As announced on Tuesday, SpeedTree® is coming to Unity 5. Immediately, questions arose about the level and quality of the integration and how the business model will work.
Out of the box, Unity 5 and Unity 5 Pro will load and render SpeedTree models on most Unity-supported platforms, including mobile. The rendering code path includes all of the things that make SpeedTree assets more than a mesh: smooth LOD, scalable wind effects, branch seam blending, ambient occlusion, 360-degree normal-mapped billboards in the distance and more. This will be available to all Unity 5 users at no charge.
To feed the SpeedTree rendering system, SpeedTree models will be made available on the Unity Asset Store. These will be from our standard model library — the same one used by AAA-title developers.
For the ultimate SpeedTree experience, users can opt for a SpeedTree Modeler license, made specifically for Unity 5. This is a feature-rich version of the SpeedTree modeling/editor application that’s been used to create vegetation for games like Destiny, The Witcher 3, and The Division, as well as feature films like Avatar, Iron Man 3, and Star Trek Into Darkness.
SpeedTree for Unity Modeler licenses will be sold for Windows and Mac via the SpeedTree store. Finally, if you want to sell your creations on the asset store, the license supports that as well.
If you’d like to join our Unity mailing list for future details as they become available, please email us at unity@speedtree.com.
