Author: François Guillet

Version: 0.12b5

Date: 12/09/2005

Tree and Plant Designer

The purpose of the Tree and Plant Designer is to make it possible to create tree or plant objects from within Art of Illusion. Using objects created in AoI main window or using TaPD specific tools, you can arrange them similarly to a tree or a plant with the help of parametric modules. The TaPD is essentially a procedural tool and the principles of the editor are quite similar to the procedural textures editor. It is not the kind of tool where you would select a leaf and tree shape from a set of predefined shapes.

Principle

The TaPD generates a tree or a plant using decoration processes. A decoration consists in placing leaves or branches (decorator objects) on top of or besides a stem or a trunk (decorated object), with a possible distortion of decorators during the process. Decorator objects can in turn be decorated, for example secondary branches can be put on primary branches, and so on.

Examples

Some examples can be found here along with coresponding files.

User Manual

The user manual is fairly complete but covers only v0.1. It is also available as an archive file. I've begun writing the new user guide, now available both online or as a PDF file. Only the Introduction is available (with new screenshots).

Current State

I've been working for some time on v0.2, which will presumably be easier to use with a revisited interface. This is a long process and my attention has been caught somewhere else, like working on the PolyMesh plugin. I intend to resume working on the TaPD when things have settled a bit.

Source

The source package can be downloaded here. Uncompress the file in Art of Illusion source main directory and build the plugin using ant:

ant -f TaPD.xml