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Creating Realistic 3D Plant 3: Shaping The Leaves

In this tutorial, we'll take the leaves we created in the previous tutorials and use them to assemble a plant. We will explore a range of techniques for adding deformations to the leaves, enhancing the overall realism of the plant.

1. Leaf Setup Breakdown

To grasp the functionality of our leaf setup, let's dissect its key elements:

  • Bending Controller (Curves Hook Empty Object)
  • Curve
  • Leaves mesh
  • Parent (Empty object)

These three objects are attached to an empty object that functions as a Parent. Because the leaf components are attached to this Parent, we can easily change the entire configuration by adjusting the Parent's position, size, or rotation.

2. References!

For generating realistic 3D content, real-life references are essential. So, before you continue, gather as many reference pictures of your subject as you can find and spend some time studying these photos. In the case of something like a plant, you can also get a real-life plant to examine.

Why is reference so important? It allows you to spot all the subtle details that make an object realistic, and it also prevents you from adding details that do not exist in real life. This keeps the model grounded in reality and saves time because you're only working on details that actually exist.

PLACING AND SHAPING THE LEAVES

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