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General Discussion / My thoughts on trees
« on: February 17, 2019, 07:40:12 AM »
Over the years I've become quite experienced in making trees out of bricks so I thought I'd share some thoughts on the matter, as I believe maybe not everyone have the same knowledge on the different ways you can make trees.
I will include a timeline of my own treemaking, the different styles both good and bad and when to use which. I keep all the trees in the same color here so they get a fair presentation. Also I do not oppose modular treepacks and whatnot, but different situations call for different trees.
The first tree was made in 2011 and is a prime example on how to not make a tree in my opinion. Trees with 2x2rounds for leaves are quite popular and I do not oppose them, as an example I think the default Gazebo save makes good use of those kind of trees where the leaves are very sparse, connecting to each other in a spiderweb kind of fashion. This tree on the other hand is dense, I do believe it was made by duping a pile of 2x2rounds all over the trunk. If you like the style of rounds make sure you make many branches and make the foliage more light. Look at the Gazebo save for inspiration as I do not like 2x2rounds because they are performance heavy and attention grabbing. This tree is 1k bricks. Do not make this, it's also very ugly fluff on a stick.
Next tree was made in 2012 and the style here differs in the ramp trunk together with brick made foliage. The process to create this trees was making the trunk and then landscape on top of it similar to creating terrain. Because of this, nothing was left to chance but the foliage was deliberately created thus making the shape rather unnatural and round. The technique works but it's not optimal as it takes longer time compared to the trees I will present after this one. Brickcount is okay at around 200 and it's not an eyesore as the first one, yet it doesn't really look like a tree does it?
This tree and the trees after were created in 2016 and forward and are the ones I actually want to focus on as the technique is the best imo. First of all needs to be said that this tree with a 1x1 trunk is very petite making it not suitable for forests but more as garden decoration, making your house more pleasant while not taking too much space. I do like them as bigger trunks look very heavy next to a smaller build. The process here is to make the trunk straight up and then adding branches in every direction. Then you will make a bush on the ground out of suitable bricks such as 2x3, 2x4 plates, and then dupe the bush all over your branches in a random yet thoughtful manner, making this tree. The good thing about using plates are that when you dupe the bush everywhere the plates will interconnect making the tree very cohesive, bad thing that the brickcount of around 350 is a bit higher but if it's a smaller detailed build this tree is perfect. Something to think about when making this tree is not to add too much foliage as you don't want it too dense, while you want to make sure it doesn't have any naked spots.
This tree is a variation of the 1x1 trunk but with brick foliage, using 2x2, 2x3, 2x4 bricks. Problem with using brick foliage and having the same technique as above by duping a bush, is that duping randomly is more cumbersome as the bricks won't adapt as well, leaving holes and irregularities if you don't place every bush dupe within a brick height grid. This is not necessary if you have some floating mod or zones. More thought is needed when you make foliage nevertheless so you don't end up with a x2 plate height hole through the middle of the tree or something similar. Brickcount much lower at 150.
This style is what I call the most realistic as many trees in bl are way too small for being normal trees. Nevertheless it doesn't make them suitable for every situation, made these for Sylvanor's Soviet City. They are basically made the same way as the previous tree but the trunk is 2x2 and the foliage consist of 4x4 and 4x6 bricks. These I highly recommend, and I don't think I have much more to add about them. Good brickcount for such a big tree at around 300.
My personal favorite, and first try at something more alive and wild. The trunk separates into two, maybe not the best picture to show it. I could also post pictures without foliage if someone wants to see the trunk creation. Similar brickcount to previous tree
Added this one as I do believe they're quite popular. These are the types of trees you find in cities. It was made similar to the 2nd tree (like terrain) but this time I wasn't stopped by gravity as it was made floating. It maybe isn't everyone's style, but I'm not a fan of ramps as they make the trees limited. 100 bricks.
Final shot of the trees with different colors. Colors are very important and don't be afraid to try out different ones.
I'm not an expert but I think I've developed a good technique that anyone can use with ease. Post thoughts, questions and maybe your own trees if you want to.
I will include a timeline of my own treemaking, the different styles both good and bad and when to use which. I keep all the trees in the same color here so they get a fair presentation. Also I do not oppose modular treepacks and whatnot, but different situations call for different trees.
The first tree was made in 2011 and is a prime example on how to not make a tree in my opinion. Trees with 2x2rounds for leaves are quite popular and I do not oppose them, as an example I think the default Gazebo save makes good use of those kind of trees where the leaves are very sparse, connecting to each other in a spiderweb kind of fashion. This tree on the other hand is dense, I do believe it was made by duping a pile of 2x2rounds all over the trunk. If you like the style of rounds make sure you make many branches and make the foliage more light. Look at the Gazebo save for inspiration as I do not like 2x2rounds because they are performance heavy and attention grabbing. This tree is 1k bricks. Do not make this, it's also very ugly fluff on a stick.
Next tree was made in 2012 and the style here differs in the ramp trunk together with brick made foliage. The process to create this trees was making the trunk and then landscape on top of it similar to creating terrain. Because of this, nothing was left to chance but the foliage was deliberately created thus making the shape rather unnatural and round. The technique works but it's not optimal as it takes longer time compared to the trees I will present after this one. Brickcount is okay at around 200 and it's not an eyesore as the first one, yet it doesn't really look like a tree does it?
This tree and the trees after were created in 2016 and forward and are the ones I actually want to focus on as the technique is the best imo. First of all needs to be said that this tree with a 1x1 trunk is very petite making it not suitable for forests but more as garden decoration, making your house more pleasant while not taking too much space. I do like them as bigger trunks look very heavy next to a smaller build. The process here is to make the trunk straight up and then adding branches in every direction. Then you will make a bush on the ground out of suitable bricks such as 2x3, 2x4 plates, and then dupe the bush all over your branches in a random yet thoughtful manner, making this tree. The good thing about using plates are that when you dupe the bush everywhere the plates will interconnect making the tree very cohesive, bad thing that the brickcount of around 350 is a bit higher but if it's a smaller detailed build this tree is perfect. Something to think about when making this tree is not to add too much foliage as you don't want it too dense, while you want to make sure it doesn't have any naked spots.
This tree is a variation of the 1x1 trunk but with brick foliage, using 2x2, 2x3, 2x4 bricks. Problem with using brick foliage and having the same technique as above by duping a bush, is that duping randomly is more cumbersome as the bricks won't adapt as well, leaving holes and irregularities if you don't place every bush dupe within a brick height grid. This is not necessary if you have some floating mod or zones. More thought is needed when you make foliage nevertheless so you don't end up with a x2 plate height hole through the middle of the tree or something similar. Brickcount much lower at 150.
This style is what I call the most realistic as many trees in bl are way too small for being normal trees. Nevertheless it doesn't make them suitable for every situation, made these for Sylvanor's Soviet City. They are basically made the same way as the previous tree but the trunk is 2x2 and the foliage consist of 4x4 and 4x6 bricks. These I highly recommend, and I don't think I have much more to add about them. Good brickcount for such a big tree at around 300.
My personal favorite, and first try at something more alive and wild. The trunk separates into two, maybe not the best picture to show it. I could also post pictures without foliage if someone wants to see the trunk creation. Similar brickcount to previous tree
Added this one as I do believe they're quite popular. These are the types of trees you find in cities. It was made similar to the 2nd tree (like terrain) but this time I wasn't stopped by gravity as it was made floating. It maybe isn't everyone's style, but I'm not a fan of ramps as they make the trees limited. 100 bricks.
Final shot of the trees with different colors. Colors are very important and don't be afraid to try out different ones.
I'm not an expert but I think I've developed a good technique that anyone can use with ease. Post thoughts, questions and maybe your own trees if you want to.
