Now that's a perfect example of how foreground trees should be done in most achviz images. Cutouts looks so much better than those awful close ups of 3D trees.
Thanks :)
Yeah, we can debate about different technical aspects, software, techniques, etc on the forums but at the end of the day it is all about finding the proper solution to achieve the results that makes the client happy. I think many times artists can get lost in all the different technical options, but they loose the main focus and goal - to understand the exact needs of the client and deliver an output which perfectly nails that.
In the image mentioned the whole foreground was built up in PS. Normally as we have to do many shots for projects, we put more effort in building the environment in 3D, but as here it was only this one winter shot and as most of the elements were quite close to the camera this was the most efficient solution giving us the best results.