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What's New

Artwork by Aron Kamolz

New Features In Release 2023

The 2023 release adds a much-requested cutout leaf node and editor for working with atlas maps, support for storing plant information from the graph as vertex colors, parametric editing of vertex-color based Ambient Occlusion, an instance node for exporting lightweight plants with point clouds and support for nesting loops within loops with iteration nodes.
 
On top of these modelling features, new meshing options for the quad meshing mode have been added, subdivision surface blending has been extended to triangle meshing modes and the PlantFactory plugin is now available for Unreal Engine 5. This release also finishes the graph overhaul that began in release 2021.2 and will vastly improve your daily workflow.
 
Finally, PlantFactory Creator and PlantFactory Professional / Enterprise now have the same feature set, with Creator being limited to non-commercial use only.
 
Newly supported host application versions for the PlantFactory integration plugins & extensions are Maya 2023, 3ds Max 2023, Cinema 4D S26 & 2023 and Unreal Engine 5 to 5.1. 
 
Supported render engines are all builds of V-Ray 6, V-Ray 5 & V-Ray Next, all builds of Arnold, Renderman 24 and all Redshift builds starting from 3.0.46.

Cutout Leaf Node

The cutout leaf node includes an editor for cutting out custom meshes with triangles or quads from a single texture or a texture atlas. This is an essential feature for real-time pipelines and low-polygon modeling.
 
Control polygon size, catmull clark subdivisions, hooking point, LOD simplification and rib placement. Use alternate cutouts on the same material, save cutouts to a library or load one of the many preset cutout shapes.
Watch the course on the cutout leaf in the learning center

 Watch the course in the Learning Center

Crossed plane modes for cutouts are supported as well as axis and lateral profile editing. To get you started quickly, the node ships with 42 preset cutout shapes.

Vertex Colors And Ambient Occlusion

Procedural information from the plant graph can be stored as vertex colors in user-definable channels and sets.

The following pieces of information are supported:

  • Material blending weight for recreating material blends between primitives, e.g. between trunk and branches
  • Leaf color shift (hue, saturation & lightness / value) from leaf nodes for recreating leaf color variations without additional textures
  • Material color for recreating procedural materials (e.g. materials created with noises and fractals in the material graph) without having to bake them into textures
  • Ambient Occlusion for pre-computing AO on the final plant mesh. 

Vertex colors are previewable in the viewport on a per-set and per-channel basis and they are computed for each LOD in the plant.

Ambient Occlusion in particular is editable in brightness, falloff, min and max strengths and in ground influence for artificial darkening of the base of a plant.

The post-processing options are also available within the PlantFactory integration plugins.

Nested Repeats With Loop Nodes

Go beyond the limits of traditional node-based approaches with the power of building repeats into the graph. With this release, loop and iteration nodes can now be nested within other loop nodes. Produce natural, fractal-like growth patterns for highly realistic growth shapes with minimum effort.
Watch the course on the iteration nodes and nested repeats in the learning center

 Watch the course in the Learning Center

As part of this major improvement to the existing repeat capabilites, new features have been added to the loop node category:
 
  • The former "End" node was renamed to "Last".

  • A new "Repeater End" node was added to move from an inner loop to an outer loop.

  • The "Ancestor parameters" node now allows retrieving properties from specific iterations within a loop, using a combination of absolute and relative referencing.

New graph in PlantFactory 2023

An Entirely New Graph Experience

The quality of life improvements in PlantFactory 2023 will speedup your daily workflow tremendously. We added several search functionalities for nodes, for node parameters inside of nodes and for finding nodes quickly in large graphs. Smart data conversion, improved node readability and intelligent connection handling make connecting nodes and navigating through the node network a breeze.

  • Search through nodes with the [TAB] key or right-click to open the node list and type to search.
  • Highlight and filter nodes in the graph from different categories and search for existing nodes by name.
  • Get an overview of all nodes in your scene with the "Nodes used in graph panel".
  • Search through parameters within a node across tabs and groups.
  • Insert nodes into existing connections by selecting the connection line and pressing the [TAB] key to search for and insert a node.
  • Snap nodes into existing connections by dragging them onto a connection line with [CTRL] and releasing the mouse.
  • Drag and drop textures from Explorer / Finder directly into the graph to create a Projected Texture Map Node. Drag a texture onto an input to connect the generated texture node immediately. 
  • Let PlantFactory automatically convert non-matching data types when connecting two nodes. The application will insert any required conversion nodes.
  • Mathematical operations such as add, subtract, multiply, divide or trigonometric functions can now be performed in any numerical field.
  • Preview shapes and scale (for non-geometry nodes) for each node can be defined through a right click on the node.
  • Redesigned Node selector panel with a two-column layout and support for dragging & dropping nodes from the library into the graph.
  • Connect nodes fast to existing nodes by directly clicking on the input or output to add a node.
  • Alternatively, drag out a connection line and release it in an empty area to add a node.
  • Hold down [CTRL] / [CMD] while dragging out a connection line to get a popup asking to which input / output you want to connect the new node to.
  • Release a connection line anywhere above a node to select the desired input / output from a list of all available ports.
  • Double-click a connection line to delete it.
  • Hold down [Shift] while clicking on an outgoing connection to reroute it to a different port or node. This also works with multiple connections on a single port.
  • Cycle through different node folding states quickly with a hamburger button. Double-click the button to fully unfold the node and right-click it to fold the node. Double-click the node itself to minimize / maximize it.
  • Node names are now displayed above the node when it has been minimized or manually resized.
  • Any node can now be disabled (bypassed) through a right click.
  • Nodes in material graphs can be soloed and previewed for each material channel.
  • New options in the graph menu can fade out and / or delete all disconnected nodes.
New meshing options in PF 2023

More Meshing Options & Better Subdivision Surface Blending

Multiple new meshing parameters were added to geometry nodes.
  • New "Meshing" tab on segment nodes with all parameters in one place
  • Control the polygon density with the "Axial subdivision density filter" now in all meshing modes. Previously, this was only supported in triangle mode.
  • New manual "Curve threshold" count mode for polygon density distribution based on mesh curvature for massive reduction of polygons.
  • Subdivision surface blending is now supported in all meshing modes. It was only supported in quad mode before.
  • Control the subdivision level in blending areas separately without affecting the subdivision level of the rest of the mesh.
  • The polygon density in Flower nodes now supports the "Axial subdivision density filter" too.

The Subdivision Surface blending algorithm has been further improved and produces successful blending in more cases than before.

Artwork by Aron Kamolz

Export Instances With The Instantiation Node

Produce lightweight vegetation assets for projects where every single bit of performance counts.

 

The new instantiation node replaces individual geometry primitives with lightweight instances upon export. Everything placed after the node in the graph will be treated as a copy which will be placed on a point cloud in the exported mesh. Rotation, scale and offset randomizations can still be applied as part of the point cloud data.

Redshift Logo black and color

Redshift Material Creation in 3DS Max

The Redshift material conversion is now available for 3DS Max 2023 and above. Use the PlantFactory integration plugin to create materials for Redshift 3.0.46 and up.
 
The plugin offers a choice between materials with a regular alpha channel and materials that utilize Redshift's unique sprite node, which we highly recommend for best rendering performance.

Unreal Engine 5 Integration Plugin

Continuing from the last release, the PlantFactory integration plugin is now also available for Unreal Engine 5 as a Technology Preview. Together with the new vertex color and Ambient Occlusion post-processing features, it is now more convenient than ever to bring your PlantFactory vegetation assets into Unreal. 

 

Generate new variations, adjust wind intensities, change presets or edit global parameters such as Maturity, Health and Season. Any parameter you published throughout plant creation will be accessible in the plugin. Compute vertex colors and Ambient Occlusion and preview the results directly in the viewport.

During procedural edition, a low-resolution proxy object is generated, which can be converted into the full high-resolution model once you are satisfied with the plant settings. Native shaders are created during plant conversion and Nanite options can be automatically enabled.

But Wait, There's More...

  • Average performance gain for plant graph computation of 20%
  • New menu for viewport options above the 3D view
  • New placement options "Pair offset" and "Pair offset mode" on the child tab
  • New "Margin before cut" option on the child tab for adding a "safety zone" on pruned branches.
  • "Spread offset" for blades allows you to add randomness to the blade placement around a segment.
  • "LOD inheritance" on the transform tab of nodes can now be enabled or disabled for children.
  • Improved planar twist bias with new settings: "Length agnostic", "Symmetry Factor" & "Target Angle"
  • Improved Filter Editor with correct extrapolation of the curve outside of the filter's boundaries. 
  • Proper sRGB color space handling for colored texture maps; in previous versions, the sRGB color space was only approximated by setting a gamma value of 2.2 for texture maps that represent colors.
  • "Apply additional bump" on the displacement tab in the Material Editor applies the displacement function or texture used as an additional bump layer to the material. 
  • Bump mapping can be inverted on the backside of a face (e.g. on leaves), just like normal mapping. A new checkbox on the bump tab of the Material Editor enables or disables this behavior.
  • Uniform subdivisions for material displacement in the Material Editor are now supported.
  • No more hidden elements in the UI that would only appear when you hover over them.
  • New randomness dependency "Once per Ancestor": this setting, available in the context menu through left clicking on the name of a node parameter, allows picking a new random value based on different criteria.

Full Release Notes

Click to expand the full list of release notes for PlantFactory 2023.

CREATOR
  • [NEW] Feature parity in Creator: full export options and all integration plugins
CUTOUTLEAF
  • [NEW] New "cutout" node allows user defined leaf shapes.
  • [NEW] Auto select a cutout on material change in cutoutleaf.
  • [NEW] Fixed noneditable material choice in cutoutleaf.
  • [NEW] Fixed mesh generation of cutout leaves with multiple planes to keep a common axis when using non default hook points.
  • [NEW] Added 42 default cutout presets.
  • [NEW] Used a Delaunay triangulation with border constraint to allow adding inner points.
  • [NEW] Made the rib a segment linked to the shape vertices.
  • [NEW] Added an option to choose if we work using the native texture aspect ratio or not.
  • [NEW] Only auto rotate the view to match rib after mouse release.
  • [NEW] You can now snap points on the rib.
  • [NEW] Added some subdivision options (suggested value: with quad, 2 catmull, 0.25 max dist).
  • [NEW] Added RIB option (in cutout mesh).
  • [NEW] Added twist param (similar to flower node twist).
  • [NEW] Added rib angle parameter.
  • [NEW] Added lateral profile parameter.
  • [NEW] Added a constraint in the editor: the hook point must be in bounding box (necessary for computations).
  • [NEW] Auto erase outside vertices (avoid unwanted points added by error).
  • [NEW] Added axis parameter and gravitropism.
  • [NEW] Added multiple cutout edition (the cutout affected to the primitive is the one selected when closing the cutout editor).
  • [NEW] Added undo/redo.
  • [NEW] Cutouts are now identified by unique names inside a material.
  • [NEW] Added a Duplicate cutout button.
  • [NEW] Allow free placement of hook and axis direction in the cutout when there is no mesh rib.
  • [NEW] Added a scaling factor linked to cutout itself (useful for alternate cutouts/materials in the same primitive).
  • [NEW] Added auto scale option.
  • [NEW] Added meshing boost in cutout leaf primitive (raises/lowers the catmull-clark level of the cutout).
  • [NEW] Added scaling and rotation manipulators.
  • [NEW] Implemented flexibility parameter for wind.
  • [NEW] Enabled vertical/horizontal tropisms (in transform tab).
  • [NEW] Added a smooth rib option to make normal continuous when there is some rib angle.
VERTEX COLORS
  • [NEW] Added new post-processing tab: allows to create vertex color sets (maximum 8) and associate data (ambient occlusion, material blending, leaf color shift) to each channel.
  • [NEW] Added vertex color set display mode (dynamically populated corresponding to what has been set in post processing tab).
  • [NEW] Added separate rgb/r/g/b/a in display mode (only enabled when in a vertex color set display mode).
  • [NEW] Added ambient occlusion settings in the post processing tab.
  • [NEW] Added support of vertex colors in plugins (in both real-time view and convert tools).
  • [NEW] Improved the refresh of vertex colors in the host application, when editing them from the post-processing editor.
  • [NEW] Improved workflow in Cinema 4D: avoid recreating the vertex colors tags each time we modify them in the post processing editor (so that the user does not have to re-select the newly created tag to see it...).
  • [NEW] [Plugins] correctly update the native proxy when removing a vertex color set in the post-processing dialog (bug present in Cinema 4D and 3ds max).
PLUGIN
  • [NEW] Added support of Unreal 5.0 for the PlantFactory importer plugin.
  • [NEW] Added support of Unreal 5.1 for the PlantFactory importer plugin.
  • [NEW] Added the compatibility with Cinema 4D s26.
  • [NEW] [Convert Tools / V-Ray] Added support for V-Ray 6 for 3ds max, Maya and Cinema 4D
  • [NEW] [Omniverse Connectors] Version 0.2.0, fixing bad asset path and toolbar button in some cases.
  • [NEW] The back side of VUE/PlantFactory 2-sided materials is now converted for the Cinema 4D standard and physical renderers.
  • [NEW] The backlight of VUE/PlantFactory materials is now converted to arnold materials (useful for leaves).
  • [NEW] Fixed the installer so that it shows the VUE plugin for v-ray 6 in 3ds max.
  • [NEW] Added handling of large textures (>16k) in the Unreal plugin.
  • [NEW] Better naming of log files for Unreal plugins (use 2 digits to distinguish 4.25 from 4.26, for instance).
  • Fixed the conversion of VUE/PlantFactory materials using the mirror tiling mode (the generated native materials were not repeated).
  • Fixed warning and (non-blocking) error messages in Maya when converting VUE/PlantFactory materials to Redshift materials.
  • Partially fixed the display of Redshift 2-sided materials in Maya (they now appear with their color texture map, but still without alpha).
  • Fixed Unreal plugin texture sizes being sometime too large.
  • Fixed slowness in display (useless reconstruction of the plant after saving the scene in 3ds max).
  • [Cinema 4D] Cleaned obsolete tags (normal tag, UVW tag) in the native object, when recomputing its geometry (typically when using the "edit plant..." Command to change the plant's settings or seed).
INTEGRATION AND EXPORT
  • [NEW] Baked textures can now have anti-aliasing. This also applies to the convert tool in plugins.
  • [NEW] Improved baked texture precision using scale factor.
  • [NEW] Added fbx export of vertex color sets.
  • [NEW] Added usd export of the first vertex color set as display color.
  • [NEW] Added abc export of vertex color sets.
  • [NEW] Added fbx and usd export of instances.
  • [NEW] Object primitives can also be exported as instances now.
  • [NEW] Added an option to export sunlight with objects in usd.
  • [NEW] The baking of materials is now done with a precision adapted to the resolution chosen in the export dialog (previously it was a static value, meaning some functions could produce too blurry or too noised results). This also applies to the convert tool in
  • [NEW] Added a hint regarding legacy content compatibility key when a scene requires some copy-protected Cornucopia3d content, and the located file fails to load.
  • Fixed normal mapping export of baked material.
  • Fixed issue with exported texture naming.
  • Fixed memory leak in c4d export.
  • Fixed potential inconsistencies in imported mesh when the option to replace pivot at the center of the object is activated.
  • Fixed the mesh continuity of detailed leaves when exported as duplicated sides.
  • Fixed only back face rendered when exporting in "leaf" mode with leafcluster with backface.
  • Fixed buffer size of meshparts at export (fixing potential problems with UV and normal mapping).
GRAPH
  • [NEW] Any nodes can be discarded from computation.
  • [NEW] Images can be dropped into the graph. They are automatically converted as projected texture node.
  • [NEW] Images can be dropped on a graph node. If picked node is not an image node, images are automatically converted as projected texture node and connected to picked node input.
  • [NEW] Added auto convert data type while connecting nodes.
  • [NEW] Deleted connection when double clicking on connection start/end.
  • [NEW] Dropping handle connection in graph create a node.
  • [NEW] Improved node description and preview edition.
  • [NEW] Improved node preview in function editor widget panel.
  • [NEW] Node can be snapped on connection as soon as it has a free input and a free output.
  • [NEW] Contextual menu for adding a new node now has search capabilities (direct access to the search widget with tab).
  • [NEW] Nodes can be added directly by clicking on an input or output: in such case, the menu is filtered with compatible nodes.
  • [NEW] A connection can be replaced by a node by selecting it and clicking the search shortcut (tab).
  • [NEW] New panel "nodes used in graph" to easily select/highlight the different nodes currently in use.
  • [NEW] In search dialog, avoid confusion when several nodes have the same name (by adding the category name in brackets).
  • [NEW] Allowed searching for parameters in a node.
  • [NEW] Fixed empty entries in the "search node" field, typically with scenes created in an older version.
  • [NEW] Fixed search node's highlight sometimes remaining active whereas nothing is searched anymore.
  • [NEW] Added MetaNodes / components to the list of categories available for highlight (when the graph contains such nodes).
  • [NEW] When the last node of the currently highlighted category is deleted, make sure we totally reset highlights.
  • [NEW] Added the possibility to change the preview shape and scale on a per node basis, from the contextual menu.
  • [NEW] Fixed "nodes used in graph" panel initially empty when it has just been opened.
  • [NEW] [Search tools] improved look of search fields, by adjusting their background color depending on the current color scheme (important with light interface preset).
  • [NEW] [Search for parameters] Fixed the position of widgets sometimes wrong when a group of widgets is made visible again after typing more letters.
  • [NEW] [Search for parameters] When the query matches the name of a group, keep all elements of the group visible (useful for when the user knows the name of the group but not the exact name of the parameter he is looking for).
  • [NEW] Fixed synchronization between the search dialog and the node selector when clicking on an input or an output of an existing node (hide not compatible nodes from the selector).
  • [NEW] In the search dialog (opened when adding a new node), keep the vertical scrollbar as long as the number of results necessitates it.
  • [NEW] When clicking a vegetation node's output, add the loop nodes to the contextual menu as well.
  • [NEW] In contextual menu created when clicking a vegetation node's output, disable nodes that would create a vegetation dependency error.
  • [NEW] Display and graph options should not appear in search menu created when clicking a connection.
  • [NEW] When searching for parameters in a vegetation node, all results are now aggregated in a single tab (and tabs are disabled for the scope of the search).
  • [NEW] Improved out of domain filter evaluation. It was not really defined (it was just what the interpolation polynom happened to be outside of the interpolated areas). Now we keep the same slope as the first / last point.
  • [NEW] Improved edition of filter: can edit the left most point that was not editable (and sometimes not in the right position). And the last point does not have to be in a fixed column.
  • [NEW] Improved edition of filter: added a display of the clipping mode and associated bounds (note they are not always editable, it depends of context).
  • [NEW] Allowed node resize from all sides and corners of the node header.
  • [NEW] Auto unfold nodes when resizing (they get back the state they had before minimization).
  • [NEW] The node name is displayed above the node when minimized or when its width is less than 2 grid units, the category icon is also shown.
  • [NEW] Semi unfolded state is now the default node display state (shows individual connections, but not unconnected slots).
  • [NEW] Stronger node fading effect.
  • [NEW] Nodes can be fully unfolded using a 3rd right click on the burger. (But it only unfolds tabs for vegetation nodes as they can have a lot of parameters).
  • [NEW] Fold and unfold the nodes using the "burger" icon on the right of the nodes. Left click to unfold by successive levels, double click to fully unfold, right click to fully fold.
  • [NEW] Added menu items to fade/delete non connected nodes in graph.
  • [NEW] Added menu items to fold/unfold all nodes in graph.
  • [NEW] Replaced legacy projection node (in category math | vector operations), which was difficult to use, by better defined "polar to x/y/z" and "x/y/z to polar" coordinate conversion nodes.
  • [NEW] Added new nodes "distance between points" and "angle between vectors".
  • [NEW] When dragging a disconnected node we can now drop it on a connection and the node will automatically connect in the middle of the connection if the types are compatible (conversion nodes will automatically appear to convert the datatype if possible). Addi
  • [NEW] Improved connection detection when dragging node. Now the connections will be detected in the entire surface of the node's header.
  • [NEW] Added possibility to move all connections on an output of a node, by holding down the shift key while clicking and dragging the output's handle. The connections can then be dragged all at once and connected to another output or they can be dropped on an e
  • [NEW] Added snapping to available output handles when moving several connections simultaneously.
  • [NEW] Added possibility to disable automatic node connection. The feature is disabled by default and is now enabled by holding down the ctrl key.
  • [NEW] Improved planar twist influence of the segment to actually twist the segment so that the 0 of the section is on the horizontal direction. Added new parameters: target angle (to adjust desired twist), and symmetry order (to align twist on 1/n revolutions).
  • [NEW] The segment twist influence can now be specified per length unit (instead of per primal unit) using the "length agnostic" option.
  • [NEW] Added blade "spread offset" parameter to better control the placement of blades. It allows to offset the position of the blades around the segment.
  • [NEW] Improved the reset of some 2d profile parameters to be the intended default value for each parameter and not a common default (only works on new nodes).
  • [NEW] Renamed object specific node inputs "primal / section angle" as "parametric x / parametric y", as the original name was only true for the segment node.
  • [NEW] Fixed missing effect of "fade/hide geometry target specific nodes".
  • [NEW] Added a LOD node usable to control the new cutoutleaf node subdivisions in the graph.
  • [NEW] Added a distinct highlight of vegetation node connections of selected nodes for better visualization in huge graphs. It can be set in the color options (highlight of vegetation node connections).
  • [NEW] Added new outputs to 'current primitive parameters' node: branch length (before pruning). Useable on segment node and flower node.
  • [NEW] Added new outputs to 'current primitive parameters' node: branch length after pruning, pruning length reduction ratio, pruning radius reduction ratio. Useable on segment nodes.
  • [NEW] Added support of nested repeaters.
  • [NEW] Added new ancestor parameters node.
  • [NEW] Added new current primitive node.
  • [NEW] Improved new draw at each ancestor settings.
  • [NEW] Added a new parameter (margin) in the distribution of children. It is a length from the cut of the branch where children do not exist. It helps make the pruning more realistic.
  • [NEW] Added two new parameters (pair offset and pair offset mode) to help position pairs in the distribution of children: it represents the offset between the two items of the pair. Depending on the mode (absolute or relative) you can shift and position pairs o
  • [NEW] Added a new display option to highlight disconnected nodes in the graph, made corrections to the logic of fade/hide/show.
  • [NEW] Added new versions of "rotation and twist" and "orientation rotation" vector math nodes, with connectable parameters, as well as additional "angle unit" and "rotation order" parameters.
  • [NEW] Added a choice of procedural shapes to the bounding volume node.
  • [NEW] Improved highlight of connections when dragging a node over them. We now use a more coherent highlight with a flashier color to help the user understand that the nodes can be dragged and dropped on the connections.
  • [NEW] When extracting parameters from a node, the resulting node is now named with the input parameter name instead of using the default node name.
  • Fixed cyclic noises and cyclic fractals periodicity UI which prevented setting values larger than 32 (useful to make the fractal or noise periodic only along part of the axes, time included, by setting a very large period for the other axes).
  • Fixed fractal's detailing depth (aka octaves) used when there is a blender or combiner node upstream, especially visible with a ratio of 0 or 1. Other cases could negatively affect performance (too many octaves computed). Also fixes lack of fractal detail
  • Fixed render errors or artifacts when a graph evaluation leads to a null frequency being passed to some fractals.
  • Fixed potential crash while editing MetaNode.
  • Stopped removing disconnected nodes in materials graph when reloading a scene or asset.
  • Fixed underlying function not updating when modifying a graph in certain cases where we create an input connection on a node that had a preexisting input. For example dragging a connection handle on a node that already had an input or using the new drag a
  • Fixed connection loops when dragging multiple connections creating errors in cases where they should just cancel the action. Like connecting an input and an output of the same node.
  • Fixed highlights of connections not updating properly when switching node autoconnect on/off while the dragged node was on a connection.
  • Fixed hit area imprecision when too many objects were present in a small area (ie too many connections on a output handle).
  • Fixed wrong connection highlights when trying to autoconnect a node in an invalid slot.
  • Fixed published image reload in material editor to keep the current image type.
  • Fixed typo in add node menu (for node loop > iteration n).
INSTANTIATION
  • [NEW] Added instance count.
  • [NEW] Added support of object specific impact.
  • [NEW] New instantiation node with transform tab.
GEOMETRY
  • [NEW] Added new settings to the conic influence: it can be a repeller effect that depends on a length parameter. A position parameter has been added to specify the cone position which is the surface the effect refers to.
  • [NEW] Segment's children placement randomness can now be filtered by axial position.
  • [NEW] Changed the manual meshing of the flower node to use fractional subdivisions to handle radial subdivision variations. It gives smoother "meridian" lines compared to the previous version.
  • [NEW] Better "mixed quads with triangle" meshing of the flower node when using variable number of radial subdivisions (was mostly making triangles before).
  • [NEW] Blade radius can now be taken into account by axis smoothing parameters of the segment node (option is on by default for new segments, off for anterior scenes).
  • [NEW] Improved subdivision surfaces: they can be used with manual-triangle meshing mode. However, depending on the situation, some meshing parameters may be ignored.
  • [NEW] Manual meshing using quads can be non uniform.
  • [NEW] Improved top transition with non uniform.
  • [NEW] New option to disable LOD primitive inheritance.
  • [NEW] Children selector output presence can depend on ancestor nodes.
  • [NEW] Added subdivision boost parameter for subdivision surface transition.
  • [NEW] [Beta]Added basic implementation of instance node.
  • [NEW] Added new manual axial meshing mode.
  • [NEW] Added angular symmetric factor in segment manual meshing.
  • [NEW] Added angular symmetric factor in urchin manual meshing.
  • [NEW] Added new manual angular meshing mode.
  • [NEW] Added minimum child count.
  • [NEW] Added new segment imported object mode to keep aspect ratio.
  • [NEW] Added cap transition parameter with body displacement.
  • [NEW] Added new vertex color type: material color (rgb).
  • [NEW] Added a new parameter for axial subdivision density for flower nodes. It enables a better control over the meshing.
  • [NEW] Added a new parameter for radial subdivision density for flower nodes. It enables a better control over the meshing. The filters that can be used are primal and section angle.
  • [NEW] Improved subdivision surfaces: child branches transitions are no longer discarded if an ancestor transition was discarded.
  • [NEW] Improved subdivision surfaces: if the transition is impossible, the child segment subdivision settings are applied back.
  • Fixed missing limitation of strength of orientation/rotation tropisms. The interface allows only [0,1] range, but that limit could be avoided when connecting those parameters.
  • Removed access to hook point from material editor, use the icon from the node material parameters.
  • Fixed connectivity of flower node tip and bottom points which was incorrect in some cases.
  • Fixed child position on branch with displacement based on position.
  • UV twist takes into account map v from end option.
  • Fixed LOD inheritance after LOD selector.
  • Fixed support of subdivided crossed planes with growth node.
  • Fixed potential weird artefacts on tip of cut branches.
  • Fixed potential broken geometry when applying wind on top subdivision surfaces.
  • Fixed double-sided transition geometry (blending with subdivision surfaces).
  • Fixed use of lower width parameter in blending with subdivision surfaces.
  • Fixed (width) and added (length) simple leaf curvature influence with no subdivisions.
  • Fixed crossed-planes shifting from hookpoint with some width/length curvature.
  • Fixed diamond leaf shifting from hookpoint with some width/length curvature.
  • Fixed missing bottom cap if the segment had a child on tip with surface subdivisions.
LEAF CLUSTER
  • [NEW] Added an autoscaling option to the leaf cluster export, so that the resulting leaf has the same size as the original plant.
  • [NEW] Better control of texture size before export. There is one pixel size per axis, the slider is logarithmic and directly shows the export sizes, combo box can be wheeled.
MATERIAL
  • [NEW] Added an option to invert bump on back impacts, which can produce more realistic results with leaves, typically.
  • [NEW] Made the "natural grain" color channel mode randomizable (and thus the default material as well).
  • [NEW] Improved material displacement on PlantFactory plant (improved quality, added support of uniform subdivision).
  • [NEW] [SUBSTANCE] Added support of clearcoat index of refraction.
  • Fixed material editor losing the presence settings on mixed materials used as layers.
  • Fixed material name labels and render status buttons not properly updated when reordering layers in the material editor.
  • Fixed graph UI (specifically, the vector seed values) not updated when randomizing a material from the material editor button.
  • Fixed a crash when enabling a PBR channel in the basic material editor.
DISPLACEMENT
  • [NEW] Improved displacement: new option to apply "post bump" (bump based on displacement function). "Affect material distribution" option is taken into account for bump and normal computation.
  • Fixed holes in geometry with low-cut branches with cap displacement.
  • Fixed geometry displacement on blades with full width style.
RENDERING
  • [NEW] Speed-up denoiser strength setting processing a bit with intel and AMD denoiser.
  • [NEW] Added a proper setting for srgb pictures. It should be used instead of gamma 2.2, which was only an approximation.
  • Made sure z-depth is always computed when we render an animation and explicitly check the channel in the animation options.
  • Fixed the saving of some multipass layers (object and material id) as 16-bit or 32-bit exr: they were 100% black.
PATH TRACER
  • Fixed relighting and multipass options not available when "optimize last render pass" is checked in user settings.
  • Disabled GPU antialiasing and deterministic indirect lighting options when switching to the path tracer, as they are irrelevant (tooltips now explain that).
  • Hidden denoising modes which are not supported on current platform/architecture, instead of displaying a confusing error message.
  • Fixed a potential crash when aborting the render very soon.
  • Do not save output pictures when the path tracer render is aborted.
UI/UX
  • [NEW] Improved speed of file scanning for the browser.
  • [NEW] Materials with identical names are automatically renamed with a |n tag. That avoids ending up with a lot of material that have the same exact name because of automatic material duplication on edit.
  • [NEW] The main window title bar now displays the absolute file path of the current scene instead of only the base name.
  • [NEW] Improved reflection map edition.
  • [NEW] Added support of mathematical operation in edit field.
  • [NEW] Added support of mathematical operation in edit field with units.
  • [NEW] Added a "draft" indicator next to the LOD indicator in the plant preview to avoid forgetting that the preview is in that mode.
  • [NEW] Better navigation when targeting points that have no intersection with the plant or the imported objects. We orbit around the 3d point under the mouse at the same distance as the last valid intersection.
  • [NEW] Improved feedback when editing material displacement.
  • [NEW] Added a dedicated menu inside the 3d view. Preview in main menu has been removed.
  • [NEW] Moved export as species from "export to VUE" menu.
  • [NEW] Advanced workspace becomes the default and unique workspace.
  • [NEW] Added new meshing tab in segment.
  • [NEW] Improved range slider custom distribution edition.
  • [NEW] Graph background grid colors can be set from the general color settings.
  • [NEW] Accept undo redo keyboard shortcuts in function graph editors.
  • [NEW] Improved localization: vegetation presets now have translated names.
  • [NEW] Made the behavior of the render stack icon more consistent: always open the render stack, independently from the option chosen for the last render.
  • Fixed escape and suppr behavior in the 2d filter editor (escape key will cancel edition, suppr key will remove the selected points).
  • Editable combox now enter edit mode when clicked (instead of showing the list first and needing a second click, list opens with the button). Non editable combo box are unaffected.
  • Better visibility of menu items with state (on windows).
  • Fixed hi-dpi cursors that were too small.
  • Added a warning when texture files could be too long for your OS.
  • Fixed problems in the rare case when a message box needs to be displayed before the main window has even shown up (during the splashscreen for example).
  • Fixed image name not copiable in the "locate missing picture" open panel.
  • Fixed the "picture save" file chooser panel not modal when launched from the pop-up menu of the render stack.
  • Fixed glitches in material line.
  • Improved numerical precision when using internal unit different from display unit.
  • Fixed filter editor closing while editing filter parameter.
  • When dragging and dropping a file in the application, select the newly loaded object, if any.
  • Fixed potential artifacts in the zoomed material preview, depending on the window size.
  • When a render to active view is stacked, automatically select it the next time the user opens the render stack.
  • Make sure message boxes are always on top (avoid them being hidden behind the render display dialog, typically).
  • Fixed a potential issue when a scene requires another file, and the one located by the user does not match the expected asset: in some cases, the file browser would pop up again and again without explanation.
  • Fixed potential artefacts after hovering the category menubox in the function editor.
  • Fixed inconsistencies in the selection of channels in the g-buffer render options: it was taken into account by the render engine, but did not stay when re-opening the dialog.
  • Fixed unwanted closure of the function editor when typing enter key in an edit field (such as the ones used to edit the selected node's title).
  • Fixed wrong position of the some button background when they are highlighted (browser search / clear search button, for instance).
  • Avoid resetting the active painting component when performing undo/redo.
  • Fixed the wireframe display of detailed leaves to correctly show quads and triangles. (Note diamond leaves sometimes use quads that have a near triangle shape though).
  • Fixed wireframe line width for 4k displays which was too small.
  • Added possibility to cancel last update in PlantCatalog Exporter.
  • Fixed unity usage.
  • Fixed the shown inherited material for blades and secondary caps to the correct one (the one applied).
  • Fixed native scene browser sometime not opening.
DISPLAY
  • [NEW] Update global illumination and reflection effects only when sun moves, providing big performance boost when navigating and idling.
  • Hide sun gizmo in unlit shading modes.
PERFORMANCE
  • Fixed possible duplication of images in memory when loading several times the same image for different use cases.
  • Starting render no longer delete preview geometry.
STABILITY
  • Fixed crash of path tracer at the end of rendering.
  • Fixed crashes when using the stereoscopic render mode.
  • Fixed a potential crash when trying to replace a node in the function editor, when the operation requires to break existing connections and the user agrees to it.
  • Fixed a crash when setting the colormap for a seasonal material and there is no alpha map.
MISC
  • [NEW] New platform-independent crash reporting tool.
  • [NEW] Upgraded to python 3.11.
  • [NEW] Added 2 python functions to prompt a path from a script: promptfilepath and promptdirectorypath.
  • [NEW] Improved the handling of processor affinity on windows platform (take the affinity into account to adapt the number of rendering threads, typically).
  • [MacOS] Fixed untimely error messages when launching the application with a command line on mac.
  • Fixed billboard wind slant low wind influence.
INSTALLATION
  • [NEW] [Plugins] new installation mode for Maya, no longer installing anything in Maya's directories.
  • Fixed setup processes running forever in background when the user refuses to grant admin rights.
  • In silent installation mode, if the -lang option is not supplied, select English as language instead of failing.

Older Versions

Learn more about new features that were added to PlantFactory across past releases.
  • Improved standard blending algorithms (non-SDS blending) & new blending parameters: bending force, Ignore displacement and Post Blending offset.
  • Better topology with axis improvements: smooth out self-intersecting meshes with new axis controls (prevent back folds, shift to short side, smoothing, smooth start for axis perturbations)
  • Performance boost in plant computation of up to 40%
  • Improved graph workflow: New node design, free node resizing, navigator minimap, connection snapping, node snapping to background grid, visual indicators for overlapping and disabled nodes
  • Addition of clearcoat support for PBR materials
  • New dependency & math nodes
  • Redshift material creation for Maya & Cinema 4D with the PlantFactory plugin
  • Renderman material creation in Maya with the PlantFactory plugin
  • First technology preview of the PlantFactory plugin for Unreal Engine 4
  • Omniverse Extension / Connector & live link through Nucleus
  • New conical bias, replacing the previous planar bias
  • Automatic transition mode for child placement
  • Support for growing children from the bottom of a segment, e.g. for creating proper roots
  • Vastly improved UV-unwrapping
  • Leaf cluster baking
  • New nodes: Normal input, RGB composer & decomposer
  • Rewritten *.c4d export
  • PlantFactory plugin for Cinema 4D
  • Material creation for Arnold & V-Ray in Cinema 4D (was already supported in Maya & 3DS Max before)
  • Real-world displacement intensities (following the rewritten displacement in the previous release)
  • USD export
  • Up to 25% reduced computation time for complex plants with over a million polygons
  • New 3D displacement functionality for the segment node for utilizing vector displacement
  • New “Position in distribution” mode in the “Parent parameters” node, which respects the start and end distribution values for children
  • Two-sided materials are supported for exports in *.c4d format
  • Improved compression of *.tpf species for smaller file sizes
  • Improved Ambient Occlusion preview in the 3D view
  • Incorporation of the Substance GPU engine for computing Substance materials
  • Automatic PBR-channel tagging & import
  • New scaling & rotation controls for Substance materials
  • PBR-compliant viewport with customizable skies and realistic ambient lighting
  • Material creation for Arnold & V-Ray Next in 3DS Max and Maya
  • Intel Open Image & Nvidia OptiX denoisers for PlantFactory's path tracer
  • Rewritten material displacement with uniform and dynamic subdivision strategies
  • New UV and displacement controls for urchins
  • Deformation of crossed plane leaves
  • Improved material face set export for Alembic
  • Seasonal material editor for plants which will be exported to LumenRT
  • PlantFactory integration plugins for 3DS Max & Maya
  • Support for V-Ray materials in the conversion tool
  • Baking and exporting of PBR-channels
  • Ambient occlusion baking (geometry only, material only, both)
  • Support of animated & multi-graph substances
  • New minimum subdivision settings for manual meshing
  • New meshing parameters for the flower node
  • New LOD selection method based on a reference length
  • Support for MacOS Catalina (10.15)
  • HiDPI scaling on Windows & Mac
  • Normal map export for billboards
  • Optimized plant computation and graph drawing speed
  • Orthogonal placement mode for children
  • New random position and orientation settings for whorl placement of children
  • Improved auto-graph layout
  • Faster scene file reading of compressed files
  • Added a path tracer for rendering the model
  • New export options: better texture map naming, better mip-mapping, iproved top transition blending on segments, export of a single texture per material when baking materials
  • UDIMs are sorted by material during export
  • Improved filter editor UI
  • New flower node capabilities: the flower top can be closed, normals can be inverted on front and back faces
  • Improved gamma management
  • New interface
  • Improved performance
  • Fully linear workflow
  • Support for PBR materials
  • Substance material support in *.sbsar format
  • Diamond-shaped leaves
More about PlantFactory