Architecture 3d , what is the best way and simple to create a realistic trees and shrubs, grass in 3ds max 9?

Question

i will use it on perspective only.. i want to know what is the practical way on creating trees that will not use too much memory.. ive had a info but im not satisfied that is creating 2 ortho plane that crosses and a pictre of a tree ..im not sure of it. please help

Answer 1

Well, the two planes method is certainly the easiest and most processor-friendly way to do it. A more complex, but still fairly efficient way is to build a model of a tree trunk and cover the branches in small instanced planes, to which you can then map transparent images of leaves and small branches (make sure the planes are instanced, and not copies, to save most of the processing time).

For the grass, I suggest a flat plane with a grass texture applied, and create a bump map from the grass texture, then set the bump amount to maximum to give it some three-dimensionality.

If you want more ideas, try typing "3DS Max tree tutorial" (or "grass tutorial") into Google and check out some of the links - there are a lot of ways you could do it.

Good luck. :)