Laubwerk is a digital botany company and Plant Kit 4 is its fourth collection of render-ready, realistic 3D trees. This collection focuses on sub-tropical trees including the Mediterranean cypress, fascinating flowering trees such as the Japanese camellia and the popular Canary Island date palm.
Rather than just loading a download with meshes and textures, the Laubwerk models come as a clever little plug-in. In Cinema 4D you open the Laubwerk interface, where you see thumbnails and names of all of the products you own (including other kits; they all show in the one library). Click it to add it to your scene, in real-world measurements.
What's so good is the speed at which you can work and the quality of the renders you can achieve
You can then use simple menus to adapt the species to your needs. You can change the time of year, age and leaf density, with the viewport showing the changes live and the textures swapping automatically. This is a great system and works smoothly, as do the viewport options for speedy playback and navigation.
Apart from the simplicity of use, what is so good is the speed at which you can work and the quality of the renders you can achieve. With support for V-Ray and working in multiple host apps, this really is one of the best value options for creating CG foliage.
This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 184 - on sale now!
