...where I went on vacation? (See photos for hint.) Think E-on would ever make one of these for Solid Growth? They are truly amazing.

the everglades?? :)

I'd say that's about as solid that growth ever gets, really...

California's Redwood Forest? genny

Hope you had a good time, Jackson. You sure got some great photos, and probably plenty of inspiration for new images as well. :) It would be great if we could get some hefty trees in Vue, but until that time comes, you can sort of fake redwoods like this by using a cylinder (or cherry tree) for the main trunk and a couple fir (or other) trees for the branches, with a change of leaf material.

Actually, Red-Wood-Trees are pretty easy to create, using a round landscape-object wit a lot of water-erosion and a fitting material. The green-parts can be done by adding a fir-tree and resizing the fir-tree to have its stem inside the landscape and the needles and branches outside. It isn't perfect but it is acceptlable as a workaround. Joerg

So, you think Genny's right? Well, s/he is. Actually it was Ridgewood Grove State Park, just south of Eureka, CA. (I have been to the Everglades, but not this time.) Mike: they are *very* solid. See the pic; that tunnel was dug out untold years ago and the tree is still living. Yes, Varian, I had a great time...beautiful weather, no humidity, no bugs. And I did take bunches of good photos and got lots of inspiration. Just wish I was good enough... As far as making a redwood, these are very good tips. A full-grown fir would make a decent branch for one of these babies. Unfortunately, I wouldn't know how to map the leaves correctly. If E-on (or anyone else) would be interested, I have some real good hi-res shots of the bark and foilage. A couple interesting points about redwoods: 1. They are the tallest living things on earth, often growing taller than a football field is long. 2. They live over 2,000 years. 3. The bark can grow over a foot thick.

I was kidding about the everglades... :) So, now you're telling us that it's bark is worse than it's bite?? :) Thanks for info on the redwoods... and yeah, it's great to have actually been there, I've only seen these in pictures... Great pic of the car in the tree...

AHA......I knew it! (: I live in California, so I suppose I had the advantage, and, I have also been there. It appears that you had a good time and enjoyed yourself, and that is what really counts. Me, I have been on vacation all this week, and I have spent most of it in front of this computer! I have spent more money buying things for my "Poser" people than I would have if we had just decided to go to "Hawaii" for the week! LOL! You did the right thing, Jackson, and got out of dodge! (: Your pictures are great, and I think It will give a lot of us some inspiration and ideas as to," How the HECK" can we create that in Vue?(: Take care. BTW.....I am a "SHE" (: genny

I had a character tree that I posted in the free stuff area once upon a time. I'll see if I can go dig up the image of it when I get home and see if it would be useful for your redwood trees. I'll let you know how it's done :). Laurie

Here is a quickie visual on the idea both Joerg and I were offering above. Cylinders for trunks, Fir trees for the rest. I just used one Fir per cylinder. Scale is everything...the branches and leaves don't begin until way up there! ;)

That's really good there, Varian!

I don't know, tradivoro...the Everglades have some pretty tall reeds! Glad you liked the pic. Genny: I spent ages 2 through 12 in Fremont, CA, at which time my parents dragged me kicking and screaming to Ohio. Until this vacation, I hadn't been back since. It was great to see it all again. Varian, those are pretty darned good! I see what you mean now about using the firs...I had pictured them sticking out sideways. It appears you oriented them parallel to the cylinder and stuck them inside, right? How'd you do the bark?

I'd say offhand the bark is one of Varian's brown-green color maps with a color production function set to create strong vertical mixtures on a small scale, and a (linear noise?) bump function squashed on the X and Y axes, and lengthened on the Z axis.

That's pretty close, Mike! It's just a bit simpler...the bump is a vertical layer function with gain set to 2.00. :) Jackson, think of a popsicle. The cylinder is the stick and the fir tree is the frozen stuff. They're aligned vertically, and the fir is just made a lot wider than the cylinder. That's really all there is to it! When I get a chance, I'll add the redwood (and the oak tree) how-to's to my tree tutes. :)

Thanks. It looks like I'm gonna need it. I tried your technique and what I got looked pretty much like ... a cylinder with a fir tree stuck in it.

Hey, I think "a cylinder with a fir tree stuck in it." looks pretty good! Well, maybe not... ;)

Actually Mike, what I came up with doesn't look a whole lot better than what you have there. And I followed Varian's instructions. I need step-by-step instructions (hand-holding).

ROFL Mike! Use enough fir trees that way, and it'd be just like those artifical Christmas trees that need to be assembled! :D Jackson, here are all the step-by-step there is: 1 - create cylinder 2 - create Fir tree 3 - elongate cylinder vertically 4 - put Fir tree by top of cylinder, like the frozen popsicle on a stick 5 - make sure cylinder and tree centers are aligned Scale is important. This image shows a full-size Poser figure standing by the tree. ;)

Sorry if I'm being a best, Varian, but those are the steps I've been trying. I've made several attempts now trying to duplicate the look you have above in message #11. No luck; not even close. (I'd post a screen shot but I don't want to become the first person ever laughed out of a Renderosity forum.)

How about go ahead and post a screen shot, and I promise not to laugh, okay? This is a really simple thing, so I'm not sure how you're missing it. A screen shot would really help me to see what you're seeing. :)

Well, okay. I have to re-do it, though cuz I didn't save it. I'll have it up later today. And thanks for all your help.

Here it is Varian. (By the way, I meant "pest" not "best" in message #20.)

First of all, you're no pest, so don't worry 'bout that. Asking questions and getting a bit of help is how each of us learn anything. :) Secondly, you got it! What you've got there is exactly right, the popsicle on a stick. :D In message #11, I used about 18 of 'em. Some a bit taller than the others. The camera was just a snitch above the ground and aimed upward, into the popsicle trees. I was trying to accentuate the illusion of the trees being very, very tall...like the redwoods in your photos.

Hmmm... I tried that camera position, too. I just can't get the look you have in #11. The foilage is way too thick. In real redwoods it's very sparse, like in your pic. Mayhaps I made the fir too wide?

Hm, I think maybe just the opposite? Make the fir wider (not necessarily taller), and make the cylinder a bit thinner. Those things will change the whole set of overall proportions. And maybe make the cylinder taller too, then when the camera looks upward, it's gotta look way upward. :)

Well, Varian, I tried. For many, many hours over the past five days I tried everything: scale, lighting, camera angles, everything. I still can't come close to what you have in message #11. I get the same thing no matter what I do, a stick with a clump of branches on top. So, while I truly appreciate your attempts to help, I'm going to do what a year of head-banging and hair-pulling in Bryce has taught me to do when I reach this point: Give Up. I'll just write my aunt and tell her I can't do it. I can't make a Vue scene with redwoods. Thanks again for all your help.

But...but....it looks great to me! I mean, really, you've got it there. Maybe add 15 more, gather them together woods-like, then get very close to one of the trunks with the camera? Honest, you've got exactly what I got, so now just build a scene around it. I tossed my image together in about 20 minutes; nothing fancy whatsoever. So if I can do that, so can you. Tell your aunt Varian has faith in your ability to succeed! :)

Well, you talked me into it. And I'm glad you did. The one think I hadn't tried was making many of them, I was only making one then starting over. So I tried duplicating then making minor changes to each one. I worked on it 'til midnight last night and about 3 hours this morning. See pic for the result. I'm still not happy with the lighting and "composition" but those are things I can tweak. However, there seems to be a horizontal line running across the trees in the back. Don't know what's causing that. Also, with the trees the way they are, I can't get the shot I really wanted: The sun shining down through the branches. I can't get it cuz the foilage on these is too thick. I think Guitta has a tut on thinning branches and will check it out. This is a real low-res shot, but original looks much better. Let me know what you think. And thank you for the push, I needed that!

Oops. I meant "The one thinG," not think. Also I forgot to mention that, when I first mapped the bark, it wasn't right. So I fixed it on some and not others. That's why the bark looks screwy on some of 'em. If you have any suggestions on how to light and set up this scene better, I'd like to hear them. I wanna get this just right before I print it for my aunt. Thanks again.

Hey, alright, that is nice! I'm so glad you didn't give up. In this res, I can't see the horizontal line you mentioned, but you can maybe eliminate it by adding a snitch of turbulence to that material, or perhaps a fractal function on either the color or bump. If you want to see the actual sun rays shining down through the trees, that's fodder for a new thread -- it'll involved a volumetric sun at minimum, and there are some other tricks. Bloodsong was one of the first to play with rays, and I'm sure he'd have some tips to add. :) One thing I'd suggest is to add something among the trees or in the foreground to help the scale be more prominent. Like maybe a car that is small enough to drive through one of the trunks. A car has a relateable size, so scale would be able to be understood from the size of the car. Then the viewer would know instantly that these are huge trees. If not a car, perhaps some smaller trees or tiny plants scattered about. or a small cabin -- anything that could suggest a basic size to compare to. This is really looking good; your aunt is going to love it! :)

Well, here it is. Still not done but printed and sent to my aunt. I had wanted to make it portrait oriented but didn't have time. Anyway, I tried adding something to the foreground, but I coulnd't get it to look right. So I scattered some regular firs around, but still didn't like it. So I changed the camera angle, and wa-la! A couple of issues tho: 1: What caused the bend in the tree trunk 2nd from the left? 2: What caused the two green dots? (I think its from the lens flare, which I didn't want but forgot to turn off.) 3: Why do all Vue fir trees have that black stick protruding from their tops? (lower-right of pic). Also, the mountain in the background wouldn't be there had it not been for Guitta's help on E-on's "Faking Distant Forests" tutorial. PS: this is the "no postwork" version. Using Photoshop, I fixed the problems in the one I printed.

Love the camera angle! This is wonderful! :D 1 - Hm, I don't see a bend?? 2 - lens flare, yup. 3 - That is a natural effect seen on fir trees. The trunk shoots upward first, then it adds branches and needles later. So it's pretty typicall to see the trunk above the branches. Someday, we will have additional conifers in SolidGrowth to choose from besides only the fir. Really nice job on this, Jackson. Be proud. :)

If you look at the 2nd tree from the left, about 1/3 of the way up, it appears the angle of ascent changes about 8 degrees. It's only on the left side of the trunk. About #3, they always just look like straight sticks to me. Like the ones that come with the artificial Christmas trees you mentioned earlier. And I hope you're right about more SolidGrowth stuff. Well, I guess we can put this very long thread to rest. Thank you very much for your help and encouragement, without which this scene would not exist. And, even though it's not finished, and my wife said, "that't not art," I am proud.

If it's visual or tactile or emotional or sensual, it most certainly can be art. Particularly when you begin with nothing and end up with something. :) The only thing I see that looks almost like a bend, about 1/3rd of the way up, left side only, is an optical illusion -- there is a tree from the background in that position that almost seems to be part of the #2 foreground trunk. Maybe that's what you're seeing? Darn fine job, all around. :)

Oh man, how could I not see that?! I made the darned thing and didn't know that was another tree. I'm really gettin' old. Thanks again, dude.