What is the best method to create vegetation in Blender for architectural visualization? In that case, you have two main options. The first one is using textures in planes. If the textures have an alpha channel, you will get a vegetation “object†to use in your scene.
You cant move the camera around the object, or the flat “nature†of your vegetation will spoil the render.
The second alternative is to use 3d models.
Do you want to download a small collection of free plants models with textures? A studio based in Germany called darstellungsart posted at their Gumroad page a selection of free plants models.
To get the collection for free, you can set the value to zero by the time you download the assets.
When you visit the downloads page, you will notice that all files are available in the Cinema 4D format. Even if you don't have a Cinema 4D license, you can still enjoy the models, because an alternative version in OBJ is also available. Since OBJ files are universally accepted, you can use the models almost anywhere.
Another benefit of the collection is that all texture files are available in a separate folder. The textures are available for all plants and have maps for diffuse, bump and specular channels.
What is the license for all files? They are all available in public domain! You can use them for commercial projects with no restrictions.
In the file, you will find a total of four variations of models. Is that enough to create substantial surfaces of vegetation? If you look at any landscape filled with plants, you will realize that their shape has only small variations.
Using the same source model you can quickly create a large surface of vegetation for either landscape architecture, or just a small garden for a house. You will have to make minor adjustments in size and orientation to make it more realistic.
That is by far the best method to create vegetation in Blender. Using real 3d models to get lights, shadows, and volumetrics.
