@honoluludesktop said:
Richard, "low transparency to soften", nice tip for a beginner like me to explore. Is that why some of the bunches of leaves in the center of a cluster look diffuse? Maybe that's the way it looks when the edge between the leaves and sky is well integrated. This got me to thinking that for the sake of the perspective, perhaps the reverse is better. Diffuse at the more distant edges, and sharper on the surfaces closest to the observer. Have you tried it that way?
I could cutup the tree into sections that can be blurred, or made a little transparent to achieve the desired effect. Best perhaps for mid-range 2d veggies? BTW, do I misunderstand this post? What is a 3d billboard tree, as vs a 2d tree?
Sorry mate, I thought I had replied earlier!
I didn't play any further than this test given the results of billboards (yes same as 2d, just a commonly used term for same!) in rendering just has trouble compeating with 3d so I dropped the tests, though I did some later tests just using the map on a sandbox tooled single mesh and bought forward and back the obvious parts of the plant, I do this with a few plants I use to get better sun shadow response and it worked ok on the tree too. Cant find the tests now!