Oh an the roots will need to "sub-branch" into smaller roots ofcourse

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I'd probably start with a cylinder or a box and extrude out from there.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

Ok cool so I do have the right idea, thats good to know. Only issue i see coming up before I begin, is if I have a long twisty cylinder for a root, and I go to extrude say one of the side segments, it will be square in shape for the sub root, which isnt round enough for the look I want. Can the "edge" of an object be split similiar to using the divide command on a spline, but still maintaining an unbroken mesh?

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Just move your vert's around to make more of a rounded pattern before extruding.

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Rick

[Link to www.3dartconcepts.com]

Sometimes I find using the spherify modifier on an open border can give you a more circular place to extrude from. select the border, use spherify then collapse and use shift drag to extrude. then cap the border and cut it up into quads for smoothing. works best with 8 edges. Otherwise I think using cut up cylinders and welding them into the rest of the trunk is a good choice. you can create loads of objects and then use bridge and weld to stitch it all together. its more liberating than trying to extrude it all from the one mesh.

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Nice method man!

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Please support us and post a [Link to www.digitalartsfront.com] on your website.

--Matt

Yea the spherify mod is very useful for this kinda of thing.

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Please support us and post a [Link to www.digitalartsfront.com] on your website.

Tyson, that is a sweet tip.. I have never used "spherify" before.. Just tried it.. I can't think of the numerous times that this would have come in handy..... gggeeezzz ... Thanks

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Rick

[Link to www.3dartconcepts.com]

No worries

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Yeh, I use spherify like that all the time, it's a handy little tool.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

So when you say border, do you mean select the 4 edges of the square shape I am extruding (but dont select the faces) ?? And this will break it up into more edges and vertices?

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Pretty much, except you can delete the faces and just shift-drag the edges out rather than using the extrude tool. Then you can just cap the ends when you're done or leave them open as they'll probably be stuck into the ground anyway. Also, you'll need more than 4 edges for the spherify modifier to work. As Tyson said earlier, 8 is best.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

I didn't know you could apply spherify like that, I thought it was just for whole meshes. Thanks, that will come in handy for sure.

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Chris

Ok so I will select TWO square regions (2 faces total) and delete the middle edge while selecting the outside edge.

Is there any tips or tricks for making the branches twisty or anything, or just bending everything by hand the only cure? Bare in mind Im not familiar with ALOT of features so any modifier suggestions are probably new (Except mesh smooth and spherify)

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I would do it with separate cylinders as mentioned earlier, creating cylinders, chopping off the ends, then maybe use the bend modifier and some hand modelling to position things organically. I'd also try using splines to draw out some roots then make them renderable and collapse them into editable polygon meshes. then you can weld them into the rest of the mesh. I'd make extrusions with circular gaps at the base to create places for the new geometry to weld into, roughly line it all up, then weld it all together.

Another tool that could be usefull is the extrude along spline command in editable poly. it only works for selected polygon extrusions.
so it wont be much good for extruding open borders. You just draw a spline then with a selection hit the extrude along spline button in the edit polygons rollout and choose a spline. then it does a series of extrusions with options like taper, twist and rotation.

You could also get a bit tricky with the Ivy generator and make some roots that way. [Link to graphics.uni-konstanz.de]

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You might try extrude along splines to have an easier time making roots or branches. I'll give you a run through:

Image 1: I create a box and shaped it a little after applying an "Edit Poly" modifier. Select the poly's where you want to extrude.

Image 2: Delete the poly's.

Image 3: Select the border.

Image 4: Apply the "Spherify" and then either collaspe the stack or add another "Edit Poly" modifier on top of the "Spherify" modifier. The Select the border again and "Cap" it.

Image 5: Lay out a spline in the shape that you want for your branch.

Image 6: Then position your spline how you would like it.

Image 7: Select the Poly for your branch

Image 8: Select the "Extrude Along Spline" far right box and click PIck spline.

Image 9: Once you select your spline, it will look like this after tweeking it. You will want to add some taper amount to make the branch smaller at the ends and adjust the rest of the settings to your liking.

Image 10: I just added a turbo smooth modifier.

I hope this will give you some inspiration.

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Rick

[Link to www.3dartconcepts.com]

Wow thats insane I gotta see if I can replicate that it looks very good.

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Good luck with your project.

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Rick

[Link to www.3dartconcepts.com]

[Link to img3.imageshack.us]

Got it working good problem solved. Those are some very detail directions by the way they wont be wasted. Thanks very much.

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No problem.

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Rick

[Link to www.3dartconcepts.com]

Nice work.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]