SpeedTree 8 is arriving next week for UE4.19 with an open public beta of the SpeedTree 8 for UE4 modeler!

All current subscribers will be able to access both the SpeedTree 7 and SpeedTree 8 modelers with full editing capabilities, while anyone with a SpeedTree Store account can try the new export-only mode and sample trees with a free SpeedTree Store login.

New Features:

    • A free export-only mode for UE4 users
    • Full PBR material workflow and rendering
    • Infinite seasonal variation
    • All new 3D surface-scanned PBR texture library
    • A new library of over 120 game models in multiple resolutions and season
    • One-draw-call models with tiling textures, wind, and LOD
    • New techniques for low-poly branch structure modeling and mesh editing
    • New art director tools and more intuitive workflow

 

Free Export-Only Mode

In SpeedTree 7, we offered drop-in ready models for our library, allowing artists to import a run-time version of our SpeedTree models. Packages came with multiple exported models for each season and variations.  With the new seasons curve in SpeedTree 8, we decided to let the artist pick the season on export, allowing one model to be exported through a range of seasons. Artists will also be able to use export-only mode to select different packing options, favoring optimization or higher texture resolutions. Saving .SPM files and editing is limited while in this mode.

A free SpeedTree Store login is required to use the free export mode.Don’t have a login?  Create one now!

 

New SpeedTree Games Library

Along with completely new geometry, surface-scanned PBR materials, and infinite seasons, every species in the SpeedTree Games library now includes versions that work in all SpeedTree 8 Modelers. For example, the Norway Spruce for Lumberyard has been renamed the Games 8 Norway Spruce and will open in both the SpeedTree 8 for Lumberyard and SpeedTree 8 for UE4 modeler.  When SpeedTree 8 for Unity arrives, the tree packages will be updated with those variations as well. Our Games v7 Library has also been updated to add the corresponding Unity or UE4 model to each product. Meaning more options, and more trees.

 

The New Sample Trees

Our library is growing around the idea that species growing in forests and fields have very different structures determined by their environment. To reflect this, we’re overhauling our sample trees for SpeedTree 8 with two new variations: the Broadleaf Forest and the Broadleaf Field models. One is a taller, wilder, species that works well in a forest; allowing dense tree growth while creating interesting canopies lighting. The other is a more archetypal version of the tree that can be found at the edge of forests, in fields, or in cultivated settings.

These trees will be available by downloading the SpeedTree for Lumberyard 8.1.3 and SpeedTree for UE4 8.1.3 Modelers.

Subscribe to the SpeedTree for UE4 subscription modeler and get access to the full capabilities of SpeedTree 8 at launch:

SpeedTree® 7 Modeler for UE4