3d art

Environment
Creating nature –
plant modelling
Wisteria Floribunda 2010
Focused on environment creation, this scene inspired new solutions in Paweł’s
workflow to help him create a selection of plants for compelling arc-vis renders
Paweł Podwojewski is an architect and CG artist
In this tutorial we are
going to learn how to
create highly detailed
plant models using 3ds
Max, V-Ray and Photoshop
as the base tools. I would
like to show how easy it is to
transfer the techniques to
other plants, so you can use
the skills to build up your very
own library of models.
The presented scene is the
result of a collaboration with
the Nadau Lavergne studio
that designed the building.
My task was to create an
image that would be able to
express the ambience
created by various elements
of the environment. From the
very beginning the plants
were the focal point of the
scene. Because their type
and position was clearly
specified I had to work out
some new techniques that
allowed me to complete the
task with accurate results. I
wanted to make the scene
unique – to brand the idea in
the viewers’ memories.
This tutorial will explain
how using reference pictures
and basic 3ds Max
techniques can create plant
models just like those shown
in the illustrations. We will
also go through the V-Ray
rendering engine and
material options to polish up
the image for the best results
in Photoshop.
A Gather your reference wisely
The groundwork
Source reference and create basic models
B Each component of the model in this scene might require a different
placement technique
C These are the main elements that make up the planned object – to
create a scene heavily populated with Wisteria floribunda
A
B
C
01 Plan the modelling
The first thing we need to do is to find reference pictures
that will allow us to understand the anatomy of a particular
plant, which in this case is Japanese Wisteria (or Wisteria
floribunda). Be sure to find pictures showing your focal
object from different angles and scales; try to find shots that
will be orthogonal to each specific part of the plant, like the
leaves or shoots. This process will aid you with the textures
in the following steps and can also be a great help with the
modelling process A.
02 Basic shape definitions
We are planning to create a pretty large scene including lots
of plants. We need to think about the polycount in the first
place to make sure that our workstation can actually
manage with the size of the scene. It’s important to answer
the question: which elements need more – and less – detail
to make them work in regular shots, as well as close-ups? In
this case we have four main objects: flowers, shoots, leaves
and branches B.
03 Choice of modelling techniques
Once we have defined the necessary elements, it’s time to
choose the modelling process. Most single components can
be created using very basic techniques; in this instance, I
chose Editable Poly. To make the plants more natural we will
need a few variations of the same elements to make sure
nothing is repeated. We’ll also need to use some extra tools
to scatter single elements in a random way C.
Inspiration & reference
For this piece, I was quite simply inspired by gardens –
canopies of Wisteria flowers are amazing! Once I’d seen
the first reference pictures, I was sure this was going to be a
very exciting project.
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