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Awesome Creeping Ivy Generator

  Published by Kernon on March 26th, 2007 in 3D News, Toolbox

example_0.jpgEvery now and then you stumble upon something that really is special and helps you to do something that, otherwise, would simply be an amazing pain in the you-know-where. This is one of those times.

This is a great stand-alone tool that was first mentioned by "sonix" in a thread on blenderartists.org.

The tools developer, Thomas Luft, writes:

A few month ago I was looking for a new sample scene to test watercolor renderings. I was thinking of something complex, filled with vegetation - like trees overgrown with ivy. Fortunately I was able to implement a procedural system so that the ivy would grow by itself. The result is a small tool allowing a virtual ivy to grow in your 3d world.

The ivy grows from one single root following different forces: a primary growth direction (the weighted average of previous growth directions), a random influence, an adhesion force towards other objects, an up-vector imitating the phototropy of plants, and finally gravity. This simple scheme reveals that the goal was not to provide a biological simulation of growing ivy but rather a simple approach to producing complex and convincing vegetation that adapts to an existing scene. The ivy generator imports and exports obj+mtl files.

The application was originally written for the Windows platform but, with Mr. Luft being generous enough to also provide the source code, it has been ported to the MacOS platform and the Linux platform (thanks to Ruben), as well.

The software and its source code is released under the GNU General Public License. Also, the developer had originally restricted the usage of the application:

Please respect that it is NOT PERMITTED to use this software or parts of it in commercial projects!

However, after a few inquiries were made by several persons, Mr. Luft has been quite generous, yet again, and has now removed the commercial usage restrictions!

Awesome Tool! Thanks, Thomas Luft!

Note: Be sure to read the "readme.txt" file for the instructions. Some additional Blender-specific tips, provided by "sonix", can be found at the blenderartists link. Thanks "sonix"!

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43 Responses to “Awesome Creeping Ivy Generator”  

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  1. 1 PiPi Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 6:14 pm

    WOW, looking superb!

    .::PiPi::.

  2. 2 Bart Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 6:30 pm

    Looks amazing! Just tried it on OSX but couldn't get the program to export my model once it finished growing. Hitting the 'export obj+mtl' file writes out a 0 byte file. Did anyone get this to work on OSX?

  3. 3 goodneck Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 6:59 pm

    duuuuude that is sooo coool

  4. 4 Dalai Felinto Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 7:29 pm

    It looks like a wonderfull SOC implementation (some Blender integration), don't you think?

  5. 5 samran Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 7:49 pm

    just WOW ……….

  6. 6 Peter Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 8:04 pm

    =Quote (Bart):===
    Hitting the 'export obj+mtl' file writes out a 0 byte file. Did anyone get this to work on OSX?
    =============

    This should work for any system, the FAQ on the website says:

    =Quote:=======
    The exported files are empty. What can I do?
    Please press "birth" before exporting.
    =============

  7. 7 Markus Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 8:12 pm

    So, when will it be included in blender? :P

  8. 8 Raoni Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 8:17 pm

    So, when for Linux ?

  9. 9 Luis Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 8:39 pm

    I exported it on OSX. The problem seems to be the buttons when you import in Blender. In my first time I clicked (or not, don't remember) and I get also 0 Kb. Then I did the contrary and it works well. Be carefull with the size of the mesh…

    Luis

  10. 10 tom Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 8:50 pm

    wow - amazing work thomas!!! thanks for sharing :-)

  11. 11 Ruben Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 8:52 pm

    I have just ended porting it to Linux. I have sent the modified sources to Thomas, and I wish that he include them in the web page soon.

    Regards.

  12. 12 Kernon Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 9:01 pm

    A specialty tool like this is probably best left as an external application. We can't cram everything into Blender. :))

    @Ruben
    Good job! I'm glad to see that the Linux platform will have access to such a great tool much sooner than later.

  13. 13 Cuby Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 9:04 pm

    Wow! This thing looks absolutely incredible! Downloading.

  14. 14 micah fitch Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 9:08 pm

    I think blender does need a "paint effects" sort of system, nice job!

  15. 15 carlinhos Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 9:11 pm

    why should it not be allowed to use the results in commercial projects?
    on the ivy generator webpage is written that it IS allowed to use the software in a commercial context:
    there is written:
    "Frequently asked questions
    May I use the Ivy Generator in a commerical project? May I use my results (renderings and meshes) in a commerical project?
    Yes, you are allowed to do that."

    best regards, carlinhos

  16. 16 MonkeysTail Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 9:48 pm

    I wonder if there's anything like this available that generates ropes and strings and such. Its kindof annoying having to do it in the particle generator. :P

  17. 17 Kernon Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 9:55 pm

    @carlinhos
    Please reread the last part of the article. :P

  18. 18 amoose Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 10:06 pm

    you didn't read it all:
    ""Please respect that it is NOT PERMITTED to use this software or parts of it in commercial projects!"

    However, after a few inquiries were made by several persons, Mr. Luft has been quite generous, yet again, and has now removed the commercial usage restrictions!

    Awesome Tool! Thanks, Thomas Luft!"

    You can use it with commercial projects. But I doubt it will be put in blender because while it is a useful tool it isn't going to be used by everyone. And for those that don't use it, it will just take up more space on their computer. Blender is smal now but if we keep putting more and more stuff in it sooner or later it will be huge. And those that want to use it can download it. Though it would be nice to see it as a plugin. It would also be nice to see it import and export blends.

  19. 19 amoose Edit Link Mar 26th, 2007 at 10:08 pm

    Kernon beat me to it. ;)

  20. 20 Renato Perini Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 12:20 am

    Thomas Luft… Simply great….
    What about integrating this into Blender!!! It's awesome!!!

  21. 21 Renato Perini Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 12:23 am

    @Kernon
    I don't agree with you. This is a specialized tool like particles, fluid and fur are. Getting this into Blender could be beneficial not only for Blender but for the tool itself.

  22. 22 BrianH Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 12:28 am

    combine this with Arbaro http://arbaro.sourceforge.net and you got yourself a really nice opensource tree and foilage combination.

  23. 23 steve Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 1:06 am

    amoose - it might not be worth integrating it directly into blender, but perhaps it could be rewritten as a portable standalone command-line driven program, and someone could write a python script to call it from blender and pipe the results back and import them to blender objects. I haven't had a chance to look at the program itself to see how it works, as I'm waiting for someone to post a Linux version.

  24. 24 Sephiroth the Bimbo Master Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 1:50 am

    This is amazing, I was looking for something like this, I think blender must have this tool integrated.

    Thanks Luft.

  25. 25 ibiham halul Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 1:51 am

    windows version worked on wine

  26. 26 OBI_Ron Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 1:52 am

    This tool is awesome!

    I will be using this soon in a project!

    Thank you Thomas Luft for sharing this work…simply amazing!

  27. 27 Gat Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 2:11 am

    I tried it out on windows xp and it works so good I can't belive it. Grows kind of slow, but if you think about it its fast for a non commercial product. great job!! really really really awsome software!!! genius, man!!

  28. 28 Bataraza Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 2:37 am

    Amazing…. but I have Linux…. I'm looking forward for a Linux version ;)

    Congratulations!!!!

  29. 29 Josh Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 6:43 am

    Another Linux user anxiously awaiting a Linux release! Results look amazing!

  30. 30 aws357 Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 11:57 am

    Already gasping in front of the potential…

    :p I would do a nice wood nymph, resting in the tree, just covered with plants…

    * pour ice cold water on his head *

  31. 31 Luigino Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 1:01 pm

    I also hope for a Linux version! :D

  32. 32 Terence Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 2:57 pm

    Thanks a bunch Thomas Luft. This is a great tool.

    I agree that integration into blender may not be the best idea. Fur and fluids are not quite as specific an element as ivy. They also can be used for other effects. Ivy alone can pretty much be used as just ivy.

    If there were a more general plant generator that could create all forms of plants, such as trees, flowers, as well as creeping plants, that might be worthwhile in blender since it would be a tool with broader use. I think the standalone program idea with a python script in blender is a much better solution.

  33. 33 mzungu Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 8:03 pm

    I've mentioned this on BA in a few places, but I'd also love to be able to use Thomas Luft's work in 3D-to-watercolor NPR effects. Find the link on his ivy-gen page and watch the videos if you're able! Someone tell the folks working on Freestyle about this stuff! Too sweet, IMO.

  34. 34 Herohtar Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 11:35 pm

    This is an awesome program, it works great! However, when I import the ivy object into Blender, it's backward (mirror image) and the leaves are upside down. Does anyone know how to fix this? I read a comment on the Blenderartists thread where someone said they had to rotate the textures 180', but I can't figure out how to do this. Thanks.

  35. 35 Ruben Edit Link Mar 27th, 2007 at 11:58 pm

    Thomas still did not answered my mail and he did not uploaded my Linux port to his page. So I have just uploaded it to my own page to allow other Linux users to use it right now:

    http://pinguino.dyndns.org/hospedados/ivy-gen_1.3_linux_src.tgz

    Please, be patient, it is an slow cable connection. I will delete it after being uploaded to the Thomas page.

    Regards

  36. 36 ccherrett Edit Link Mar 28th, 2007 at 8:15 pm

    Ruben:

    Thanks :)

  37. 37 tommy Edit Link Mar 28th, 2007 at 8:55 pm

    wow, amazing work!

    this is so awesome i cant even begint o express when i feel!

    amazing

  38. 38 ROUBAL Edit Link Mar 29th, 2007 at 12:00 am

    Hi!
    I have just tested it, and I'm very impressed !
    The influence of the sliders factors are a bit unpredictable, but the result is very nice. It is an excellent tool.

    Thanks a lot for sharing Thomas !

  39. 39 Dread Knight Edit Link Mar 29th, 2007 at 4:19 am

    Interesting, waiting for a linux version :)

  40. 40 Ruben Lopez Edit Link Mar 29th, 2007 at 9:44 am

    Thomas finally published the Linux version on his website. I will remove it from my server later today.

    Regards

  41. 41 Kernon Edit Link Mar 29th, 2007 at 12:11 pm

    @Ruben
    I've updated the article. Thanks!

  42. 42 danway Edit Link Apr 8th, 2007 at 4:17 am

    The Linux version is out for all the Linux Losers.

  43. 43 tom Edit Link Apr 15th, 2007 at 3:13 am

    how do i import the mtl file into blender??? besides that everything works and this is awesome!

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