Adding Dynamic Wind to Imported Trees and Plants?

What exactly are trees and plants in iClone? They differ from props in several ways and they can sway in the wind.

I found a thread from 5 years ago which seems relevant:
Trees and Plants

Daniel Wolfsong (6/7/2010)...Why are trees and plants different from other props?

1. They have no poly face counts.
2. They have no maps - no diffuse, bump, opacity...etc.
3. They can not be Ctrl+Dragged to propagate.

What makes them different from other 3D objects in iClone?

animagic (6/8/2010)...The following is my take on it, which may be wrong.

When the question came up, my tired brain thought "procedural modeling". in iClone, the plants and trees are moved by the wind, which can be adjusted, and that made me think that they are not your regular polygons with animation. Instead, there is a bunch of rules that produce the model. If it can be done efficiently, there is no need to store the model, it's just generated when required, so it does not add to the polygon count.

animagic (6/8/2010)...Here is something about procedural modeling from Wikipedia:

Procedural modeling is an umbrella term for a number of techniques in computer graphics to create 3D models and textures from sets of rules...

But animagic makes it clear that this is just his take on it. Is there any official word if that's correct? If not, how does it work?

Also, this tread from a year ago makes it sound like Speed Trees work similarly.
Trees and Plants

animagic (12/28/2014)

I checked and Speed Trees don't have physics. All there is is the wind setting, which is specifically for Speed Trees.

Speed Trees are not props in the normal sense for efficiency reasons, so there are certain limitations.

Here's a snippet from another related thread from 2 years ago:
Question about live plants

msjaebea (8/24/2013)

Been "dreaming" in the iClone store and noticed packs that have live plants. Are these plants moving with internal dynamics or are they objects with their own animation? I am asking to find out if they can be exported into other software and still move.

planetstardragon (8/24/2013)

that's a question only a handful can answer since it's a locked format. the 3DXchange5 doesn't import itree. Atleast not in a common way that I'm aware of...

It sounds like there's no official answer, to this day.

I have the Pipeline version of 3DXchange, as well as the Total Plants-Biosphere Collection. Is there any conceivable way for an iClone user with the right software tools (as opposed to a developer) to modify a regular tree or plant in a way that allows us to not only import them in iClone but get them to sway in the wind?

(I've seen some very cool looking alien plants and weird trees that I'd love to import into iClone. And I wish I could emulate the wind effect on such.)

I was hoping to export an itree just to examine it in a modeling program. But if it's impossible to export them...

Edited
9 Years Ago by bsperan

Author	Message
bsperan	bsperan Posted 9 Years Ago
Distinguished Member Group: Forum Members Last Active: Last Year Posts: 68, Visits: 533	What exactly are trees and plants in iClone? They differ from props in several ways and they can sway in the wind. I found a thread from 5 years ago which seems relevant: Trees and Plants Daniel Wolfsong (6/7/2010)...Why are trees and plants different from other props? 1. They have no poly face counts. 2. They have no maps - no diffuse, bump, opacity...etc. 3. They can not be Ctrl+Dragged to propagate. What makes them different from other 3D objects in iClone? animagic (6/8/2010)...The following is my take on it, which may be wrong. When the question came up, my tired brain thought "procedural modeling". in iClone, the plants and trees are moved by the wind, which can be adjusted, and that made me think that they are not your regular polygons with animation. Instead, there is a bunch of rules that produce the model. If it can be done efficiently, there is no need to store the model, it's just generated when required, so it does not add to the polygon count. animagic (6/8/2010)...Here is something about procedural modeling from Wikipedia: Procedural modeling is an umbrella term for a number of techniques in computer graphics to create 3D models and textures from sets of rules... But animagic makes it clear that this is just his take on it. Is there any official word if that's correct? If not, how does it work? Also, this tread from a year ago makes it sound like Speed Trees work similarly. Trees and Plants animagic (12/28/2014) I checked and Speed Trees don't have physics. All there is is the wind setting, which is specifically for Speed Trees. Speed Trees are not props in the normal sense for efficiency reasons, so there are certain limitations. Here's a snippet from another related thread from 2 years ago: Question about live plants msjaebea (8/24/2013) Been "dreaming" in the iClone store and noticed packs that have live plants. Are these plants moving with internal dynamics or are they objects with their own animation? I am asking to find out if they can be exported into other software and still move. planetstardragon (8/24/2013) that's a question only a handful can answer since it's a locked format. the 3DXchange5 doesn't import itree. Atleast not in a common way that I'm aware of... It sounds like there's no official answer, to this day. I have the Pipeline version of 3DXchange, as well as the Total Plants-Biosphere Collection. Is there any conceivable way for an iClone user with the right software tools (as opposed to a developer) to modify a regular tree or plant in a way that allows us to not only import them in iClone but get them to sway in the wind? (I've seen some very cool looking alien plants and weird trees that I'd love to import into iClone. And I wish I could emulate the wind effect on such.) I was hoping to export an itree just to examine it in a modeling program. But if it's impossible to export them... Dynamic Wind itree plants Speed Tree Total Plants Edited 9 Years Ago by bsperan

mtakerkart	mtakerkart Posted 9 Years Ago
Distinguished Member Group: Forum Members Last Active: Yesterday Posts: 3.1K, Visits: 28.2K	@bsperan I don't know if it can help you but You can't export trees and plants from iclone.It's Reallusion owner format. Yes it comes from Speedtree. I never had good success to import trees from speedtrees and never success to import wind. I use The plantfactory from e-on to build my own Alien plants with own wind and it works find in Iclone.It's not cheap app. I was talking about this here: https://forum.reallusion.com/FindPost226710.aspx

Adding Dynamic Wind to Imported Trees and Plants?

Adding Dynamic Wind to Imported Trees and Plants?

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