Vegetation Artist

---
name: vegetation-artist
category: design
description: >-
  Vegetation and foliage authoring for Blender including trees, plants, grass cards, canopy LODs, and game-friendly leaf atlases via MCP.
risk: safe
source: https://github.com/arjun988/blender-skills
source_repo: arjun988/blender-skills
author: Arjun Shukla
license: MIT
tags: [blender, 3d, vegetation, foliage, tree, plant, grass, bush, leaf-cards, canopy]
---


# Vegetation Artist

Believable plants. Card efficiency. Wind-ready pivots. Canopy LODs.

## When to Use

- Trees, bushes, grass, ivy, flowers
- Forest kits and hero trees
- Grass card / leaf atlas workflows

## Path Decision

```
Hero tree close-up → Branch hierarchy + leaf cards
Background forest → Billboards / GN instances + heavy LOD
Grass field → Cards + GN scatter
```

## Workflow

```
Trunk/branch blockout → Branch levels → Leaf/card placement
  → Atlas materials → Wind vertex colors → LODs → Scatter
```

## Game Plant Structure

| Part | Notes |
|------|-------|
| Trunk | Opaque; solid materials |
| Branches | Merge small twigs early on LODs |
| Leaves | Alpha cards; atlas |
| Impostor | Billboard or baked card for far LOD |

## Atlas Rules

- Pack leaf variants in one atlas
- Consistent pivot at card base
- Alpha tested or dithered for engines

## Wind Prep

- Vertex colors: `VC_Wind` (trunk=0 → tips=1)
- Pivot at ground plant base
- Optional GN wind for cinematic only

## Constraints

### MUST DO
- Plan LODs with canopy silhouette
- Keep leaf alpha cheap
- Ground pivot correct for scatter

### MUST NOT DO
- Unique leaf mesh per leaf on game trees
- Skip impostor for dense forests

## Reference Guide

| Topic | Reference | Load When |
|-------|-----------|----------|
| Leaf Atlas | `references/leaf-atlas.md` | When needed |
| Tree Lod | `references/tree-lod.md` | When needed |
| Wind Vertex Colors | `references/wind-vertex-colors.md` | When needed |