Making and using Trees and Foliage - Tree It?

[thebest3d]

I was wondering if any of you have used Tree It. It's a free tool from EVOLVED Software. You can use it to make new types of trees, save as OBJ and use in Howler of PD Artist.

[thebest3d]

looking at their site, it looked like it had stopped development for a while, around 2014, but then just last month a new release. It seems. New life for your trees?
http://www.evolved-software.com/treeit/treeit

[Lord Mystirio]

Thanks for pointing this out, I will probably download it even if I don't have the time to toy with a new tool right now but I'll make sure to give it a proper test later. ^_^

EDIT: When I tried to click the download link, my AV (avast pro) flagged it. So I wonder if it's a false positive or if I should really worry about it.

[thebest3d]

yes false positive I think. I tested it numerous times. Try Malwarebytes. Try Eset free online scanner.

Windows also flagged it but only because it was from an unknown publisher.

I installed it, but initially it wouldn't run. Then I noticed in the installation it points out a few dependencies, mostly older versions of Microsoft runtimes. Seems like it was built a while ago. There looked to be no updates for a while, a few years, but just last month, in July, a new build?

After I added those older DirectX and VC runtimes, it all came working beautifully, Very impressed with how the tree plops in and the branches and leaves sway in the wind. Very dynamic.

Unfortunately that's not happening in Howler. You can export the tree into a few formats from Tree It such as Obj. That export works for Howler, except that the image format of the various textures (tree bark, leaves etc...) are in a format not used by our OBJ renderer. So the texture placeholders are black. I'll work on a process for a conversion of image to the right format. We managed to create a few of our own with this tool, that's what you see in the OBJ viewer/renderer. I want to create more.

[Lord Mystirio]

Thanks, for confirming this to me. I will then whitelist the link, so I could download the program ^_^ . I have to admit that you have got me interested to it and I'm looking forward to see how fun it is (even if it doesn't work well with Howler, yet). ;-)

[thebest3d]

there are a few tutorials on youtube, I just added one yesterday that's more of a discovery share. Still have to learn how I'll create my own. We did use this tool to make a few trees for Howler. That was Dan, who pointed me to Tree It. I was immediately blown away (pun intended) by the way the branches and leaves move and sway in the wind

[thebest3d]

my litle contribution :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOHStsZFw84

A good tutorial with focus on Unreal engine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXW3hk1Ptzs

[Lord Mystirio]

You are always willing to help, thank you very much. I will bookmark both links, so I could use them as soon as I get the time to play with the soft. ^^

[thebest3d]

As I am slowly learning Tree It, I find that the tool is great but out import for OBJ needs adaptation. The TreeIt export has the texture images in a format that Howler can't load. I'll convert them with Irfanview, and see if other formats can be specified. Also, a clip mask needs to be added for the leaves, as the OBJ renderer doesn't use alpha, so it needs a separate resource. But still, it should be possible to create some interesting new trees.

More to come