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What's new in SpeedTree 9?

If you’ve used SpeedTree in the past 18 years, you probably know that the product has undergone some dramatic changes as it’s grown to meet the challenges of modern VFX and real-time productions. SpeedTree was created in response to a deceptively simple problem: organic shapes such as trees requiring both repetition and unique features can be tedious and time-consuming to create. With SpeedTree, our goal is to give artists the tools to allow them to create more intuitively, to focus on the abstraction that’s required when creating vegetation for art.

With the release of SpeedTree 8, one of our primary goals was to bring PBR material standards into SpeedTree, along with non-destructive editing tools, to streamline the creation of barks, leaves, and other textures. These updates allowed basic look-dev to happen inside of the SpeedTree modeler so artists could achieve more accurate results in the final DCC. Incorporating PBR and the revamping of our geometry nodes was an important step in preparing for the introduction of photogrammetry tools.

SpeedTree 9's development was focused on the evolution of even better photogrammetry tools and a focus on letting the artist have full control.

Note: The following sections detail the major new features. Click here for a more complete list.

Photogrammetry conversion

In SpeedTree 9, we’re introducing a new generator called a “Conversion Tool”. It’s essentially a mesh capture tool that allows you to place and steal features and textures from an imported photogrammetry mesh.

The end result is a new way to handle photogrammetry meshes that’s not only easier to use within SpeedTree, but it also streamlines geometry optimization and material creation pipelines.

So what exactly is the Conversion Tool?

1. To start, it’s a texture creation tool. After aligning an easy-click gizmo on a trunk section, you can create tiling barks with the push of a button. This tool lets you to pinpoint texture areas you want to use in multiple variations and keep the details that give your trees life. In SpeedTree 9, adjusting the range and blend of the transition area is quick and easy.

2. Secondly, the Conversion Tool lets you take a mesh that you created with a different tool and convert it into a fully procedural SpeedTree generator. This allows you to retain the detail and textures of the imported model, but gives you the flexibility of our procedural tools.

This is our approach to several challenges that currently can slow down photogrammetry workflows. For example, During the optimization of the mesh, finding the balance between detail and performance can require numerous iterations, often on multiple LODS, before you can bring the mesh into SpeedTree and begin building your model. This model is then often repeated, meaning the features that make the tree so distinct…may end up causing the scene to look repetitive.

The easiest way to address these issues is to convert the mesh, or a portion of it, into a SpeedTree generator, instantly creating clean, even geometry and UV maps.

Conversion lets you keep all the trunk detail by exporting a height map based on the original. This means all of the delightful knobs and knots you captured are now able to be optimized, even across multiple LODS.

3. Lastly, this tool instantly sets up a photogrammetry trunk extension and stitch.

Use the new CONVERT IN PLACE button for workflows where you need to keep the photogrammetry mesh in your scene. Perhaps you have a lot of great trunk detail, a cool intersection, or some giant gnarly roots that you really want to preserve.

With this workflow, you set up the conversion area and blends, and SpeedTree will attach a stitch and an extension with a tileable texture.

Freehand tools

Our focus in v9 is to introduce a suite of tools to bring new life and art styles to your procedural creations. Freehand is about fast editing and tree wrangling, and these tools are perfect for adding bumps, fine tuning, and fixing vertices.

An overview:

  • Vertex Editing allows you to bypass other dcc apps when iterating, making mesh corrections , or making a minor vertex change.
  • Bending is our fast new grab-and-go tool for fine-tuning and shaping branches. The controls let you select a spine, and push, pull, and twist it without having to edit spine nodes or switch to hand-drawing.
  • Click place lets you add a branch exactly where you need it. You can fine tune upper canopy components, and then reposition or clone them with a click of the mouse.
  • Hand drawing is a popular option for lots of our artists and that’s been incorporated into the new Freehand mode of the modeler. Hand Drawing allows you to draw specific paths by tapping the space bar.
  • Paint Displacement lets you sculpt or carve features into your tree. With this tool, you can easily create knots or paint cavities into your model while maintaining the ability to optimize procedurally.
  • Displacement’s partner in crime is the Paint Vertices tool, which is used to highlight details by adding vertices exactly where you need them. Want to add a detailed groove or a stylized blemish? Just paint vertices onto the area, then use paint displacement to sculpt it.
  • Vertex Colors, The last tool in the set, is primarily for game artists, but can be useful in VFX applications too. Use it to paint procedural vertex colors by hand for precision effects and custom wind options.