Modeling in SpeedTree
- Trunk Creation: Added a trunk and switched to Hand-Drawn Mode to manually create a twisted, spiraling shape for the trunk.
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Branch Setup: Added large branches (Big Branches) to the trunk; Extended Little Branches 1 from the big branches and further appended Little Branches 2 from Little Branches 1.
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Leaf Placement: Attached leaves to both Little Branches 1 and Little Branches 2.
Normal Transfer in Blender
- Wrapped the tree leaves with an ellipsoid in Blender to simulate a spherical shading effect.
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Transferred the ellipsoid's normals to the leaves, giving them a uniform spherical normal appearance for stylization.
Materials in Unreal Engine
- Leaf Material:
- Base Color: Interpolated between leaf color and an underside color based on the normal's upward or downward orientation.
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Emission:Used the dot product of the normal and light direction to interpolate among three colors, creating dynamic lighting effects; Added a Fresnel edge color for emission, giving the leaves a soft glow around the edges.
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Leaf Shape: Applied an Opacity Mask to define the leaf shapes.
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Wind Effect: Used World Position Offset (WPO) to simulate the swaying motion of leaves in the wind.
- Trunk Material:
- Textures: Integrated procedural textures for bark, along with customizable color adjustments.
- Moss Option: Provided an optional moss layer, blended dynamically based on upward-facing normals, to enhance the natural aesthetic.