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Modeling and Texturing Cannabis Plant tutorial
by fligamaflogamus (Kai Nash)

Here are instructions to make a quick cannabis plant in 3d studio max. I chose this plant because it has a simple growth pattern, and an interesting leaf shape.The basics of this tutorial can be used for any plant, just use a different leaf shape. O.K. here goes, here is the finished model you will make. I'm sure yours will be much better with a bit of extra tweaking. TIME NEEDED 10-30 mins.

1. first, create a plane object in the top viewport (segments= 4x4), just to one side of the central cross.

2. Open the material editor,and pick an empty sample slot. Make sure 2 sided is turned on. Place the following image in the diffuse channel for this material and also in the bump channel. Set the bump amount to about -300. Tweak this to your liking.

3. Apply the following image to the opacity channel in the material editor. Make sure that 'black' is the transparent color.

Leaf opacity map.bmp (right click and save image as)

4. In reality these plants will grow a branch from the base of each leaf. Obviously older branches at the bottom of the plant will be longer than those at the top. The branches have exactly the same leaf layout as the main stem, so are quite easy to make. In the final picture at the top of the page, i have added 3 lights, each a different color and all casting shadows. All done, I have yet to make a smokable version! Apply the material to the plane you have created. Click 'show in viewport' in the material editor, to toggle the material on or off. The material editor should look like this:.

5. Add an edit mesh modifier to the plane object, and enter the vertex sub-object level.Leaves are not totally flat, so, adjust the vertices to create a more natural leaf shape.(whatever looks right to you)

6. Hold down shift and drag the leaf in the top viewport to create a copy. (at the pop up dialog, make sure 'copy' is selected). Rotate and move the leaf copy in the top viewport so that the stem-tips are nearly touching at the central cross area. Turn on smooth and highlights in the top viewport.Your top viewport should look similar to the following. (when the material is turned on in the viewport, your top view should be similar to the image on the left,otherwise it will just look like 2 squares.)

Material on (left image) - material off (right image)!

7. Now, hold shift and drag both leaves upwards in the side or front viewport to create another copied pair. Repeat this step a few times and scale each individual pair to create a christmas tree like formation like this:

Material on (left image) - material off (right image)!

8. In the top viewport,Select all the leaves, hold down shift, and rotate 90 degrees to create twice the amount of leaves. Your top view should look like this:

Top view (left image) - Perspective viw (right image)!

9. In the front or side view, move the new copies up or down so they are on alternating levels with the other leaves.

10. That's it, it just needs a stem and soil and a pot which dont need explaining.

In reality these plants will grow a branch from the base of each leaf. Obviously older branches at the bottom of the plant will be longer than those at the top. The branches have exactly the same leaf layout as the main stem, so are quite easy to make. In the final picture at the top of the page, i have added 3 lights, each a different color and all casting shadows. All done, I have yet to make a smokable version!

Download finished model! (.max and .3ds format)

This tutorial was written by 3D Kingdom member fligamaflogamus (Kai Nash)!

If you have any questions related to this tutorial, please feel free to post comment under it!

Edited by PiLe