The leaves were created in ZBrush for iPad, then exported to the desktop version for layout and further adjustments.
After exploring several approaches for the needles, I decided to create them by modifying branches in SpeedTree.
I chose not to use a Fab asset for the grass since this project was meant to be a learning experience, and having come this far, I wanted to create everything myself. In the future, I’d likely reduce the polycount or experiment more with Nanite.
Since the road wasn’t my primary focus, I kept it simple and didn’t spend much time on it.
The road sign was a simple enough design that I decided to create it directly in Designer. The "alignment tools" were made to help me center the text and details.
After finding Chris Murphy's presentation on PCG, I decided to experiment with it to scatter my foliage.
ID Masks were used in UE5 to create color variation through a PerInstanceRandom node + Lerp.
Before enrolling in Jared Sobotta’s foliage course, I knew nothing about foliage creation; or SpeedTree. This time, taught by Sergio Suarez, who went far beyond teaching just foliage during what (unbeknownst to us) would be CGMA’s last term. I want to sincerely thank Sergio for easing my hesitation about returning to Blender, sharing his knowledge beyond foliage in the live sessions, and giving us extra time when SpeedTree was down for weeks all while the chaos at CGMA unfolded in the background. It’s disheartening what happened to CGMA, and my heart goes out to all the teachers and students affected. I want to remember all the connections I made and will deeply miss all the knowledge that’s now inaccessable. The courses provided invaluable guidance to me in learning 3D and building confidence in my abilities, and I'm very sad to see it go. A big thank you also to my classmates: James, who created our group Discord, Sasha, Ciara, and Marc, for their support and resources throughout the course. This piece began as a Pacific Northwest coastal scene that quickly took on a life of its own. I taught myself Gaea to create mountains and islands, battled multiple crashes and corrupted nodes, sculpted massive cliffs in ZBrush… and eventually realized it wasn’t what I wanted to make. So, I returned to Pinterest to ask myself, “What story am I trying to tell?”. Ultimately, I wanted something foggy and mysterious; not creepy per se, but there's more than meets the eye. I ultimately settled on a foggy forest road. I had a lot of fun creating this project, and a lot of sleepless nights, but I'm happy to see the end result, and I hope you will like it too. Since I put a lot more thought into story creation, I might want to revisit this world that I have envisioned in future projects. This is dedicated to my iPad Pro which decided to put in its resignation after project completion, and not one day later. (RIP 2020-2025). https://www.artstation.com/sergiosuarez https://www.artstation.com/jaredsobotta
