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What do you use to create plants?

Subtropic PixelSubtropic Pixel Posts: 2,388
edited September 2019 in The Commons

[What do you use to create plants?] The question is in the title.

I'm concerned that some products such as Xfrog are not being updated regularly (or at all).  Would like a plant generator that can create plants of all types, on Earth and elsewhere.  One that produces output that works for DS, Blender, and Terragen. 

Bryce and Carrara would be "nice to have", but are not on my "must have" list because they aren't being kept current (and I don't launch them for that reason).

Thoughts, opinions?

Post edited by Richard Haseltine on

Comments

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 40,435
    edited September 2019

    well you can export Carrara plants and it has a lovely plant generator

    even if you don't render in it

    if staying updated is so important to you

    Blender

    lots of tutorials addons and python scripts for plant creation there

    I myself like Carrara because it is easy to use and I have tried many options including Cornucopias plant factory, Xfrog and other pricey programs as trials

    Post edited by WendyLuvsCatz on
  • StezzaStezza Posts: 8,857
    edited September 2019

    mmm.. I modeled this kangaroo paw in Carrara a few days ago...

    but as @SadKitty_Carrara says...... Blender 

    Post edited by Stezza on
  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943

    If you can live with outdated, but free:

    http://ngplant.org/

    https://www.kurtz-fernhout.com/PlantStudio/index.htm

     

  • p0rtp0rt Posts: 217

    tree it can do a fair few things, and with more poly's then the other program's http://www.evolved-software.com/treeit/treeit

  • RKane_1RKane_1 Posts: 3,039

    Nice! Watching this thread.

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675
    Subtropic Pixel said:

    [What do you use to create plants?] The question is in the title.

    I'm concerned that some products such as Xfrog are not being updated regularly (or at all).  Would like a plant generator that can create plants of all types, on Earth and elsewhere.  One that produces output that works for DS, Blender, and Terragen. 

    Bryce and Carrara would be "nice to have", but are not on my "must have" list because they aren't being kept current (and I don't launch them for that reason).

    Thoughts, opinions?

    the company that owns carrara may not be keeping carrara current, but carrara has the best plugin creators and they're generous!  

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675
    Stezza_Carrara9 said:

    mmm.. I modeled this kangaroo paw in Carrara a few days ago...

    but as @SadKitty_Carrara says...... Blender 

    and a Wacky emu with carrara dynamic fur smiley

    hairy vegetables are fun to render, hairy tomatoes and cucumbers

  • akmerlowakmerlow Posts: 1,124
    edited September 2019
    Kerya said:

    If you can live with outdated, but free:

    http://ngplant.org/

    https://www.kurtz-fernhout.com/PlantStudio/index.htm

    Another "oldie, but goodie" is Arbaro, i think.

    http://arbaro.sourceforge.net/

    Also, Algorithmic Botany's apps (i think they are updated from time to time?)

    http://algorithmicbotany.org/virtual_laboratory/

    vlab and L-studio

    Also check their research if you are into this science yourself http://algorithmicbotany.org/papers/

    edit. though, i don't know if they have export or it's just experimental lab for fans, haven't tried yet!

     

    Post edited by akmerlow on
  • Subtropic PixelSubtropic Pixel Posts: 2,388

    Thank you all so far.

    One major roadblock for Carrara for me is that I cannot read the user interface.  Everything on my high resolution screens is too small.  Changing the resolution or windows zoom factor ends up throwning the works out of scale, which just makes me sad.

    I stopped using Carrara a few years ago for this reason.  Bryce too, and I also have trouble seeing the DS user interface.

    I should have mentioned that in my first post.

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,401
    Subtropic Pixel said:

    Thank you all so far.

    One major roadblock for Carrara for me is that I cannot read the user interface.  Everything on my high resolution screens is too small.  Changing the resolution or windows zoom factor ends up throwning the works out of scale, which just makes me sad.

    I stopped using Carrara a few years ago for this reason.  Bryce too, and I also have trouble seeing the DS user interface.

    I should have mentioned that in my first post.

     

    Bummer - I don't think there is much chance of the Bryce or Carrara interfaces getting a makeover.  

    I use Carrara to make plants.  I use them in Carrara, I also use them in Studio.  I have an example of my workflow going from Carrara to Studio starting here.

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/comment/2414461/#Comment_2414461

    Early posts had too high poly count for my tastes and I got great advice along the way.  Let me know if you have questions.

     

  • fastbike1fastbike1 Posts: 4,081

    I use Martin J Frost's catalog laugh

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 40,435

    If you can ever solve your diaplay issues (or add a second normal resolution monitor)

    this thread is a Carrara plant modelling inspiration 

    https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/22245/carrara-monthly-challenge-fabulous-prizes-voting-now-open/p1

  • RedfernRedfern Posts: 1,647

    What fo I use?

    Hmm...quality seeds, rich potting soil, clean water (preferably rainwater when its available), and fertilizer as needed...

    Huh...what?  Oh, digital plants!  Uh, never mind...

    Sincerely,

    Bill

  • McGyverMcGyver Posts: 7,085
    edited September 2019

    There is this one too... http://www.evolved-software.com/treeit/treeit

    I’d include an image, but the forums stopped allowing me upload images from iOS and I’m not near my computer at the moment.

    Post edited by McGyver on
  • richardandtracyrichardandtracy Posts: 7,349

    Plant Studio can be tweaked to produce Xenoplants as well as imaginary earth plants. The interface is.. seriously outdated.

     

  • MistaraMistara Posts: 38,675
    Subtropic Pixel said:

    Thank you all so far.

    One major roadblock for Carrara for me is that I cannot read the user interface.  Everything on my high resolution screens is too small.  Changing the resolution or windows zoom factor ends up throwning the works out of scale, which just makes me sad.

    I stopped using Carrara a few years ago for this reason.  Bryce too, and I also have trouble seeing the DS user interface.

    I should have mentioned that in my first post.

    you can adjust the font in carrara preferences.

    i'm legaly blind, suffer macular edema

    and i manage by lowering my screen resolution to 1280x720 and setting the font "georgia" to size 4

     

    dunno how to change the font size in DS 
    in poser i edited an xml file to enlarge the font

    ca text.JPG
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  • AllenArtAllenArt Posts: 7,175
    edited September 2019

    There is a dang nifty addon for Blender 2.80 called MTree if you need some trees. Here's a video...

    I've played with this for hours already just to watch the cool kinds of trees I can make ;)

    Laurie

    Post edited by AllenArt on
  • Oso3DOso3D Posts: 15,095

    I'm curious about MTree... how easy is it to use, how good are the results, and can you use the results on products?

    (I've dug around a bit but not sure about answers)

  • HorusRaHorusRa Posts: 1,665
    Lightwave usually
  • AllenArtAllenArt Posts: 7,175
    Oso3D said:

    I'm curious about MTree... how easy is it to use, how good are the results, and can you use the results on products?

    (I've dug around a bit but not sure about answers)

    I'm not sure if you can use it for products or not...sorry :( I'll have a look too as well.

    It's incredibly easy to use and if you watch that video I linked, you'll see just how easy :). The results are pretty good - you can of course make the tree whatever resolution you want and keep it low or go high. It's pretty easy to use any leaf shape/textures you like as well as any bark texture ya want.

    Laurie

  • AllenArtAllenArt Posts: 7,175
    edited September 2019

    Did some looking around and found this on the GitHub page for the addon. I'm going to assume by the wording that you can indeed use the output for commercial purposes. If you have further questions though, I would email the developer.

    Laurie

    license.JPG
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    Post edited by AllenArt on
  • RobotHeadArtRobotHeadArt Posts: 917

    Some other commercial options:

  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943

    Free: An Ivy Generator: http://graphics.uni-konstanz.de/~luft/ivy_generator/

    (obviously only for Ivy ...)

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 40,435
    edited September 2019
    Kerya said:

    Free: An Ivy Generator: http://graphics.uni-konstanz.de/~luft/ivy_generator/

    (obviously only for Ivy ...)

    Or other vines if you swap out the maps enlightened

    it is possibly the most used software for vines in all DAZ and Poser products, I recognise them immediately

    Post edited by WendyLuvsCatz on
  • p0rtp0rt Posts: 217

    VUE and plant factory have a $20pcm subscription option, https://info.e-onsoftware.com/home ;

    it has nothing on terragen though for creating high resolution HDR's

  • akmerlowakmerlow Posts: 1,124

    vlab and L-studio

    Ok, decided to check myself. I don't have Mac, so i only could check L-studio which is windows.

    It's interesting thing if you really wanna research simulation of plants, but i guess that's not what most people aim for.

    As for 3D model export, sadly i couldn't make l-studio do .obj export for me despite such option being presented. A pity.

     

  • p0rtp0rt Posts: 217
    akmerlow said:

    vlab and L-studio

    Ok, decided to check myself. I don't have Mac, so i only could check L-studio which is windows.

    It's interesting thing if you really wanna research simulation of plants, but i guess that's not what most people aim for.

    As for 3D model export, sadly i couldn't make l-studio do .obj export for me despite such option being presented. A pity.

     

    you probably need to run it in administrator mode like alot of old program's, press and hold shift+CTRL, and right click on the program executable file

  • akmerlowakmerlow Posts: 1,124

    Sadly, doesn't help. When trying to export in obj, simulation program crashes. I've not tried doing it through command line, though (i'm not very good with making .bat files).

    I wonder if there is tool to take "l-system" script and make a model of it outside of their app.

    And yeah i guess it's really very old and was a base/inspiration for many other programs. It not only researches structure of plants, but also growth behaviour.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Algorithmic_Beauty_of_Plants

    Some pics from examples that come with it

     

  • KeryaKerya Posts: 10,943
    SadKitty_Carrara said:
    Kerya said:

    Free: An Ivy Generator: http://graphics.uni-konstanz.de/~luft/ivy_generator/

    (obviously only for Ivy ...)

    Or other vines if you swap out the maps enlightened

    it is possibly the most used software for vines in all DAZ and Poser products, I recognise them immediately

     

    Right, there are even some freebies for the Ivy generator:

    Alien Branches for Ivy Generator or common use https://www.sharecg.com/v/5741/

    Alien Leaf for Ivy Generator or common use https://www.sharecg.com/v/5740/

     

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