CapEm
Caddy
Posts: 36
TGCT Name: Matt Freez
Tour: CC-Pro
|
Post by CapEm on May 13, 2018 0:30:36 GMT -5
To me it seems the auto generated trees are too big, and look unrealistic. Maybe my eye isn't trained to the scale of the trees and they'll look more realistic once all of the details come together, but I was wondering if anyone uses any different techniques for planting trees? I was thinking of planting all of the trees nearest the hole anyways, but is the best strategy to plant trees around the periphery of the hole yourself and shrink them with advanced edit to give them a more realistic scale, and finally let the auto ginormous generated trees fill in the less seen areas?
Thanks!
|
|
|
Post by chilihotkey on May 13, 2018 9:07:35 GMT -5
Dont know if this is the norm or even the best way, but i plant ALL trees myself, ie start out with zero trees. like i said, it might not be the best way as both courses ive done have had alot of trees both on and off the course so it takes alot of time.
Like you where thinking i also tend to make the inner(closer) trees slightly smaller, think it makes it look alittle denser that way, but yes some of the tree types seems abit off in size compared to other types. If you think the top of the tree is the correct type dont forget that you can lower it aswell to give it abit less treetrunk
|
|
mayday_golf83
TGCT Design Competition Directors
Posts: 2,279
TGCT Name: Jeremy Mayo
Tour: Elite
|
Post by mayday_golf83 on May 13, 2018 9:33:19 GMT -5
OK, Let me preface this by saying there's not really a right way or a wrong way to do this, so if you want to plant all of your trees by hand, knock yourself out. In fact, there are some themes (Highlands) where this is the only option.
That being said, here's how I typically go about things. In general, auto-gen trees are your friend because they'll save you on the plant meter in the long run and can help you get an idea of where some natural holes could go in initial routing. Once I have my holes routed, I like to clear out a natural corridor for them. Typically the rule of thumb I use is 10 yards of width for every 30 yards of distance. So, say I've got a 450-yard hole with the landing area at 300. I'll take the distance tool and measure 50 yards each side of the center way point and draw a line back to the back of the tee box. Since I've got 150 in, I'll draw a line 25 yards to either side of the green (and 25 yards beyond the green) and connect that from the outside markers I just put in the fairway. Then I'll delete all the auto-gen trees in the playing corridor, unless I stumble upon one that greatly enhances the looks/playability of the hole.
It's not so much the size of the auto-gen trees that's the issue more than they're roughly all the same size, which typically leaves a noticeable gap in between the tree canopy and the underbrush. That's where you fill in with different sized trees, especially if your going for that dense, wooded look in the out-of-play areas. Best advice here is to start small and get bigger as you work away from the play area. I typically like to use the tree bushes and make them larger the further into the woods you can go. Sunken trees are fine too but use them in moderation because 1) even partially below surface they still behave like they are totally above ground, which can look a little odd, especially the way they sway in high winds. 2) Using too many buried trees can create some weird lighting issues, especially if you've set your course at lower light to begin with, where it create an almost black look above the planting with the shadows. There are a couple of courses in the current Designer Challenge Series contest that suffer from this ailment.
Not to pimp my own work here, but if you give Seenbayer Park or Chillingwood Resort a play, you'll see what I'm talking about in terms of layering your planting. Both of those used auto-gen trees with hand-planted trees/bushes added to fill out the look.
Hope that helps and happy designing!
|
|
CapEm
Caddy
Posts: 36
TGCT Name: Matt Freez
Tour: CC-Pro
|
Post by CapEm on May 13, 2018 21:00:05 GMT -5
Thanks for the tips guys. I think it's just an issue with my eye not trained to the scale of the trees just yet. I built two holes before auto-generating any trees and was surprised when the look wasn't what I had envisioned. I have a particular vision for a Saskatchewan type prairie course (North Dakota as an American comp???) where it's more of a scrub brush type of vegetation with the sporadic large poplar/birch mixed in. I'm designing in the countryside theme and the trees just seem too large for what I'm going for. My boreal/mountain design didn't cause any issues to my eye because it was more or less what I would have expected. Anyways, thanks again for the tips. mayday_golf83 I've played Chillingwood and really enjoyed it. I'll play again to more closely examine your tree planting, and will also try Seenbayer. Saskatchewan:
|
|
mayday_golf83
TGCT Design Competition Directors
Posts: 2,279
TGCT Name: Jeremy Mayo
Tour: Elite
|
Post by mayday_golf83 on May 13, 2018 21:50:30 GMT -5
Thanks for the tips guys. I think it's just an issue with my eye not trained to the scale of the trees just yet. I built two holes before auto-generating any trees and was surprised when the look wasn't what I had envisioned. I have a particular vision for a Saskatchewan type prairie course (North Dakota as an American comp???) where it's more of a scrub brush type of vegetation with the sporadic large poplar/birch mixed in. I'm designing in the countryside theme and the trees just seem too large for what I'm going for. My boreal/mountain design didn't cause any issues to my eye because it was more or less what I would have expected. Anyways, thanks again for the tips. mayday_golf83 I've played Chillingwood and really enjoyed it. I'll play again to more closely examine your tree planting, and will also try Seenbayer. Saskatchewan: See what you mean here, and see your thought on going countryside due to the backdrop. JMO, but boreal might actually be a better choice, just change the backdrop to the least mountainous option. Could also try rustic, but it's using a number of the same deciduous trees as countryside. Biggest drawbacks on countryside for this would be 1) no coniferous trees and 2) the density of 100 percent auto-gen trees is about as low as you're going to find in any theme. Also, since this doesn't appear to be a full on RCR, I'd experiment with widening the buffer area you have been fairway and the woods. Matter of perspective there. The same 50-foot tall treeline is going to seem smaller the further off into the periphery it is. Some taller bushes/sunken trees would definitely help you recreate the look on the left, whereas more of the solid wall of trees technique I described earlier would replicate the look on the right up by the green. Also, don't be afraid to play around w/ sculpting to help create the illusion that trees are taller or smaller than they appear. Threw a lot of stuff out there but the biggest key is just to play around with things until you get a look you like and then run with it.
|
|
|
Post by Violinguy69 on May 14, 2018 7:37:10 GMT -5
I've taken to a new approach regarding pre-gen trees. I start with nothing, then create the holes and routing. Then maybe some very general elevation work (large hills, lakes, etc.). After that, I go back and set trees to max. Then I remove all of the trees from the course (but not the plot). I did this on my latest WIP and it looks pretty nice so far. I've been adding trees here and there in between the holes as I go.
I'll say this - it works well on a course with the holes very close together. It probably wouldn't work as well if the holes are very spread out since planting all those trees to get a wooded look will fill up the meter.
|
|