====== Meshes ======

While the SpeedTree Modeler generates much of the geometry in a tree, using pre-made meshes in certain places can greatly enhance the aesthetics and rendering speed of a tree.


=====Mesh assets=====

Meshes are managed in the [[toolmeshesbar|Mesh Asset Bar]]. This is where you can import meshes, create whole new cutout meshes, and modify parameters about meshes, such as orientation and wind information. 

{{mesh_asset_bar.png?150}}

====Cutouts====
A quick and easy way to make a mesh without ever leaving the SpeedTree Modeler is to use the [[toolcutout_editor|Cutout Editor]]. This tool can help you make a mesh for a particular material with very little extra, empty space around it. Extra triangles can be added to make a mesh better suited for deformation.

{{cutout_editor_pivotpoint.jpg?250}}

When modeling a low-detail tree, [[kcmesh_anchors|Mesh Anchors]] can be very useful. This feature of the Cutout Editor lets you pinpoint exactly where children will be attached. This can help you create a very "full" looking model without many triangles.


====Importing meshes====
If you wish to have more control, you can model a mesh yourself in any third-party tool, such as Autodesk Maya or 3ds Max. The SpeedTree Modeler can import meshes in OBJ or FBX formats.

In special cases, you can even [[expstaticmesh|export a mesh]] from SpeedTree, and import it back into a different tree. SpeedTree can be used to make flowers, pine cones, etc. that may then be placed in another tree.

> **Note**: The "Import mesh asset" item in the "File" menu is a shortcut to importing meshes into a mesh asset quickly.

====Mesh LOD====

In many cases, multiple levels of complexity are needed for a single Mesh asset. You can import three mesh levels in the Mesh Asset Bar for use with [[kcgameslod|Level of Detail]] in a real-time model, or for use with [[kcvfxresolution|Resolution]].

=====Using meshes=====
Meshes can be used in many places on a tree, for example with leaves and fronds, geometry forces, props, zones/terrains, and photogrammetry. 

====Leaves/fronds====
Meshes are very useful when dealing with leaves or fronds. Just making a [[toolcutout_editor|Cutout]] around your material's opacity channel can make leaves render more optimally. Even when you use a mesh, each leaf can be [[leaf_mesh_generator#deformation|deformed]] individually, so your leaves won't all look the same. Meshes can also be used to make fruit, flowers, buds, thorns, or any sort of small piece of a tree.

When doing low-poly modeling, [[atclusters|Cluster]] materials with cutout meshes may, in fact, make up the bulk of your tree, especially when using [[kcmesh_anchors|Mesh Anchors]] to place the children. Bushes may be made entirely in this fashion, with no actual branches.

====Geometry forces====
[[geometry_forces|Geometry Forces]] are a way to use a mesh to influence a tree. Parts of a tree can be attracted to, repelled by, wrapped around, or cut short by a mesh. Roots can be wrapped around a rock, vines can hang down from a branch, and plants can grow up a wall, for example.

Setting a mesh as a container area on another [[kcforces|Force]] lets you influence the [[kcvfxgrowth|Growth]] of a tree as it moves through these different areas.

====Props====
You can always place a mesh in the scene for use as a prop or background to your tree modeling. This would also be done using a [[geometry_forces|Geometry Force]], but you don't have to actually have it affect the tree in any way. You may apply a material to it so it looks like a real object in the scene.

> **Note**: If you want the mesh to be part of the tree and export with it, tick the "Include in Model" property on the Mesh Force.

====Zones/terrains====
If you apply a mesh to a [[zone_generator|Zone]], you can have things "grow" off it. The [[tree_generator|Tree Generator]] at the base of every tree is a simplified version of a Zone. 

====Photogrammetry====
3D scans of objects (especially trunks) are often used as the starting point for a model.  Use mesh assets in combination with [[mesh_generator|Mesh Generators]] to make them available for use with the tools and techniques designed to help incorporate photogrammetry into the model.