More with Speed Tree

Speed Tree
Conifer and Palm are two of my favorite types of trees
In only a few minutes I was able to create versions of same tree. This can really speed the production workflow. With ST I can archive organic and stylized results in minutes. I think when it comes to speed and verity Vue is a no match for ST.

DEMO REEL

Speed Tree

Speed Tree

I was able to create this tree in a few minutes.
After creating foliage using paint effects, vue, onyx, xfrog finally this program came to rescue.
Speed tree is my favorite foliage tool so far. It has all the tools that artist could hope for in one package. I can draw, yes you heard that right, in this program. It's also procedural. Unlike Vue, I can add, remove, modify branches. And trees hold up for mid shots.

We used Speed Tree at Arc. I suggested using it on Barbie. I did a few test. The program delivers phenomenally and the tress are easy to light.  Since we were using Vue on Thomas it was decided to use Vue on Barbie instead to create Eco-system and forests.


Here is a screen capture of the same tree in action (captured using Camtasia)

Maya paint effects

Maya paint effects

Here are some test I did using Maya paint effects to create ash and alder trees.
I have been using paint effects for a while now, It can create almost any tree. It comes with Maya and its free. We still continue using it at Arc. However creating stylized conifer based trees with paint effects is not that fun.
Since it's part of Maya, I can animate all the attribute and apply forces to the tree. However they are heavy to render.

Eco-system

Vue - Eco system

I was testing vue's powerful Eco-system.It can handle billion of polygons. That's the main reason we use Vue at Arc to create forest and foliage.
I found that vue is best for creating distance trees and ecosystems and not much for close up and creating hero assets.
I was able to paint an entire forest in couple of minutes. The results are fast however the renders could be long. The only downside of using Eco-system is getting flickering renders. which are paint to tweak.
I rendered all these shots straight out of vue however I can export them to Maya and or 3Ds max to get better lighting and control flicker.
As an artist not only I had total control over painting but it's actually fun. I can use vue's default vegetation or tweak and create library of assets.

Sunset

Vue

These shots were rendered in less than 5min each.
I was testing Vue's lighting system to create sunset something that I always wanted to do.
I'm amazed with the level of details specially the amount of light in the clouds.

Lighting in Vue - Cave

 

Vue
Meta Blob

Here is a lighting test I did using Vue. The best thing about Vue is its amazing lighting system. It uses real sun system that creates realistic lighting. It's more like mental ray sun in 3Ds max and Maya. The meta blob is using a procedural rock shader. Like everything in Vue there is no need to UV objects. How fun is that?:) I was also able to create realistic water in a couple of minutes. The water is animatable and I have options to control the wave,....