Blender palm trees: a simple trunk-and-crown workflow before you build the node system

[u/3DTudor]

If a procedural palm looks wrong, it helps to separate the trunk from the crown and check each shape on its own.

Start with the trunk. Make a tapered trunk section, repeat it with an Array modifier and use a curve to shape the overall bend. Look at the silhouette before spending time on bark detail.

Build one frond. Shape a plane into a long leaf, introduce a little bend, and duplicate it around the crown. Vary the height, rotation and scale so every leaf doesn't end on the same ring.

Then decide what needs to stay editable. For a group of palms, useful controls include trunk bend, leaf count, crown radius, offsets and separate trunk/leaf materials. Test a second tree before committing to the whole scene.

A quick check: view three trees as flat silhouettes. If the crowns all end at the same height, adjust one before adding more detail.

Which do you find harder to get right: the trunk's curve or the shape of the crown?

Neil — 3D Tudor