The only way to master The Grove is by learning about how real trees grow. You will have great results in minutes when growing from presets - it could not be easier. Then, when you’re ready to dive in deeper, this is the place to start reading.
Learn how to install the add-on in Blender and how to organize twigs and textures.
A brief overview of how to grow your first trees, and how to shape them.
If you run into something, the Frequently Asked Questions may well keep you growing. It’s a work-in-progress that is constantly updated.
Twigs are small branches that use regular 3D geometry to represent leaves, flowers and fruit. You can model them to any level of detail, or purchase The Grove’s handmade twigs to get stunning results quickly.
As trees grow up, toward the sky, they compete with their neighbours that take away light. But the biggest competition is the very tree itself, where new leaves above shade the old underneath.
There’s nothing like the mesmerizing view of branches dancing in the wind. Wind brings a tree to life. The wind system uses shape keys, which are fast and compatible with most 3D software. Calculating wind shapes and playing the animation in your viewport are both surprisingly fast, especially when stored in an Alembic file.
Watch heavy branches bend under the weight they carry. The continuous interplay of growth and gravity is what creates some of the most beautiful tree shapes.
Favor bright over dark, and rising over dangling. Grow free to the sides, or first grow in length.
Let nature take its course and watch trees develop into beautiful shapes. Mimic any tree’s character with intuitive parameters taken straight from the woods.
While a branch is growing in length, it is searching for the best direction to grow in. There are several outside influences that cause a branch to turn to a certain direction.
With React you can set up any mesh object to shade, attract, deflect or stop new growth. Avoid buildings, simulate a dominant wind direction or grow inside a shape.
Build high quality 3D models that are lightweight to render. The Grove offers adaptive polygon reduction and a unique system of twigs, with minimal impact on both memory and disk.
Although trees are all around us, there are quite some misconceptions on how trees grow. Studying the way in which a real tree grows reveals surprising mechanisms that together evolve these complex plants.
Without a doubt, the most popular mystery in art and nature is the golden section. This “divine” proportion seems to pop up in everything from sea shells to roman architecture. Trees are…