Release notes

Please consult the sections below for new features and bug fixes for each release.

• Exporting: Fixed a crash that occurred when exporting to USD with malformed names.
• Generation: Fixed a bug that caused extra nodes to be created as the children of Base nodes.
• Generation Editor: Fixed an issue with hiding or showing generators in the Generation Editor so it now updates Projectors.
• Generation Editor: Fixed the Pass label on generators in the Generation Editor so that it no longer overlaps the Statistics labels.
• Hand-drawing: Fixed a bug that resulted in hand drawn branches pointing the wrong way when they were started.
• Importing: Fixed the Import tree feature so that mesh properties import correctly.
• Node editing: Fixed an issue that caused the Property Bar to crash when selected during node editing.
• Wind: Fixed a bug that caused extreme stretching during VFX wind.
• Wind: Fixed a bug that caused branches to separate from their parent during Games wind.

• Exporting: Game FBX now has option to control the root object used in the file: None, Transform, or LOD Group.
• Exporting: Game FBX now has up-axis settings, similar to VFX FBX export.

• Command line: Fixed crash that could occur when using the command line to export FBX on Windows.
• Exporting: Fixed UnrealEngine export preset that had wrong setting for 'Flip Texcoord V'
• Generators: Fixed a bug that could cause Card generators to crash due to height map.
• Generators: BatchedLeaves removed by the collision system no longer displays errant geometry during LOD previews.
• Assets: Fixed occasional crash when opening older trees that used material sets.
• Launch dialog: Launch dialog now handles display scaling better.

• Frond sections: Added the ability to identify sections of a Frond mesh and have them bend differently based on procedural properties. Refer to Manipulate mesh sections.
• Projectors: Added a Projector scene object that uses ray casting to scatter details onto selected generators. Refer to Introduction to Projectors.
• New generator: Added a Base generator for use with Projector scene objects.
• Height maps: Added height map support to Leaf, Batched leaf, and Frond generators.
• Cutout Editor: Added section painting for use with Frond sections.
• Cutout Editor: Added improved painting tools, including brush size, falloff, and opacity margin.
• Cutout Editor: Added improved tessellation functionality, including a new cut mode and an option for edge refinement. These features also improve how masks apply to meshes.
• Open dialog: Added the ability to search by metadata and run more complex searches using search syntax.
• Export dialog: Added the option to Group by Generator to the export dialog.

• Launch dialog: Redesigned the launch dialog with shared VFX and games functionality.
• Export dialog: Redesigned the export dialog with shared VFX and games export functionality.

• Error messages: Fixed a bug where new assets could cause unfixable “Geometry Force not ready” errors until the file was reloaded.
• Exporting: Fixed an issue with separate mesh handling that resulted in bad UVs in the exported mesh.
• Exporting: Fixed the Flip opacity option in static mesh exports so it’s now working properly.
• Generators: Fixed a crash that happened when converting Leaf mesh generators to Batched leaf generators.
• Generators: Fixed Zone nodes so they no longer rotate 90 degrees when selected in node editing mode.
• Help links: Fixed an issue with in-Modeler Help links so they now go to the correct documentation page.
• Mesh editing: Fixed a crash that happened when using feature vertices.
• Scene cameras: Fixed a bug that caused shadow map errors in letterboxed Scene camera projections.
• Scene cameras: Fixed an issue with FBX camera imports so failed imports are now reported and handled correctly.
• Scene cameras: Fixed material exports from rotated Scene cameras so they now have correct normal maps.
• Wind: Fixed a bug that caused Frond geometry to separate from the parent branch when using the VFX wind mode.
• Wind: Fixed exported files with Games wind so they correctly indicate which wind effects are enabled.

Added global lighting controls to the Light object. With global lighting, edit the normals of multiple leaf and frond generators from a central location using anatomical structure-based controls and mesh projections. Refer to Lighting leaves and fronds.

Made additions to the Map Editor:

• Added radial gradient, linear gradient, and noise pattern texture maps. You can now generate a simple map within the Modeler.
• Added an option to modify or change the colors of any texture map, including image files.

Added vertex color packing to export options for game formats.

Upgraded .fbx camera files to import as scene cameras. You can now have multiple .fbx cameras in a scene and transform their paths. Refer to Scene cameras.

Added Revert to saved options to the File menu and to the Action menu for individual generators.

Added the ability for Mesh detail and Decal generators to have child nodes.

Added a Wrap option to the Placement:Attach:Style property of the Mesh detail generator. You can now wrap meshes around their parent branch.

Added properties to the Segments group of the Branch generator:

• Added Scalar to change the number of polygons on segments.
• Added an option to Relative basis to add length or radial segments relative to the parent.

Added Saturation Check to the Render menu to check that material colors are within natural ranges of saturation for physically based rendering.

Added a right-click option to Copy pivot from High in the Cutout Editor.

Added Angle back to the Cutout Editor.

Added a Random Seeds:Style property to all generators. Set this property to Optimal to use an updated seed handling algorithm and fix issues with descendants during Click Place actions.

Removed sphere hints when Shape Control:Style is set to Enabled geometry forces.

Changed names and hierarchy of LOD objects saved into .fbx files for easier import to Unity and Unreal Engine.

Fixed an issue with node editing forces, so forces stay enabled during node edits.

Fixed an issue where some generators were hidden when background computing was enabled.

Fixed container forces so they work correctly.

Fixed UV area mapped branches so they use the correct section of the height map when the material is the source of displacement.

Fixed a crash that occurred when a model had multiple wrap stitches.

Fixed an issue with Card node LODs so they now grow and shrink from the correct position.

Fixed export options so material meshes set to separate now work with multiple atlases.

Fixed an issue with x10 wind speed when exporting to .st9.

Fixed atlassing errors that occurred when combining trees with multiple atlases.

Fixed .usd files so the default prim now sets correctly.

Fixed the copy/paste function in the Cutout Editor so pasted meshes now include any changes made with the Straighten tool.

Fixed LOD meshes so they now line up when switching LOD levels.

Added a warning to the Cutout Editor when a cutout was created with an older version of the Modeler. Also improved the results if a user chooses to reconstruct the mesh.

Added the Decal generator and the Mesh detail generator as two new ways to create unique surface details such as knots, lumps, or cavities. The Decal generator wraps a material and a flat mesh onto a parent. The Mesh detail generator places a material and a 3D mesh onto a parent and facilitates edge blending.

Added a scale value to mesh assets so that cutouts from the same map can be used by a single generator.

Added rotation properties to the Frond generator to aid in normal map control when fronds are used as part of material generation models.

Made multiple improvements to the Cutout Editor:

• Added an option to select and move multiple points at once.
• Added Mirror functionality to create identical triangulation on the left and right side of a mesh.
• Added Straighten functionality to adjust the texture UV space, including the centerline. The Straighten tool also lets you focus on small parts of a large texture atlas.
• Replaced Angle with rotate functionality in the new Straighten tool. Rotating in the Straighten tool works the same as the deprecated Angle option.
• Added an option to automatically move points that create very skinny triangles using a Snap threshold.
• Improved the options for automatically generating an evenly spaced mesh.
• Added zoom controls: zoom all ('a' or double click) and zoom selected ('s').
• Improved the pan capabilities so you can pan past the edges of the Cutout Editor and center the edges of a texture.

Fixed a bug that caused force object ray casting errors after asset bar changes to materials and meshes.

Polygon statistics in the Generation Editor now update when the LOD state in the Tree Window changes.

Fixed an issue with export option files on the command line that could fail silently, leading to unwanted export settings.

Fixed a crash that occurred when exporting animated spines in some wind algorithms.

Fixed automatic texture searching in the Materials Bar so it now looks for _height filenames.

Option added to application preferences for enabling/disabling background computing.

Fixed issues with exporting a tree using “forced in'' atlas with multiple cutouts. When exporting the tree to games format with more than one atlas, the UVs were wrong.

There was an issue where Indie users were not able to connect after a crash that has been fixed.

A bug has been fixed that caused extra geometry in the scene when using background computing and changing the model resolution on the toolbar.

Fixed an issue where geometry forces were incorrectly reporting pass errors when background computing is enabled.

There was an issue causing some node edits to stop displaying branches.

Added the ability to save metadata to .spm files and export metadata to .st and .stsdk files. See Tree Info Window Reference.

Improved the computing process so you can now continue to edit a model while previous edits compute in the background.

Added a property to the Leaf mesh and Batched leaf generators that aligns 3D anchors with the orientation and deformation of the parent node. See Local orientation:3D anchor style.

Added an option to create a new asset by pasting a copied asset into the Asset Bar.

Fixed issues with the Scene camera overlay and Screenshot safe frame that caused errors in exported Scene camera images.

Fixed Extend parent:Count so it now works properly and can be set to 0.

Fixed click-and-place branches created in Freehand mode so they now load correctly between different versions of the Modeler.

Fixed an issue with the position/rotation gizmo so branches near the end of a parent now move predictably.

Fixed issues that occurred with 3D anchors during a mesh asset reload.

Fixed a crash or error that occurred when changing LOD on a model with 3D anchors.

Fixed wind scaling issue so that wind behaves correctly when imported into game engines.

Fixed an issue where combining models in one export could cause the atlas layout to be incorrect.

Fixed the Render photo window so it correctly expands and displays the values of camera settings.

Added unit knowledge to files to warn users if trees were modeled in a different unit. Also added an option to convert a model to a different unit on export. See Units for more information.

Added buttons for converting and resampling hand-drawn branches on the associated panel in Freehand editing mode.

Fixed the Remove unused assets tool so it no longer impacts leaf opacity.

Updated warning messages about the wind algorithm being set incorrectly for the current export format. It now handles multiple trees open, for the case of combining trees into the same atlas.

Fixed the Fix Winding tool so it now works correctly on older (v7) leaf generators and when leaf meshes contain only one triangle.

Fixed undo/redo so it now works when popup dialogs, such as the Curve editor, are visible.

Fixed an issue where leaf references with missing or invalid mesh assets could crash Houdini.

Fixed a crash that occurred when doing a game export with a .usd file with spaces in the file name.

Fixed an issue with meshes created with the Cutout editor so they can now be used as feature vertices in Cinema versions of the Modeler.

Fixed vertex colors so they match exactly when they’re set to do so.

Fixed an issue with branches and leaves so they remain attached to their parents during VFX wind animations.

Fixed the Zone generator so children are placed correctly when Growth is enabled on the timeline.

Fixed an issue with leaves generated off fronds so they now remain attached to their parents during wind animations.

Fixed target generators so they now place child nodes on mesh nodes deformed by spines.

Fixed an issue that caused processors without AVX2 support to crash after start-up or fail to start the Modeler.

Fixed an issue where frond node anchors were incorrectly placed at the origin after a hierarchy export.

This release coincides with the release of the Games SDK v9.1.1 and should be used when exporting models for that SDK release.

An option has been added to specify the axis on the Export Mesh dialog when exporting FBX files.

The License Request Dialog now accepts order numbers in the Games Edition of the Modeler and problems accepting certain email addresses have been corrected.

This bug has been corrected. Mesh properties import correctly.

Improvements have been made to the texture streaking algorithm to make it work well across a wider range of images.

Bone weights were slightly off in FBX exports resulting in error on big branch moves. This bug has been corrected.

A bug has been fixed that caused a crash when executing game exports from the command line.

Node edits now respond to the undo command.

Generators with the same name were causing potential errors in Alembic exports. This bug has been fixed.

Perspective and orthographic cameras can be added to and saved with the scene. Use these cameras to save interesting views or accurately mark regions for exporting (e.g., leaf cluster models).

It is now possible to import an SPM file into a model.

It is now possible to have multiple extensions from a single branch. New properties have been added to target extensions for shaping and seam smoothing.

The Freehand mode “Click-place” now works on Mesh generators. Properties have been added to help orient click-placed nodes.

Properties have been added to allow stitching in the vicinity of feature vertex groups. Doing so helps maintain the shape of low polygon branches or any branch where there is a gap between length segments.

When moving or pasting generators to lower levels in the Generation Editor hierarchy the parent curve labels were incorrect and curves that should no longer be used were being applied incorrectly. These bugs have been fixed. It's possible that these fixed may affect saved models.

The bend count indicator on the Freehand GUI now updates correctly when bends are cleared on a branch.

A bug causing skew correction to not match the parent when max curves are applied to the radius of an extension has been fixed.

Welded branches that use feature vertices now compute better normals, binormals, and tangents in the weld region.

When adding a branch directly to a Mesh generator the inherited material picked up the original mesh as feature vertices. This bug resulted in undesired and numerous feature vertices on the branch. Branches can longer inherit materials from Mesh generators.

Branches welded to the ground were not honoring the “Weld:Spread” profile curve. This bug has been corrected.

Internally used templates for hand drawing and stitches have been restored in the installers for Mac and Linux.

Branches that are children of Band style Stitches that have a “Spine:Twist” value not equal to zero were causing texture stretching near at the Stitch/Branch intersection. This bug has been fixed.

Leaves removed from Batched Leaf generators during collision were returning as black leaves at the origin after export. This bug has been corrected.

A bug that could cause the application to hang when launched on any screen that wasn't the primary display has been fixed.

Cap generators assigned as a child of Leaf Mesh generators no longer crashes (doing so still does not produce any geometry as intended).

A bug that causes Leaf Mesh geometry that has fallen off the tree as part of the season calculation to hover in the middle of the model has been corrected.

The “Open File” dialog no longer remains behind the the “Texture Adjustments” dialog when launched from that dialog.

A bug that caused shader cache errors on unicode paths has been fixed.

This version marks the initial public release of version 9. There are many bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements from version 8 in this release along with the following major new features.

Use this new generator to help turn 3d trunk and branch scans into full tree models.

Use this new stitch type to extend 3d scans with minimal texture space requirements.

Use material height maps along with mesh cutouts to add vertices around areas that should be emphasized on branch geometry.

Use the new freehand tools to manually make a wide variety of edits to the model including:

• Branch bending
• Vertex editing
• Click placement
• Displacement painting
• Vertex detail painting
• Vertex color painting

Load HDRI images for lighting and background rendering.

Modify the atlas layout to your liking when you export.

Collections and Mesh Forces have been replaced by the new, more powerful Geometry Force. Use tree sections in-place, align tree features to meshes, and compute mesh interactions up to 1,000 times faster in the new system.

Export models in the USD format.

New layout algorithm, custom icon colors, and compute time information per generator help organize and tune models in the Generation Editor.

Use bark maps from atlases and create branch geometry with vertex seams allowing each region to be 0-1 UV mapped.

Specify a material for the backside of leaf geometry.

Errors, warnings, and notes are now presented as clickable messages in the tree window and clickable icons in the generation editor. From there, select the nodes/generators responsible for each message.

Zig-zag, jink, texture map skew correction, and many more new features can be found on the Branch Generator.

Searchable names, “Favorites” tab, rename functionality, and editing mode display have been added to the Property Bar.

Automatically generated vertices, height map backgrounds, and two-sided output are among the enhancements to the in-app Cutout Editor.

The “Export Image Sequence” dialog has a new option to enable turntable-style output.