Tree- Using an Opacity Map

3Ds Max notes:

Put picture of tree into Photoshop

Use as base texture for tree

Press Ctrl and J to add a new layer and work from that one (the background layer acts as a backup copy)

Select wand tool- Make sure contiguous at the top is unticked

Click and press delete to get rid of the background

Ctrl and D to deselect selection

Ctrl and left click the layer

Ctrl, shift and N to create a new layer- on the new layer select the paint bucket tool and ensure that the white colour is selected then click on the tree, this should fill it white

The selection outline should still be showing around the tree

Ctrl and D to deselect

Create a new layer underneath and use the paint bucket tool to fill the background in Black (make sure the black colour is selected- you can use the double arrow next to the colour selection to switch the colours around 

Merge the two layers (the white tree and black background)- Ctrl and click the other layer then right click and select merge layers

Save it as a JPEG- keeping the quality at maximum 

Use the eye tool to hide the black and white tree

Create new layer above background layer- select the colour box and use the dropper tool to select the darkest green on the tree

Fill the background in with the dark green colour

Ensure you’re on the tree layer

Select the burn tool

Change range to highlights or midtones- exposure to 75%  

Go round the outside of the tree to darken it

New layer- select colour from drop down menu where it says normal- select the paint brush tool- same colour as background and go round the outside of the tree to make the outside blend in 

Merge the dark green background layer, the tree layer and the tree outline layer- save the image as tree texture

Go to the black and white tree layer- use the magic wand to select the white tree- go to your background layer- press Ctrl and J- there should now be a tree picture with a blank background

Turn off all other layers 

 Ensure that the transformation controls box is ticked to be able to see the box around your selection (located at the top)

Select the polygon lasso tool- cut out the top of the tree- Ctrl and J to copy onto a new layer- ctrl and J again, then move the dot in the middle down to the bottom of the box and in the centre and rotate it to the right (about 40 degrees)- repeat the process until it looks like a star (a bird’s eye view of a tree)- this will be the top of the tree, but from looking down onto it 

Wand tool on the star tree layer - new layer/ctrl and J- fill it with black (underneath)- deselect the selection and put a white layer underneath- merge the layers

Save it as tree opacity map (top view)

Create a green background and view the green detailed tree top, merge the 2 layers

Save it as tree texture (top view)

Max:

Create a Plane

Length: 128

Width: 93

Length and Width segments (underneath) both needs to be set to 1

Use the angle snap tool and rotate tool to rotate the plane 90 degrees upwards

Press M to open material editor and select the standard button- select multi/sub- object from the menu- press yes to discard old material- it should turn black and have 10 slots

Set the number of slots to 2 by clicking on the Set Number button

Slot 1- click none- select standard from list  

Note: Select default from drop down list to go back to main menu and switch between materials

Go to maps- diffuse colour- none- bitmap- tree texture

Maps- opacity- none- bitmap- tree texture opacity map

Go to default level- drag the material onto your plane- click on the material button in the slot list and click the checkered board with the light bulb to show the material 

In the material editor- in the material itself (1^st slot) tick 2 sided so that when the tree is rendered you can view both sides

Name your material tree side by clicking in the grey box with the name material…  (it should have a number next to it) to distinguish the difference between your material and the home menu 

Select the rotate tool and the angle snaps- hold down shift and rotate it about 45 degrees- select copy and type in 4- this makes the tree more dimensional 

Ctrl and A to select all- right click- convert to editable poly- select one of the sides- in edit geometry click on the small box next to attach- click on one of the planes on the list and hold down Ctrl selecting all of them individually then click attach 

Go to the top view viewport- select create- cylinder- set the:

Height: 0

Cap segments: 3

Sides: 12

Make the cylinder about the same size as your tree    

Pull the circle up away from the tree and right click- isolate selection- right click- convert to editable poly- click on red dots to go to vertex mode (press F4 to bring up the grid)- pull up the middle to make a point

Then use the selection tool to pull the vertexes downwards creating a cone- experiment until it looks right 

Press Ctrl and A to select all and scroll down the left hand menu- go to Polygon material IDs and set the ID to 2  

Repeat the process for the material- this time selecting the top view- ensure that 2 sides is checked 

Hold shift and pull away to copy the shape, continue this process, then rotate and scale some of the branches/leaves

Create a cylinder and put a wood texture onto it to create a tree trunk