If you want to create some unique model trees for Unity have a look at Forester Pro for Windows. It is very easy to use, and it can generate a huge range of trees, including your own custom models and, most importantly for you guys, has an export function specifically for Unity that is compatible with the terrain painter.
Jungle made from Forester Pro models in less than 30 minutes.
Forester Pro has powerful tree editing functions allowing model trees to be generated randomly and posed in realtime, including deformation functions and per vertex editing. In the registered version of Forester custom templates can be created allowing users to generate their own unique types of tree. New randomized trees can be created with a single click.
The free version Forester Lite can be downloaded from our website and can be used to generate an unlimited number of random trees from seven different tree types. Models created with Forester Lite can be used royalty free in non-commercial projects and for development. Models generated by Forester Pro are royalty free and can be used in commercial products including asset packs. Registration costs $40.00.
I’ve played with this just a little…getting a tree into Unity was a snap. But for some reason, Unity isn’t creating the billboard.
Couple of suggestions:
It’s a little buggy at times, crashing.
The right-mouse click stuff is weird, especially to bring up the context menu. I seem to have to spam right mouse clicks to get it to pop up. Overall, the control scheme seems odd. But that’s just me.
I like the LOD functions. But often, I want a medium or high LOD trunk, but very low LOD branches. It would be -very- nice if you could apply a LOD level to a specific branch, leaf, trunk, etc. From what I can tell, branches contribute a LOT of the poly count
More than three LOD levels would be cool
Edit: Ok, I read the docs and found the section on branch optimization, thanks
Very nice tool, I’ll suspect I’ll be snagging it soon!
Btw…you’ll find that leaves add a lot to the face count if you are using a complex leaf mesh. You can swap the leaf mesh on LODs manually in the edit window using the context menu, this allows you to swap to say simple planes, or another simplified leaf mesh.
Unity seems to be creating billboards for me, or rather there is that characteristic change in distant trees that usually means the engine is swapping to a billboard. If you want you can create a billboard in Forester as a 2D image…although I admit I don’t know how to specifically implement billboards in Unity.
But thanks again for buying and the vote of confidence.
This looks rather interesting. Is there a possibility that you add FBX export at some point? I am not much a fan of Collada. Also, is this Windows only? If so, is there a Mac version in planning?
Actually we’ve been surprised how well Collada works in Unity, it imports straight in with no fuss, and they are compatible with the Terrain Editor. But you are right FBX files are more compact and not human readable so better for production. You can convert Forester Pro trees to FBX in Blender (or Maya etc). In Blender just import the Collada then export it using Blender’s FBX export setting Y Forward and Z UP and the scale to 100.0. Select just the Mesh to export and turn off all the other options. We aren’t planning an FBX exporter for Forester in the near future, simply because exporters are rather difficult to implement, and there is already an easy work flow. We’ve tested models created from all out available tree template packs (including the ones below) and they all export fine.
Conifer tree pack with templates to create randomized tree models
Unfortunately there won’t be a Mac version due to technical limitations.
Looks pretty nice, would it be possible to have a version highter than “high res tree” where there would be no flat textured area but actual geometry for everything including individual leaves? I’d be very interested if so.
Yes there is. You choose the resolution by setting the number of vertexes in each branch. Most of the leaf meshes aren’t flat planes already, however, you can import your own leaf meshes in Collada format. If you want one mesh per individual leaf you can, although there is a limit of 4000 leaves. It would be quite easy to increase this limit, so if you are desperate for an insane number of leaves we could send you a version just for you!
This is my bad then, i’ll give it a second look (i thought setting right click high resolution was the best, didn’t think there was additional settings).
If i purchase this, is a skype live demonstration possible (even with a fee) if i have additional questions?
Just to be clear, i didn’t mean for importing but using what comes with the tool (i have 0 artistic capabilities, so i’m looking at using premade trees), do you have a sample of how to get more than simple plane leaves “with” one of the built in trees? A video would rock showing how to get max quality (even if it’s in the million of polygons range that’s fine).
Thanks!
Annnnd sorry for the spam but questions are coming to me quicky, i see additional packs, if i purchase a team licence at 150$ (i’m alone today but i’d like to be safe on the future), are those additional packs for my whole potential future team too? Can i “include” a contractor in those terms too?
Bonsoir Ronan,
If you look at the tree models available in the free version you’ll see that the leaf meshes are all more complex than a simple plane. Simple planes produce quite awful trees. In the leaf properties window you’ll see an option to select leaf meshes and several come with the free version Forester Lite, and a few more with each tree template pack. For example most of the temperate tree pack use angled leaves, a rather efficient 4 face mesh that gives the impression of volume. You’ll see similar meshed used for leaves in dishonoured.
For the license. If you are a one seat team at present, please feel free to buy the indie license. We really don’t want to be too constraining with license seats. In that case if you have a contractor to build models for you then they should have the license themselves. If you want to just try out models for your development, then there are a range in the free version of forest lite.
I’m amazed at how much better these trees look in Unity, than the tree creator ones. One of the biggest things is the quality of the billboards. Being able to use higher resolution textures. It’s very nice.
Have to say this has replaced my need for the tree creator.
One request: The ability to “lower” the tree pivot by a specific amount, so that it rests below the ground a little further.
interesting – but how do those trees manage to have “better” billboards as all billboards are calculated by unity?
i guess you mean the fact that they do not have any translucency or shadows on the leaves – as all trees have using the “old” soft occlusion shaders.
as far as texture resolution is concerned: it is not easy but even with tree creator trees you can use textures with a higher resolution than the standard 1024 one.
if you do not need translucency, bump mapping and real time shadows on the leaves and advanced bending on the whole tree you can always go with the standard soft occlusion shaders and just import any externally modeled tree – those will give you better lit billboards just out of the box.
but in case you want or need the features of the tree creator shaders it will get a bit tricky – but can be done. so having a solution exporting trees which fit the needs of the tree creator shaders (vertex colors and 2nd uv set) would be great.
otherwise: just use the tree creator.
Good point…it is simply because the textures are higher resolution that the billboards look better. Unfortunately, I don’t know how to make the tree creator use higher res textures
Definately are if you didn’t plan for cross platform from the start, for exemple making a DX9 only WPF application, that sounds like a pain to port unlike a winform ogl app.
go and get one of my last tree packages to learn how create and assign highres textures
but i really doubt that the texture resolution has anything to do with the quality of the billboards – as the billboard texture itself is pretty low res. i think it is much more the lighting…
Ok, then I must be doing something wrong. In the top picture, I have a project using Unity trees. The billboards are horrible. In the bottom, mesh trees from Forester:
I don’t understand why the top ones are so bad. In both images, non-billboard trees are in the foreground, with billboards further back. But in the bottom picture, they are much better quality. The closest oak to the left is full mesh, but the billboards further past it are of such good quality imo there isn’t much difference.
Perhaps my trees in the top picture are too tall, thus reducing the billboard quality?
[Edit] Fixed picture links, should be viewable now.
you are right: the billboards in the upper picture are horrible.
but just have a closer look at the trunks of the billboards: even those are pixelated although they are mainly defined be geometry.
so it is the overall billboard resolution which is responsible for the whole mess.
