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you should just be able to do this with deviation. for the longer branches you could make the angle higher, like 80 or 90. Then add a deviation modifier. You should uncheck deviation by angle and manually add a deviation of something like 20 or 30. Then you can add another path. Make it distribute on both the main path and the longer paths. This one would be pretty short in length. Then add a second deviation modifier on both the main path and the longer paths. Make this deviation use the third paths angle for the deviation angle ( checkbox ). I will upload an example file for you this afternoon. Hope it helps

Thanks Ed

really cool to see the scan integration! Beautiful models!

I think you would have to do all of point caching outside of the growfx object. You would create the growFX with animation, then in the stack add a point cache modifier. Within the point cache modifier, you export the cache file to the format you need. The point cache file you create should work for any mesh object as long as the vertex count doesn't change. I don't think you would be able to reload this file into the growFX object because it's not really a mesh. It's just a series of instructions that builds a mesh. The built mesh is accessed up the stack. hope it helps. I am still in v1.99 (upgrading soon ), so v2 could be different. It looks like 1.99 handles the .gfxcache files the same way though.

Could you just use a point cache modifier in the stack? This should get you the formats you need. I haven't done this in a long time but I think I am pretty sure I just used the modifier.

Hi DrewC, Ok, now I see the problem. Tomorrow we'll investigate this bug and try to fix it. Thanks!

for Vray, you can create vrayproxy with animation. Or even just add edit mesh modifier then point cache. Then you can collapse the geo to mesh (keeping the point cache on top of course). I've had problem rendering with wind animation on render farm where leaf or branch popping on and off, so caching it out seems a safest way

Hi Karen, Finally, we've fixed several bugs related to this issue. I sent you an update... Thanks for your file, it really helped us find and fix these bugs.

it looks like for this tree the has a pretty well defined path 2 ( the initial branches coming out of the trunk ). Lets say, the path containing the leaf geometry is something like path 4. I would use the path position of path 2 to affect the density of path 4. You could use a graph to specifically dictate where you want the leaves to be clustered.

Hi Edwin, I will make a video tutorial for this as well as the flower in your previous post. It will take a few days but I will repost when its finished. Petals can get pretty complicated so thats probably the best way to show you. Talk to you soon

Hello! Yet again i present you my another personal project which i created to not get rusty. I created it with 3ds max, Forestpack Pro, GrowFX, Vray NEXT and photoshop. Trees and ivy have been made in GrowFX, all scattering job made using Forestpack Pro. I encourage you to check it in full 4,5K resolution on behance - https://www.behance.net/gallery/9771...in-the-forest? I hope you like it. Best regards Bartek

Its a tough problem. I am not really sure what to do. I am looking at this https://docs.arnoldrenderer.com/display/A5AFMUG/Export+Settings#ExportSettings-ExportVertexColors I think this is just for exporting in maya though. I see what you were saying about plugging in the color set. The Max equivalent would be this I think. https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/getting-started/caas/screencast/Main/Details/2a01656f-b2f5-49ba-80ce-abebcfb22faf.html?_ga=2.108247938.1617953730.1590558748-1820435255.1590558748 The above link has a video tutorial. are you selecting "export vertex colors" within the arnold attributes for the mesh.? It might be a good question for the forest pack forums. I have never tried to work with a forest pack object outside of max. I'm sorry I cant be of more use. If anyone else has had experience here please post!

Are you able to get other models into Maya with vertex colors intact? Is it specifically growfx vertex info that is not coming in correctly? Also, are you bringing in the model as an FBX and then making the proxy within Maya or are you importing the proxy directly into Maya ? I don't have a copy of maya test this out so I may not be able to help very much.

I apologize, I forgot to upload a model for you. It was a busy week ! Whatever Edward says give that a shot. He literally built the program I took a shot at the plant. It was surprizingly tricky. One thing that was really helpful in this build was the count% slider. I used it to randomize where leaves and flowers showed up. I also used the "erase" modifier to do some last minute cleanup where branches were intersecting or just looked strange. For variations of this plant just hit the "New" button until you get something you like. If you have any questions about setting please post and I will clarify. Hope it helps, vase flowers.max

You could definitely animate a flower opening. Something you might try to make things a little easier on yourself would be to introduce a dummy path. It would just bee an invisible path on the end of the parent of the petal paths. You would tie the animated flower modifiers to its length. This way the plant could grow and the flowers would animate after the plant was done growing. Fruit growth can also be made in a similar way. I have a pretty in depth tutorial on plant growth here( below ). It is a little boring but it should take you through everything you need.

Hi everybody! I'd like to share with you great news and a cool tutorial that is very useful to make proxy objects from your GrowFx animated trees and vegetation, so can have a very light models in scene and play the animation smoothly in viewport. At Spline Dynamics, we've just released Q-Proxies v1.05 update, with great improvements and new features! This tutorial shows you different techniques to generate proxy meshes for GrowFx animated vegetation, taking advantage of Q-Proxies cool tools: Creating Proxies for Animated Vegetation I hope you enjoy it! Cheers!

Hi! Here's an excellent plugin to create proxy objects for animated vegetation, so you can have a light model in scene and play the animation smoothly on viewport. And the best of all: it's compatible with GrowFx objects! Q-Proxies 3dsmax plugin And this is a great tutorial showing different techniques you can use with this plugin and a GrowFx tree with a wind animation: Q-Proxies Tutorial: Creating Proxies for Animated Vegetation

Thanks I am using only few modifiers: almost every branch is using random/vector/noise direction modifiers, sometimes radial direction for leaf stem and when it is necessary object reaction modifier. Often for leaves and twigs and small branches it is essential use vector orientation, but this modifier is better test on extra small example, because it is sometimes hard to tell on bigger plant if you set the parameters X/Y orientation correct or not :)) . I was learning only from tutorials from exlevel page. After 2 or 3 plants it was quite easy to create any plant. 50% of success is to have good reference, photos, measurements, or real plant. Rest is about setting parameters and do some work in photoshop (extracting leaves from photos, make color wariations, normalmaps, make bark texture non repeating, ...). For bigger project I reworked my plants to use with forest pack plugin, because some conifers had 6M polys, and that was not good for RAM even as proxy object. So for example I grouped few needles to single mesh and dristributed that mesh using forest pack. Or convert growFX flower paths as single mesh and and distribute with FP. Then RAM consumption is quite low. And here is the rest of my collection : Acer Palmatum Azalea Japonica Johanna Campanula Carpatica Campsis Radicans Clematis Euonymus Fortunei Emerald Gold Festuca Gautieri Heuchera Hosta Hydrangea Paniculata Limelight Iberis Sempervirens Ligustrum Ovalifolium Paeonia Suffruticosa Prunus Domestica Pyrus Domestica Rubus Idaeus Thymus Citriodorus Wisteria Sinensis

I couldn't open your file because I am on max 2019, but it might have something to do with a modifier stack. Sometimes noise modifiers will make a model jump like this if they are stacked on top on deviation modifiers or random modifiers. You might try isolating the tree and scrubbing the timeline to see if the model itself is "jumping". If it is you could try turning off any noise modifiers and see if that helps. Also try turning off random direction modifiers. modifiers. If I remember correctly you want things like noise to go at the end of the stack. also, is wind added as an after mesh modifier ? If wind is being calculated before the meta mesh builds it could give you weird artifacts like this. hope it helps, Paul

Hi Diego, Yes, we also found and fixed a bug with Override Steps in the MetaMesh. Apparently no one used it yet, so this was noticed only now. Thanks so much for your bug report! I'll let you know as soon as the update is uploaded to the server. Thanks again! Best regards, Eduard

Hi Caue, Great tree! Thanks!

Hello there, this was my first attempt to work on GrowFX. Tabebuia Tree Thx!

For broadleafs with complex edge conditions you can either Use an opacity map or use a an instanced mesh for the leaf path mesh. Probably the best way to get familiar with the leaf builder mesh would be the manual. It does a really good job of explaining what each of the parameters do and it is a quick read. When I model specific leaves I usually end up using an opacity map. I make a square plane with enough segments to give me a little geometric variation then the fine detail of the shape is achieved with the opacity map. For simpler leaves I just use the leaf mesh builder on its own. Hope it helps Paul

Hi Noahman, I am not really sure. It looks like there is something going on with the material. If you are using a two sided material effect It has to know which direction is up and which is down in order to work properly. In your plant modifiers do you have vector directional modifiers on all paths ? I usually put a vector directional modifier on every path to specify which direction will be treated as up (positive) and down (negative). If you don't you will sometimes get strange results on your later paths (leaves). These black spots might be a result of normals facing the wrong direction on the leaves. This is just a guess. Maybe you could try a flat material and see if you still get strange results ? Is your leaf material a two sided material ? I

The screenshots showing trees of my first tree pack 'Oak Forest' which is already released but also some trees of my second upcoming tree pack. All branches lying on the ground are from quixel megascans and not included in the pack! There will be a big update on the first tree pack too in a few weeks. Also more lighting presets and other new features! Link to buy my first tree pack 'Oak Forest': https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/slug/trees-oak-forest Here you can watch the 'Magic Autumn' video in HQ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P6Lp3wCbM0 ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Oy0zZ8

To export Point Cache to FBX, you have to create Selection Set of the object. It'll enable you to export Point Cache animation to fbx. You'll have to select 'selection set' in FBX export settings.

my first work with GrowFX

Hi Ako, Cool plant! Thanks!

Hello, Is there any news about how to use photoscanned trunks as a mesh in growfx to create a realistic tree?

Hello, I have no idea if this technical possible but it would be awesome if we could use photoscanned trunks as a mesh for our growfx object. Maybe convert a IG_mesh builder into a metamesh? When I use a photoscanned trunk in 3ds I often use a slice mod to get a clean cut on the top, maybe growfx can use this flat shape to connect to another meta mesh? Cheers, Tobi