree lab, are the sizes of the resulting trees proportional to the sizes of the real trees? That is, let’s suppose that I create an apple tree and a pine. Are the heights of the generated trees proportional to the size of a real apple tree and a pine? Or all the generated trees have the same height regardless of the species?

It seems that some are smaller than the rest, but I don’t know if there is any kind of proportion with the mean size of the different species.

Thank you in advance!

Best regards

Ramon

I haven't done any real study, but it seems all objects, trees, rocks, etc., come in about the same size. You can alter them if you like. The only real difference I've seen is thickness, and that not by much. But I could be wrong...;)

I'd have to agree with pakled as I just did a test render with 3 different species trees and they all come in at the same age/size by default. There are a few things I'd also like help with. As some of you [and now anyone reading this thread]know I am functionally colourblind [found out applying for a circuit board soldering job on the aptitude test as a youth] so as a consecquence I use a lot of maps for colour, so when I create a new species I'd like to be able to go to my extensive map collection for the  Bark or a Leaf Map but I see no way of controlling this other than applying it. Is there a way [easter egg] to edit these textures...please say yes,heh heh heh. Other than this small quirk I find the Tree Lab  to be an excellent editor and, based on my experience of not being able to even figure out XFROG, I'd have to say vastly superior except for the no exporting thing and my problem with mapping.. ...

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any correlation between Bryce tree size and species. The apple tree from the 5.5 presets comes in at the same size (in height) as the giant sequoia, and changing the default tree from one species to another doesn't make any appreciable difference in height. The species differences are mainly in shape. I suppose the assumption when the Tree Lab was designed was that people may want to create a very small young sequoia or a a very large mature apple tree, so they just left it up to the user. 
The best thing to do is to re-size the trees yourself (use Google or a gardening book for reference), but remember that in general the larger and more mature the tree, the thicker the trunk and branches. Also, the leaves can be a problem - a huge mature oak will have leaves the same size as a tiny seedling oak, but when you're trying to create a big tree it can be very difficult to get the leaves to look small enough. If you take the leaf size down to 1 and they still look too big, you can get round this to an extent by using a dappled or flecked leaf texture. This breaks up the leaf outline and makes the leaves appear smaller and more numerous than they are. This works best in the back or middle ground. 
Good luck!

Thank you for your answers. It would be very interesting to list the sizes of the trees in Bryce... I will try to gather that information from Wikipedia. I will post here the results...

Best regards

Ramon

I think it actually makes sense for each tree preset to produce similar size trees, because its not really possible to determine the size of a type of tree anyways. The older the tree, the larger it is. Unless you're going to size to the maximum height of growth (which'd always assume old tall trees) theres not that much to be said about size.

bobbystahr - From your post I'm assuming that you know how to apply your own maps to the trunks and and or the foliage from the tree editor. So are you talking about editing them after you've applied them?.  If so, are they MAT files or .jpg files. If they are MAT files they can be edited in the DTE but if they are .jpg's then there is a limited amount of editing that can be done to them in the Materials Editor(Diffusion, Ambiance,Bump Height, etc.) I hope I've understood your question correctly, if not please clarify.

D'oh...I hadn't thought to try the Materials Editor proper...I have been mainly working from with in tree lab itself...will play around there a bit and get back on this.. ...

Uncle....O K...I am fully aware how Alpha channels work and have used them in any number of othe apps to cut out leaves etc. but for some freakin 'reason I can't get Bryce 5.5 to do this simple thing...will continue till I pass out but if there's a concise tutorial on how it all works ie: 24 or 32 bit maps stuff like that I'll check in my morning...LOL..gawd nose when that'll be at this rate.. ...

Clear as mud ?

Well I did get the bark working sorta if I use cylindrical mapping...doesn't look too hot on branches, but it's fine for a densely leaved tree. And leaves....sigh...I do wish they'd have included a simple square plane as a secondary or alternate leaf. That way all of my leaf collection would fit, but trying to get my square maps to fit on the default leaf object is simply an excercise in frusteration...sigh.. ...