ABSTRACT
Unlike the creation of most object types in visualization, creating vegetation is more an art than a science. When you create walls, roofs, sites, and most other scene elements, you usually do so with the precise guidance of architectural or engineering drawings. Even though we reserve a certain degree of artistic interpretation in the creation of many object types, especially in the absence of information, that degree usually extends much farther with vegetation. For example, when a set of architectural drawings specifies that the roof of a house needs to be a barrel tile roof, it probably doesn’t matter if the roof is barrel tile or Spanish tile, but it certainly needs to be some kind of tile, rather than a completely different roofing material such as standing seam or asphalt shingles. On the other hand, when a landscape drawing specifies the placement of an oak tree, you can often substitute a completely different tree, such as an elm. When you place the front door of a house, that door needs to be placed with precision. On the other hand, the location of a tree is often guided less by a landscape drawing and more by where it can block the view of something you don’t want the camera to see. These are just a few examples of the added latitude that we are usually afforded in the creation of vegetation as compared to the creation of most other object types. Furthermore, landscape drawings are often never provided, in which case we are sometimes asked to play the role of landscape architect.
