POV-Ray : Newsgroups : povray.binaries.images : Forest macro Server Time
12 Oct 2026 20:03:06 EDT (-0400)
  Forest macro (Message 1 to 17 of 17)  
From: William Tracy
Subject: Forest macro
Date: 31 Jan 2008 02:33:15
Message: <47a179bb@news.povray.org>
Okay, this probably isn't enough trees to count as a forest, but that's
not the point. :-)

I'm playing with a macro that lays out trees over a landscape. It
generates clumps with random size and spread, and randomly scales and
rotates individual trees.

It also accepts an array of objects for trees. It randomly picks an
array entry for each tree it "plants". The given screenshot uses three
different tree meshes generated with PovTree.

PovTree generates include files with the tree mesh in the variable
"TREE". I can import several PovTree includes with code like this:

#declare treeShape = array[3];
#include "linden-lowres1.inc"
#declare treeShape[0] = TREE;
#include "linden-lowres2.inc"
#declare treeShape[1] = TREE;
#include "linden-lowres3.inc"
#declare treeShape[2] = TREE;

Finally, the landscape is a mesh generated by my very own "Poor man's
Terragen" program. :-) (Actually, it's the same mesh is used in my
"RSOCL" image.)

Come to think of it, everything in this image is a mesh. And the other
objects I planned on adding to this image are meshes made in Wings3D. I
should title the image Mesh World. 8-/

-- 
William Tracy
afi### [at] gmailcom -- wtr### [at] calpolyedu

You know you've been raytracing too long when the sun hurts your eyes.
    -- AmaltheaJ5


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From: Thomas de Groot
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 31 Jan 2008 03:15:17
Message: <47a18395$1@news.povray.org>
Interestingly enough, in 1999 Mark Wagner wrote something identical called 
Vegetate. It was based on the same principles. It included collision 
detection, exclusion areas and water levels, slope and timberlines, and a 
couple of other fancy parameters. It has been some time since I last used it 
(I don't even know if it works well with v.3.6). It probably is still 
available somewhere.

All this not meaning that you should quit now :-)   but it is interesting to 
see how things come up again and again sometimes.

However, keep on!

Thomas


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From: Thomas de Groot
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 31 Jan 2008 03:25:18
Message: <47a185ee@news.povray.org>
It is still there indeed, in the link section of the POV-Ray site (include 
files), pointing you here: 
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Program/9231/povray.html

Thomas


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From: nemesis
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 31 Jan 2008 06:00:01
Message: <web.47a1a9fbb5a73f6328552b650@news.povray.org>
William Tracy <wtr### [at] calpolyedu> wrote:
> I'm playing with a macro that lays out trees over a landscape. It
> generates clumps with random size and spread, and randomly scales and
> rotates individual trees.

so far, so good! :)


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From: William Tracy
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 31 Jan 2008 10:58:37
Message: <47a1f02d$1@news.povray.org>
Thomas de Groot wrote:
> Interestingly enough, in 1999 Mark Wagner wrote something identical called 
> Vegetate. It was based on the same principles.

Huh. I didn't remember that one. (I vaguely recall some posts a while
back from someone writing a "biologically correct" landscape planting
macro, but I don't remember the code to it ever being posted.)

> It included collision 
> detection, exclusion areas and water levels, slope and timberlines, and a 
> couple of other fancy parameters.

I've skipped collision detection (having trees overlap doesn't strike me
as a problem), and eventually plan to have some notion of a timberline
in the code. I haven't played with any landscapes yet where slope was a
major factor--I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. :-)

> All this not meaning that you should quit now :-)   but it is interesting to 
> see how things come up again and again sometimes.

Keep in mind that you're talking to someone who built his own landscape
generator in C++ for giggles. :-)

-- 
William Tracy
afi### [at] gmailcom -- wtr### [at] calpolyedu

You know you've been raytracing too long when you stop working on a
scene even before you render it because you believe it is pointless to
make an image if there's no hope of it looking real.
    -- Mark Stock


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From: Alain
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 31 Jan 2008 16:01:29
Message: <47a23729$1@news.povray.org>
William Tracy nous apporta ses lumieres en ce 2008/01/31 02:33:
> Okay, this probably isn't enough trees to count as a forest, but that's
> not the point. :-)
> 
> I'm playing with a macro that lays out trees over a landscape. It
> generates clumps with random size and spread, and randomly scales and
> rotates individual trees.
> 
> It also accepts an array of objects for trees. It randomly picks an
> array entry for each tree it "plants". The given screenshot uses three
> different tree meshes generated with PovTree.
> 
> PovTree generates include files with the tree mesh in the variable
> "TREE". I can import several PovTree includes with code like this:
> 
> #declare treeShape = array[3];
> #include "linden-lowres1.inc"
> #declare treeShape[0] = TREE;
> #include "linden-lowres2.inc"
> #declare treeShape[1] = TREE;
> #include "linden-lowres3.inc"
> #declare treeShape[2] = TREE;
> 
> Finally, the landscape is a mesh generated by my very own "Poor man's
> Terragen" program. :-) (Actually, it's the same mesh is used in my
> "RSOCL" image.)
> 
> Come to think of it, everything in this image is a mesh. And the other
> objects I planned on adding to this image are meshes made in Wings3D. I
> should title the image Mesh World. 8-/
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
Nice. With a little yellower ground, and different trees, it could pass as a dry 
tropical forest. They are, acording to what I saw of them in documentarys, 
relatively sparce.

-- 
Alain
-------------------------------------------------
If you're ever about to be mugged by a couple of clowns, don't hesitate - go for 
the juggler.


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From: Sven Littkowski
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 31 Jan 2008 23:15:33
Message: <47a29ce5$2@news.povray.org>
Boooaaahhh eeyyyyy!!!!!

I like it a lot! Can you e-mail me that macro? I would dance in a circle, if 
you could. Thanks!

Sven



"William Tracy" <wtr### [at] calpolyedu> schrieb im Newsbeitrag 
news:47a179bb@news.povray.org...
> Okay, this probably isn't enough trees to count as a forest, but that's
> not the point. :-)
>
> I'm playing with a macro that lays out trees over a landscape. It
> generates clumps with random size and spread, and randomly scales and
> rotates individual trees.
>
> It also accepts an array of objects for trees. It randomly picks an
> array entry for each tree it "plants". The given screenshot uses three
> different tree meshes generated with PovTree.
>
> PovTree generates include files with the tree mesh in the variable
> "TREE". I can import several PovTree includes with code like this:
>
> #declare treeShape = array[3];
> #include "linden-lowres1.inc"
> #declare treeShape[0] = TREE;
> #include "linden-lowres2.inc"
> #declare treeShape[1] = TREE;
> #include "linden-lowres3.inc"
> #declare treeShape[2] = TREE;
>
> Finally, the landscape is a mesh generated by my very own "Poor man's
> Terragen" program. :-) (Actually, it's the same mesh is used in my
> "RSOCL" image.)
>
> Come to think of it, everything in this image is a mesh. And the other
> objects I planned on adding to this image are meshes made in Wings3D. I
> should title the image Mesh World. 8-/
>
> -- 
> William Tracy
> afi### [at] gmailcom -- wtr### [at] calpolyedu
>
> You know you've been raytracing too long when the sun hurts your eyes.
>    -- AmaltheaJ5
>


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From: jute
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 1 Feb 2008 03:15:00
Message: <web.47a2d4fdb5a73f63f43b014e0@news.povray.org>
William Tracy <wtr### [at] calpolyedu> wrote:
> Okay, this probably isn't enough trees to count as a forest, but that's
> not the point. :-)
>

there's something about the actual trees that's looking real good

--
jussi


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From: William Tracy
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 1 Feb 2008 12:27:24
Message: <47a3567c$1@news.povray.org>
jute wrote:
> there's something about the actual trees that's looking real good

http://propro.ru/go/Wshop/povtree/povtree.html

I started from the "Linden tree" default, and only made a few small changes.

In this particular render, I left the leaf color at the default. I'm
thinking about making the leaves a touch darker. Thoughts?

-- 
William Tracy
afi### [at] gmailcom -- wtr### [at] calpolyedu

You know you've been raytracing too long when you read about an
algorithm or datastructure and your first thought is: "How can I use
this to speed up raytracing?"
    -- Christoph Rieder


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From: William Tracy
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 1 Feb 2008 12:30:38
Message: <47a3573e$1@news.povray.org>
Sven Littkowski wrote:
> Boooaaahhh eeyyyyy!!!!!
> 
> I like it a lot! Can you e-mail me that macro? I would dance in a circle, if 
> you could. Thanks!

I'm glad you think it's that great. :-)

I was planning on cleaning it up first to make it a bit easier to use.
If you really want it now, though, I can still email it to you.

-- 
William Tracy
afi### [at] gmailcom -- wtr### [at] calpolyedu

You know you've been raytracing too long when you try to find the
address of Julia Mandelbrott, because you fell in love with her shape.
    -- Jan Weber


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From: Sven Littkowski
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 2 Feb 2008 00:44:24
Message: <47a40338@news.povray.org>
Yes, that would be nice. I might also need the additional files for the 
trees self. Especially palms, bushes, just the tropical things. But also, 
any other trees are fine, too. Hmm, and your heightfield, that would be very 
useful. Oh, yes, and your scene file! And, and, and...

Sven



"William Tracy" <wtr### [at] calpolyedu> schrieb im Newsbeitrag 
news:47a3573e$1@news.povray.org...
> Sven Littkowski wrote:
>> Boooaaahhh eeyyyyy!!!!!
>>
>> I like it a lot! Can you e-mail me that macro? I would dance in a circle, 
>> if
>> you could. Thanks!
>
> I'm glad you think it's that great. :-)
>
> I was planning on cleaning it up first to make it a bit easier to use.
> If you really want it now, though, I can still email it to you.
>
> -- 
> William Tracy
> afi### [at] gmailcom -- wtr### [at] calpolyedu
>
> You know you've been raytracing too long when you try to find the
> address of Julia Mandelbrott, because you fell in love with her shape.
>    -- Jan Weber


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From: Sven Littkowski
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 2 Feb 2008 00:44:24
Message: <47a40338$2@news.povray.org>
By the way, how long did the render take?

Sven


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From: William Tracy
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 2 Feb 2008 13:14:01
Message: <47a4b2e9$1@news.povray.org>
Sven Littkowski wrote:
> By the way, how long did the render take?

With antialiasing, radiosity and an area_light cranked up, somewhere
between 45 minutes and an hour.

-- 
William Tracy
afi### [at] gmailcom -- wtr### [at] calpolyedu

You know you've been raytracing too long when the alarm clock goes off,
and you try thinking: object { SnoozeButton translate y*-0.25 } and then
can't figure out why the alarm keeps ringing.
    -- Jeff Lee


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From: William Tracy
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 2 Feb 2008 13:26:30
Message: <47a4b5d6$1@news.povray.org>
Sven Littkowski wrote:
> Yes, that would be nice.

It would be nice if you could copy my scene file in time to enter it
into this round of the TC-RTC? ;-)

I've already posted a link to the Pov-Tree software.

My terrain isn't a heightfield; it's a mesh generated by my own custom
software. Actually, I might be able to post a copy of the program at
some point--it's really not very helpful if you're trying to get a scene
done, but it's still fun to play with. :-)

What OS are you on?

-- 
William Tracy
afi### [at] gmailcom -- wtr### [at] calpolyedu

You know you've been raytracing too long when you switch to Linux
because Microsoft won't release the source code to Windows so you can
change all the buttons in your OS to use cool little raytraced images.
    -- Taps a.k.a. Tapio Vocadlo


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From: Sven Littkowski
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 2 Feb 2008 21:16:52
Message: <47a52414@news.povray.org>
Windows XP. And I would like to use your landscapes with my HeliChopper (see 
the 2nd thread below your posting here).
Thanks!

Sven



"William Tracy" <wtr### [at] calpolyedu> schrieb im Newsbeitrag 
news:47a4b5d6$1@news.povray.org...
> Sven Littkowski wrote:
>> Yes, that would be nice.
>
> It would be nice if you could copy my scene file in time to enter it
> into this round of the TC-RTC? ;-)
>
> I've already posted a link to the Pov-Tree software.
>
> My terrain isn't a heightfield; it's a mesh generated by my own custom
> software. Actually, I might be able to post a copy of the program at
> some point--it's really not very helpful if you're trying to get a scene
> done, but it's still fun to play with. :-)
>
> What OS are you on?
>
> -- 
> William Tracy
> afi### [at] gmailcom -- wtr### [at] calpolyedu
>
> You know you've been raytracing too long when you switch to Linux
> because Microsoft won't release the source code to Windows so you can
> change all the buttons in your OS to use cool little raytraced images.
>    -- Taps a.k.a. Tapio Vocadlo


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From: Sven Littkowski
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 2 Feb 2008 21:16:52
Message: <47a52414$2@news.povray.org>
This is fast.

Sven



"William Tracy" <wtr### [at] calpolyedu> schrieb im Newsbeitrag 
news:47a4b2e9$1@news.povray.org...
> Sven Littkowski wrote:
>> By the way, how long did the render take?
>
> With antialiasing, radiosity and an area_light cranked up, somewhere
> between 45 minutes and an hour.
>
> -- 
> William Tracy
> afi### [at] gmailcom -- wtr### [at] calpolyedu
>
> You know you've been raytracing too long when the alarm clock goes off,
> and you try thinking: object { SnoozeButton translate y*-0.25 } and then
> can't figure out why the alarm keeps ringing.
>    -- Jeff Lee


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From: William Tracy
Subject: Re: Forest macro
Date: 3 Feb 2008 11:47:41
Message: <47a5f02d$1@news.povray.org>
Sven: I can't seem to get an email through to you. Email me.

-- 
William Tracy
afi### [at] gmailcom -- wtr### [at] calpolyedu

You know you've been raytracing too long when you've made more than two
posts to the 4:3 vs 16:9 thread for the Movie Project.
    -- John VanSickle


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