Making Trees in ZBrush 3

So I finally made a decision regarding graphics applications for XNA game building.  I bought ZBrush. The interface is a little non-standard but what I really liked about it when I first started the trial was that you can start with a 3D object and just start sculpting and changes occur real time on the screen.  No "click render to see what you have just applied".  It also takes a very artists approach to 3D model creation.  Which means...it's not like other 3D modeling programs.  (It's actually 3D and "2.5D").  If you are starting from scratch, I strongly encourage you to watch the video tutorials at ZbrushCentral, ZClassroom.  The interface is something you can't learn through trial and error as hobbyists are prone to attempt.

I've been struggling even within Zbrush to create realistic looking trees.  

In this first attempt, I just sculpted everything.  I started with a 3D cylinder and moved and stretched to make the trunk.  I applied a material and painted on a texture.  Then I added a 3D cone and pulled and stretched, texture etc.  I used the Subtools features so I would have two separate pieces I could work with.  Here is a link to how to use subtools in ZBrush.  Ultimately I want my player to be able to walk under the tree canopy and have the canopy go semi-transparent.  So in game, I need the trunk and canopy as separate graphics textures.

I angled this forward 65% using deformation and dropped it into my game and I didn't like it...at all.  It looks too nintendoish.  So back to the Internet for some tree research.  

After about a week of digging through tree stuff, I finally found the Stanford Dryad project found here.  The beauty of this is it's an academic endeavor and the license allows totally free use of the trees you create/use in commercial applications.  The magic is you can export your tree in .OBJ which is the import format of ZBrush.....Magic!

In 10 minutes I had a tree exported from Dryad in .Obj.  Use Tools, Import in ZBrush...and there is my tree model.  It's not perfect but it's a great start.  And it's 3 years ahead of what I could do on my own, having no artistic training.

Here is the Tree just exported from Dryad in .obj.  It's needs work but just try sculpting that out of clay.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



I modified my trunk object by stretching it longer and moved it in place to cover up the Dryad Tree Trunk.  I have my original trunk as a subtool and then the Dryad tree as a subtool. 



I applied materials, painted textures on the canopy and trunk and here is my final result.  And I tilted it forward 65% because I can't figure out how to make a tree look like a tree in pure Top Down perspective. (The game I'm working on is a Top-Down perspective game)..though I may adjust that concept now that I know what I can do with ZBrush and Trees.

My Final in game Tree.... and then Tilted.