Creator Wizard Seth Dev Log #12 - Leaf And Branch Complexity Improved

So today the goal is to move towards the maximum level of detail possible for tree branches, which is that every single leaf is placed by hand and rotated to fit the twig that it is on. And every leaf must be connected directly to a twig. If I can achieve this, then there is no more room for improvement as far as what level of detail I am working on. There will be no higher resolution to work in. But first I am going to continue my trajectory of working with puffy clouds of leaves and simply cut the size of the leaf clusters in half again to further increase the level of detail and control that I have over the shape of the leaf canopy. When I create a tree with this method then I am ready to move into the highest resolution of working at the leaf level. This will also give me a reference photo to test against in case working at the leaf level does not provide additional benefit, then in this case I will revert to puffy leaf clouds as it is significantly faster. I am at this point fairly sure that working in the highest resolution possible will provide obvious benefits, let us see if I am in fact correct. 

So we have a new tree branch to work with. This branch is designed better then my last one because it is shapes in more of a cone shape instead of completely flat which will give the tree more dimension and a natural look. This branch is certainly not perfect and I already comprehend the path to improvement on the design of branches. I believe that eventually I will be able to make them very realistic and in the quality of many different tree types in the way that automatically generated algorithmic trees cannot achieve. That's right, doing it by hand is extremely powerful. 

Continuing with the puffy leaf cloud plan as a stepping stone to the final destination.





Looking better than my last attempt, lets try building a couple trees with it.




Okay, looks like a step in the right direction yet again. Lets go one more step down the branch and add a finer level of detail and see where this takes us.


Side by side of my puffy leaf clouds floating on imaginary twigs with the leaves arranged carefully on literal twigs. The difference is obvious, finer level of detail always leaves us with a more satisfying result. 



Now I need to play with the scale of the leaves because I need the largest leaf that I can use. The reason for this is because larger leaves means less geometry so I can fit more trees in a scene. Of course there is a balance, I do not want to sacrifice detail and visual quality for rendering convenience. I am aiming for the highest quality tree possible and I will build my scene around that. If I am forced to have only a few trees in my scene and landscapes become impossible I will accept that and find a way to work around it using structures and more conventional (lazy) level design. 



Here is the largest scale that I could see working.
So it appears that scaling up really highlights the flaws in my leaf arrangements. The leaves are facing generally upwards towards the sun, which is correct. However, the arrangement is still very flat and uniform and if you go outside and look at some trees no tree really grows like this. 

Here is a much more realistic leaf arrangement with the leaves facing more different directions yet still conforming to the branch and still generally facing upwards towards the sun.


And now here we have a prototype branch.
 

The branch is yet another leap in quality from the last attempt and it is really something to behold. 
Let's make a prototype tree with it and see how it appears. 






Wonderful, now the only thing left to attain a certain level of mastery with is the anatomy and structure of the main structural branches of the tree because all I have currently is a form that is not capturing the essence of the structure of the types of common trees I am going after such as Oak, Maple, and Birch trees. The tree above looks nice, but it is generic looking and lacks a unique quality.

Tune in next time where I prove even further that I am a divine wizard from the 5th dimension.

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