cmiVFX, which makes and markets detailed tutorials for visual effects artists around the world, has developed a 2-hour, 50-minute SpeedTree® tutorial for creating digital trees and forests. “The days of using turtle equations for the sole purpose of creating branches and leaves are all but a memory when you have access to IDV’s SpeedTree Modeler,” […]
Category Archives: Uncategorized
The SpeedTree® real-time/games pipeline involves three major components: SpeedTree Modeler: This is where video game animation artists create and edit vegetation models, in real-time or cinematic resolutions. In the Games version, LODs and wind are tuned in using an animated WYSIWYG window that mirrors the run-time SDK’s behavior. SpeedTree Compiler: Takes the models saved in […]
Despite the name Speed “Tree” you may be surprised to see the creative ways that artists are using our toolkit do more than just make trees. In fact, SpeedTree can be used in conjunction with other 3D tools to model and render all kinds of crazy stuff, from Kudzu animal sculptures to headless haunted creatures […]
Add this to the long list of historic SpeedTree firsts: SpeedTree Cinema was there for the first movie shot entirely on green screen in the Philippines. Tik Tik, The Aswang Chronicles, released on October 17, 2012, simply wouldn’t have been possible without our special effects software, according to Dave Yu, CEO of Philippines movie production […]
A few years ago, an artist at an animation firm in California was working on a major project and called my cell phone after hours to talk about SpeedTree®. I asked why he was interested in our software and his response surprised me: “You answer the phone,” he said. Doesn’t everyone answer the phone? I […]
As a lead into this new feature I’d like to present a common interaction I have with people at SIGGRAPH every year . . . Random Attendee: “So what is this, an L-system?” (referring to formal Lindenmayer systems) Me: “No, SpeedTree is much closer to an art tool than it is a biology simulator.” That’s […]
One of the main challenges of developing a standalone modeling app is making sure it fits in with as many modeling and rendering pipelines as it can. This is no small feat — it isn’t enough to simply export an OBJ or FBX file and say you’re done. Getting the materials correct for your particular […]
The IDV team has been working on a new edition of SpeedTree that’s targeted to the needs of architects and we’re excited to announce that “SpeedTree Architect” is now here! It combines precise modeling and rendering of realistic trees/plants with easy workflow into many leading 3D architectural visualization applications. We’ve packaged SpeedTree Architect to be the quickest, […]
We’re excited to announce a new agreement with the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, one of the world’s leading schools for CG training, to make SpeedTree a key part of Gnomon’s training curriculum before the end of the year. SpeedTree will be installed in the school’s computer labs, taught in its digital environment creation courses, […]
One of the more common questions we hear at IDV is, “What do I get with a SpeedTree for Games license?” All licensees get the same thing so it’s one of the easier questions I field. In short, SpeedTree for Games includes the suite of components necessary to model and render trees within a wide […]