Any one know of a good high guality trees source that I can buy or download for free to use as part of my products?

Would need to be allowable to redristibute in my products as trees. In other words I want to include them in my products.

Would like to keep it under a couple hundred bucks if possible.

Tom

You might check the offerings of XFrog

http://xfrog.com/130-free-xfrogplants-now-available/ 

Or you can make them yourself with Arbaro, a freeware tool for creating tree objects.

http://arbaro.sourceforge.net/ 

I need 2d plant textures with alpha maps. High rez, say  4000 x 4000 or bigger. other wise it is time to break out the camera and cut them out myself. But as I am sure you are aware that can be very time consuming. Pixel by pixel...

Thank you for the link though. :-)

Tom

That looks interesting but I need real trees for realism. these are for my new 81 city block set that is being released very soon. As soon as I can get 8 very high quality images for my forest.

Thank you for the link. :-)

Tom

Here is alook at what I am talking about. The trees are crossed billboards or two polygons in a x form. One penitrates the other. So as you can see the higher rex the images the better as they trees are atround 30 to 60  feet tall.

cgtextures.com

Under the "Nature" catagory they have lots and lots of leaves, transparent png and also bark and other textures - even whole trees in transparent png. Top notch textures.

Edit: 4000x4000 pixels is HUGE at least for Poser with tons of tree billboards ;). I don't think they have any that large. Maybe half that.

Laurie

Hi laure I live at CG Texures! Great site are they not? Yes I am a member. The trees I have gotten from them are only around a couple thousand pixels. But I will take another look at them tomorrow as it is past this old mans bed time. :-)

Also I am looking for trees you would see in a forest, not the trimmed, sissy, poodle trees they have. :-)

Now where did I put the Geritol?

By the way did you catch Lawerance Welk last night?  Killer performance by Robert Goulei. :-)

Tom

Lawrence Welk! LOL. If I never hear his name again, it'll be too soon. LOL.

Good night, good night, until we meet again.... Keep a song in your heart...

:P

Laurie

Attached Link: http://www.hulu.com/watch/37752

Oh yes!!!!

Just found my bubble machine!

I can die now......

Thanks for the Arbaro link, Jacobus01... Looks interesting. I have Carrara 8 and use it's tree generator or model my own plants but it's always nice to have another tool in the kit. Arbaro's non-tree vegetation capabilities look promising...

Are you aware of this?...

http://graphics.uni-konstanz.de/~luft/ivy_generator/

I'd say, unless you find something totally suitable, crack out the camera yourself. Then sell a separate Hi res photographic texture resource pack too, to increase the return on doing that?

Good Idea. Camera it is....

Thanks

For rainy days when u cant(or dont want) to go out lol , Bryce does pretty good trees and makes the alpha maps ;-)

If you are going to take pics and make your own maps Russell Brown has a really good tut on making masks from the colour channels, makes life a bit easier.

Link is to his main site! have had a quick look for that tut but am pushed for time sorry

http://www.russellbrown.com/tips_tech.html

got3d.com texture store look for trees. have to look at the license for them to see if they work for you.

Quote - I need 2d plant textures with alpha maps. High rez, say  4000 x 4000 or bigger. other wise it is time to break out the camera and cut them out myself. But as I am sure you are aware that can be very time consuming. Pixel by pixel...

Thank you for the link though. :-)

Tom

XFrog's tree and plant sets include billboards with masks:

"The DVDs also include 800 x 800 Billboards and 800 x 800 Perspective Renders, each with alpha, for single polygon opacity mapping, or direct compositing."

So have another look unless the cost is prohibitive.

Hi heddheld,

Thanks for the link. Hope I can find the right tut in time.

Wrath, thanks as well but their license says not for commercial use.

Teyon,

I own X frog but do not like the lack of realism and the subtle nuances that real trees have. hope that does not offend you. So I guess it is back to the camera.

Press on and all that PMA. :-)

Tom

Why would that offend me? lol. Good luck with it, I'm sure you'll get the look you want from the photos.

Don't know you yet and the way some people are in these forums can be a little touchy.

Thanks anyway for your suggestion.

Tom

still need to fool with the color and cut out a lot more on the image but I think this looks better than the other trees I got off the net that are not legal to use for comercial use.

I am determined to do it! :-)

Also going to find some good evergreens and do sets of those as well. might have to buy a better camera though. Mine is only 16 mega pixels and does not have perspective correction on it. just a cheap sony.

Comments please in the direction I am going.

Tom

Click to enlarge

Well, I see a few problems with what you've cut out in some spots...where you have just unaliased small pixels and what not. What are you using to drop out the backgrounds?

Laurie

I have to admit I don't fully understand the billboard concept. Are you able to elaborate any more on how that's working, technically, Tom?

I've come across the technique of billboarding, I believe, in some Vue content I've got... I guess its the same sort of idea in Poser?

How is it affected exactly by different lighting and are there issues of shadow-matching that need to be countered for somehow?

How does the idea of billboarding differ from the idea of transmapped hair, perhaps? Is it kind of just a simpler (geometrically simpler) form of the same thing perhaps?

I guess they're the initial questions I'd have...

Your own photos are looking much better I think... I appreciate you've got to work on the cut-out / alpha some more of course.

I think the version of Photoshop I have has some sort of perspective correction that can be used in post... maybe doing it in post would be an option over forking out for a new camera?

Cheers

Imagine trying to put 12,560 trees in a scene if they were each 50,000 polygons each.

That would be 628,000,000 polygons just for the trees.

Opposed to 25,120.

I would say you do the math but I just did. :-)

Here is another render with some new tree textures I photographed and built today.

Also fine tuning a swampy grass texture for the grass area. Even has puddles.

Thanks go out to BionicRooster for the help he has given me on my textures and the patience to help me learn Posers shaders.

Thanks Jeff!

Comments please...

Tom

looking good, found the tut so this will help with the alpha maps ( http://av.adobe.com/russellbrown/AdvancedMasking.mov )

it seems quite involved lol but for the bits of sky between branchs its great

only problem I have with using billboards is the lack of shadows under the trees

Here is another look at the wet grass shader. Click to enlarge.

The finished result looks and sounds great Tom

I have just procured with the help of a timely discount voucher. He he.

Look forward to trying it out later...

REALLY could do with some more retro (e.g. 50s era) cars now though, of similar standard to the panel van... hint hint ...to populate the Movie Sets with.

(With the same material groupings as the Panel Van would be great)

I know there are a few kicking about from other sources. I have collected a couple more and have re-textured them using the van mats. But the modelling of the van is very nice...

Hi Monkeycloud,

It is funny you should say something about vintage cars.....

:-)

Tom

Quote - Hi Monkeycloud,

It is funny you should say something about vintage cars.....

:-)

Tom

Ah, well I suspected something was afoot there... so, just gently prodding... he he.

I'll look forward to some more news on that front then... quite soon?

Quote - Thanks go out to BionicRooster for the help he has given me on my textures and the patience to help me learn Posers shaders.
Thanks Jeff!

Comments please...

Tom

You're welcome, Tom, happy to help. :o)

Monkeycloud,

Here is a peek at one of about a dozen cars that are in the pipe line.

hope you like it.

2009 Camaro similar to  Bumble Bee from the movie Transformers.

Has a lot of optional parts like the scoop, spoilers, kick bar, etc

Tom

click to enlarge

Quote - Jeff I would really be lost with out all your help!

Monkeycloud,

Here is a peek at one of about a dozen cars that are in the pipe line.

hope you like it.

2009 Camaro similar to  Bumble Bee from the movie Transformers.

Has a lot of optional parts like the scoop, spoilers, kick bar, etc

Tom

click to enlarge

That's a nice one... I have seen a peak before via BB too, of the Camaro.

Looking forward to it... and the others.

I'm currently planning some renders that are meant to be set in the late 50s, so one or two more from that period would be good to see...

Here is a simple image of one of the cars coming your way over the next month or two.

Sorry the image is so lame. :-)

Tom

Wow! That IS nice!

Thanks for the sneak peak Tom... I'll certainly look forward to that one

Cheers