TreesGen02_08 has just been approved and is available on the MarketPlace TreesGen02 08 in Props - UE Marketplace
Pleased to announce a new type of product release onto the Unreal Marketplace, In The Kitchen 02
Any suggestions on how to get your trees to look right with physically base lighting values in Unreal? I’m trying to use them in a scene with a SunSky actor, which uses a real-world sun brightness value of the directional light of 75000 lux. At this brightness, leaves are grossly over saturated and bright.
Is it just the leaves that are oversaturated and bright?
You could try reducing the saturation in Post Processing, assuming everything else is saturated as well.
In the Material for the leaves, reduce the Roughness and or Specular values in the shader. You can add a solid white colour to Roughness and a solid black to Specular to make the outcome flat matt.
It is better to make most non-moving meshes Stationary and not Static. I do not know why, but it seems to have an effect on lightmaps.
I tried to raise the Lux value of 9.0 to 75,000 but the slider would not go that high. The maximum setting is 150, at that value everything was washed out.
I did find this article on the Unreal Doc site. Physical Lighting Units | Unreal Engine Documentation
The default brightness for the SunSky actor is 75000 lux. You can prevent it from looking washed out by enabling the “extend luminance range” setting in your project settings. It’s also important to enable auto exposure in the project settings and make sure that it’s not limiting the max and min EV value.
Ultimately, the leaves of the Joshua Tree models I wanted to use in particular look super high contrast with very sharp shadows on the leaves and overly saturated relative to anything else in the level.
It’s also notable that the default scale of the trees appears to be about 2x to 3x too small for a realistic proportion in game. An easy fix to scale it, but it’s just something I noticed.
When I apply a scale to trees etc, I do so using the default 3D character as a reference. I set the scales on import, so they arrive as 1:1 scale in the packs. Of course trees etc all grow in size, so the meshes are flexible to make those adjustments.
So you set the project to use extend luminance range, of course everyone can use their own individual settings to reflect what they need. I use the Auto luminance setting to get an average balance for when I take screenshots. I tend not to create scenes, just a grid of the models using vanilla settings inside a ‘light box’.
Those screen shots look very good, sharp and with plenty of colour vibrancy 
I am working on the next submission called TreesGen02_09, this pack has some unique features. There are single and a clump of Coconuts that can be added to the coconut trees. There is also a clump of Dates that can be added to the Curly Palm trees. There is also included a bunch of Bananas that can be used on the Banana trees. An additional Palm bark material is included that uses displacement for greater realism.
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Another submission in the processes of approval TreesGen02_10, which consists of 30 unique trees never been used in any collection on the Marketplace.
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6 Beech Trees -
6 Birch Trees -
6 Elm Trees -
6 Maple Trees -
6 Oak Trees
Included in the pack are some new shaders and the associated maps for Albedo/Diffuse, Metallic, Smoothness, Edge, Displacement/Height, Normal and AO.
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News Update: Both submissions have been approved, TreesGen02_10 has already been Published and is available in the Marketplace, TreesGen02_09 will be published very soon.
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TreesGen02_09 is here TreesGen02_09
TreesGen02_10 is here TreesGen02_10
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Hello @Immersive-Games !
You certainly have a knack for creating such impeccable flora! Thank you so much for sharing your creations, and congratulations on getting your newest submission approved for the Marketplace! Which of your plants/trees are your personal favorites?
Hello and thank you for your comments/feedback.
Throughout the decades producing mesh models, I have never been able to create ‘natural’ organic things, until I focused on Trees, Bushes, and moreso Ivy.
My favourites are the Tree Ivy combinations from the Dead Forest packs.
Do you have any favourites?
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You’re most welcome! 
You have certainly found your purpose in creating flora meshes!
While I’m not an “outdoors” person, per se, I have always, always admired different tree species ever since childhood. I love being near nature and I MUST have an open window with many trees to view.
My favorite trees in your collection are the palms and the most recent pack you have released. I am partial to birch and oaks, especially live oaks. https://d3m7xw68ay40x8.cloudfront.net/assets/2010/04/29121219/live-oaks-e1556554353647.jpg
It was hard to say which in your collection are my favorite. I really am impressed with them all! 
As an arbor enthusiast, your wonderful work reminds me of my travels, in which I have seen trees that seem other-worldly - such as a rainbow eucalyptus, jacarandas, and baobabs. Someone with your flair and expertise could totally recreate these trees to be implemented in games, movies, etc. I’m sure of it! 
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Do you think I should release packs of a single species/group or maybe by biosphere?
I have tried to keep palms away from say oaks and beeches away from beaches.
The programmes I use, whilst powerful are very complicated and require either detailed knowledge of a species, or have a template baseplate in which to create the variances of nature, or days/weeks to spend experimenting.
I was once in my varied career a General Manager of a Joinery company, where I was exposed to the Trada books, which is basically a world database of all known tree species. I discovered that West African Mahogany trees are so varied that almost each tree is a new species. That’s a lot of trees.
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Hi @Immersive-Games !
Your bewildering, intricate skills and talent should not fall victim to limitations. I understand how time-consuming it is for you to create such wondrous works. In my humble opinion, making a poll in the forum to capture an idea of what the community needs in their games would be a great start. This way, your expertise isn’t confined - it will serve to further your reach and bring exposure to your skillset. I agree with the way you have been doing things - by keeping your packs related (beeches away from beaches! LOL!).
Immersive, I have had an interest in how wood is chosen for furniture. It’s so cool that you were working at a Joinery company! I can imagine how great it smelled! I love real mahogany and the smell of cedar! Thank you so much for the Trada link! I have a relative who is a craftsman and exploring the different wood species will definitely assist me in livelier conversations with him! LOL!
BTW, as a lover of The Elder Scrolls (Bethesda Game Studios), I greatly appreciate the variation of your trees, as the Hist is vital to the Argonians! 
Please let me know how you feel about a poll. TTYL, my friend!
Edit: I wanted to say how astonishing it is, the diversity of the West African Mahogany! I’m floored at the wonder of nature!
Thank you for your kind comments and observations.
I started my career as a indentured Carpenter and Joiner, and in my experience as a GM of the Joinery Company, woods are group based on suitability for internal, external and water logged situations (as grouped on the Trada website), within those groups are colour, texture, availability, cost, and workability. West African Mahogany, while in abundance, is often found in volatile sections of the country, the timber, whilst a lovely honey colour and great grains, it also has opposing grains (they grow in both directions along its length) making it very difficult to get a smooth surface that doesn’t resemble having stripes of ‘end grain’ within the surface. It can also blunt tools when machining.
Beech is a solid choice for furniture and was chosen as the timber for school/office furniture.
Oak for exterior timbers as well as interior exposed structural members, including ship building.
Teak, historically used in ship building due to natural oils that prevent rot but also fine and expensive furniture due to its workability.
Hickory for tools, hammer handles, mallets ect due to its ability to absorb shock, and workability.
Mahogany, comes from around the globe and is a big family of species. Honduras and Brazilian are perhaps the most well known.
I could go on for hours, but have to say, wood has been used extensively throughout the existence of humans so there is a great deal of knowledge as to why/what species are chosen for a variety of tasks.
Generally, I love timber, both alive and dead, each piece I look at is as unique as a snowflake.
Whoa whoa whoa, Shiver Me Timbers, @Immersive-Games ! LOL! 
Thank you so much for furthering the conversation with your detailed knowledge of joinery! I have learned so much from reading your post! I love teak furniture! A few questions: What do you think of Japanese joinery? Have you ever built your own furniture or tools? Have you witnessed any gruesome injuries while working for the joinery? Also, is it difficult to craft handmade joints?
Speaking of joinery, when it comes to carpentry, can you share any timesaving tips? And oh yes, Get-Dovah is about to go there - you’ve thoroughly explained many facets of the best woods for different uses, Immersive-Games, what is the best wood for weaponry? Yes, I went there, LOL! 
Because of your ability to emulate the pristine visual aesthetics of trees, are you going to further create other objects (such as your kitchen pack)? The china is beautiful, btw. 
When I first started my 4 year Apprenticeship as a Carpenter/Joiner, it was in the machine shop, where most joints etc were created by machine, albeit the machines needed setting up by hand. In all cases all the components went into the bench shop for assembly. When I moved company, the machine shop was small so a lot of the jointing was done in the bench shop and joints were created by hand.
I like the look of Japanese joinery, they are a minimalist culture and do not have much living space so their joinery is also very fine.
Time saving… well Joinery and indeed Carpentry has changed a lot since my days as an apprentice, where we would make roofs by hand, they come pre-manufactured, same with stairs, window/door frames and even doors, building is more like assembling a kit these days, even the tools are all powered. It was some 20 years of doing everything by hand before I bought my first electric drill, but there was more of a sense of art when done by hand. The last thing I made by hand was around 20 years ago when I made my king sized bed, with a great sense of achievement.
Thank you for the feedback regarding the kitchen pack, it was made easier once I got a grip of the clear coat feature in the shader, awesome addition. I have been creating models for over 20 years and scenes, all in VR. We have released a series of games for the PC, I learnt a lot doing that. I also contract out to companies to create interactive scenes including medical, jet pilot training and a military contract.
What is available on Unreal is only around 10% of everything I have made, albeit things made 20 years ago were created when every polygon/vertice counted, these days we throw around models that contain more polygons that some of me whole scenes ever contained. Textures are measured in 1-16k with multiple maps per surface, whereas 20 years ago the total budget for textures would be up to 1mb. So many of the older models are too crude.
What do you use models for?
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