Technical Specification

The ultimate environment creation toolkit for 3ds Max

ForestPack includes all the features you need to create perfect scatters, every time. The fully integrated solution uses a familiar UI and workflow to create almost unlimited geometry with complete control over every detail. That's not all, use Forest Maps to randomise maps and add tints, quickly populate a scene using our included library presets or create your own, and use Forest Tools to convert scatters to max instances or XML data for use in large pipelines. With its power, unrivalled features list, ease-of-use, and premium support. ForestPack will change the way you render.

Render Without Limits

Billions of Polygons

Create scenes with virtually unlimited geometry. Renders with hundreds of thousands of objects each with millions of polygons are now possible thanks to ForestPack's advanced geometry shaders, compatible with most popular render engines.

Points-Cloud Display

WYSIWYG scattering is possible with ForestPack's point's-cloud display mode. Preview huge polygon counts while maintaining viewport responsiveness and avoid time spent rendering previews.

Convert to Instances

Convert ForestPack objects to Max instances with the click of button. Ideal for sharing with users or computers without the plugin, using renderers that aren't already natively supported, or exporting to real-time engines. For large pipelines we provide the ability to export data in an XML file.

Supported Items

Meshes and Proxies

Add almost any geometry and ForestPack intelligently converts it to native render instances on the fly, so there's no need to spend time creating proxies. If you prefer proxy objects, they're fully supported too.

Lights and Non-Geometric Objects

Scatter non-geometric objects such as lights, splines and VDB volumes using ForestPack. In some renderers it is even possible to randomise the color and intensity of lights using Forest Color.

Groups and Linked Hierarchies

Scatter groups or linked hierarchies of objects and preserve their composition. Useful for clumps of flowers and grass, the contents of a group can either be handled as individual objects so they can be individually randomised, or their relationship can be maintained.

Parametric Objects

If you're able to output an object as a mesh, you can use it in ForestPack. This includes parametric objects like GrowFX plants, Laubwerk Trees, RailClone styles, and even nested ForestPack objects!

Probability

Control the exact composition of a scatter using probability values. Percentages are automatically normalised so there's no need for tricky maths.

Supported Areas

Include and Exclude Areas

Use Include areas to add scattered objects. Use Exclude areas to remove objects from an existing scatter.

There's no limit of the number of areas that can be combined, so you can design complex relationships and dependencies to create the perfect distribution.

Splines

Closed splines are the fastest way to define large irregularly shaped areas. Alternatively use open splines with an adjustable width to create paths, hedges, and many more linear designs. Splines are fully parametric and changes update instantly in the viewports. You have complete control, each area can be overridden to include its own distribution map, density and scatter items.

Paint Areas

For more intuitive scattering, use ForestPack's advanced brush tools to paint areas on any surface using a mouse or tablet. Painted areas remain fully parametric with separate controls for distribution map, objects, and density. If you want to edit with standard spline tools, you can easily convert between paint and spline areas with the click of a button.

Surfaces

Scatter objects on uneven surfaces using XY mode for landscapes and terrains, or if you need to scatter geometry on all sides of an object - use the UV coordinates instead. Control the scale and density of scatters using slope angle and altitude, and randomise objects on stacked surface to quickly populate building interiors!

Forest Objects

ForestPack objects can be used to influence each another. Using falloff curves you can control the density and scale of a scatter around the perimeter of another Forest's objects. For example, automatically adding fallen leaves under trees or excluding grass from under hedges are just a couple of examples in a multitude of applications.

Any Geometry

Need to remove scattered objects from around objects? No problem, just add the geometry as an exclude area and they are removed instantly. Alternatively, invert the curves to populate objects only around the perimeter. Even huge objects are supported, the algorithm is highly optimised for high-poly geometry.

Distribution Patterns

Built-in patterns

ForestPack uses black and white maps to create distribution patterns. A white pixel creates a tree, and a black pixel a gap. Over 20 default map types are included, but you can easily create your own for any type of design.

Maps

If the built-in patterns don't include the design you need, you can use procedural maps or images to create any distribution you want.

Clusters

Simulate the growth patterns found in nature with ForestPack's unique Cluster mode. Group plants of the same type together with many controls for shape, noise, and edge blur.

Cluster render:

Match Color on Bitmap

Create your own cluster patterns by matching plants to color found in a bitmap. This is ideal for matching planting plans provided by Landscape Architects.

Boundary Control

Edge Mode

Perfect Edges every time are easy with ForestPack's innovative Edge Mode. This feature can automatically remove elements from the scattered geometry to ensure that boundaries are crisp and clean.

Falloff Curves

Control the size and density of objects around the perimeter of a scatter area using Falloff Curves. Used in combination with include and exclude areas, it's easy to add or subtract items around the base of other objects, including other Forest Objects!

Altitude

Control scale and density using Altitude based falloff. For example due to lack of oxygen, trees often get smaller and more sparse at higher altitudes.

Slope Angle

Control scale and density using Slope based falloff. Prevent trees growing on surfaces that are too steep to create naturalistic growth patterns on terrain

Forest Color

Randomize Maps

Forest Maps allows you to randomize the maps applied to scattered objects. You can choose to shuffle the maps by object or by element for maximum control and life-like variation.

Randomize From Map

Create a palette and tint colors using a texture swatch! Forest Color can extract random values from a bitmap to allow you to easily match colors from photographs.

Add tints

Add even more variety by tinting maps. Colors are selected at random from a user definable gradient and applied using one of five transfer modes and a randomizable strength parameter.

Optimize Materials

Quickly apply Forest Color maps and apply automatic material optimisation with a single button. In some circumstances scenes can render up to seven times faster after optimisation.

Use Texture on Surface

Sample the texture from a map applied to the surface area and use this to tint the overlying objects. For example, you could use aerial photography of fields to create natural color variations in a grass scatter.

Optimization

Frustum Culling

Minimise strain on your computer's resources by limiting the scatter to the camera's field of view! Create a fly-by with millions of trees, without wasting resources on trees that are outside the frame!

Forest LOD

Switch the geometry and materials of scattered items based on their distance from the camera or their size in the render view to help speed up renders and manage RAM!

Distance Based Falloff

Use falloff curves to change the density and scale of a scatter based on distance from the camera! If you have multiple cameras in the scene, you can use their environment range to set a different value for each one.

Transform Controls

Probability Graphs

By using a probability graph you can precisely control the chances of a value being selected from a given range. This is ideal if you want to randomise the transformation of objects within a few narrower bracketed values instead of across the entire range. For example, if you are scattering buildings on a town grid, you could create a probability curve to ensure they only rotate at 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees.

Position, Rotation and Scale

Make the re-use of assets nearly impossible to detect by randomising their position, rotation and scale. Set a simple minimum and maximum value and ForestPack takes care of the rest.

Maps

Use grayscale maps to control the position, rotation and scale of scattered objects. Alternatively use color maps and set the XYZ parameters using RGB values for maximum control.

Probability Maps

Probability maps allow you to control the probability of a value being selected using a grayscale map. Scatter objects in black areas of the map will not be randomised, objects in white areas will receive a value selected from the full range.

Editor Mode

Add and Edit Individual Objects

Use Custom Edit mode to add, place or edit items manually. Fine tune an existing scatter for the perfect render, or start from scratch by placing individual objects.

Follow Splines

Distribute evenly spaced items along splines. Objects can be set to orientate themselves to the path, retain their original rotation, or use randomised transform settings.

Use Markers

Position and orientate objects using markers, other objects and meshes for reference! Make sure your planting perfectly matches the architect's plans by using their imported reference markers to precisely place objects.

Animation

Follow Geometry

ForestPack enables you to scatter animated objects while maintaining significant memory efficiency. Any animated geometry can be used including proxies. In the default mode, the animations are all synced, but there are 3 powerful options that enable you to randomise and control playback.

Randomize

Randomise the time offset of animated geometry to ensure that scattered objects are not played back identically! This is far more natural when using plants and trees with a wind animation or any other situation where you don't want the animation of objects to play in perfect sync.

Control Using Maps

Control the play back of animated objects using maps. You have two options, either set the offset of the animation and let it play, or specify the current frame using a gray-scale map.

Library and Presets

Library Browser

Add a new scatter to your scene in an instant using ForestPack's Library Browser. You can store and load billboards, individual 3d objects or entire scatter presets in the library, all accessible with a couple of clicks!

Built-in Presets

The ForestPack library contains many predefined styles, ready to use. ForestPack Pro includes over 150 models and presets, with materials for V-Ray, Mental Ray, Scanline, Octane, Corona and Thea Render. Click here to see what's included.

Integration with 3rd parties, ForestPack

Integration with 3Rd Party Libraries

In addition to the libraries supplied with ForestPack, we provide catalogues for many third party suppliers including Xfrog, Evermotion and HQ Plants. With the expansions installed, the plants are immediately visible in the library browser and ready to use

Create and Share

Create your own libraries and easily share them with colleagues or other users. The Forest Library is fully customisable with advanced features including the ability to automatically load materials to match the current renderer and run custom Maxscripts on load or import.

Licensing

Each purchase of ForestPack Pro gives you access to a single license for creating and editing Forest Objects, the full library contents, and free unlimited render nodes. For the duration of your maintenance plan you are also entitled to premium technical support and upgrades.

The versions released during your maintenance plan are yours to keep forever. If you like to stay up to date with the most recent versions of ForestPack we recommend you should stay on the maintenance plan, however there are no penalties for allowing it to lapse. If you want to skip some versions, it's no problem and you can jump back on at any time and download the most recent software paying only for another year of maintenance.

Compatibility

ForestPack Pro is compatible with 3ds Max 2013 and above (Official support from 2019).

ForestPack provides the most extensive native support of renderers in the industry, allowing out-of-the-box rendering of huge polycounts with no need to convert geometry to proxies. We support the following popular renderers:

Feature support varies for some renderers, for a full list please see this article

ForestPack comes in 2 versions

ForestPack PRO

ForestPack Pro has advanced features for surfaces, tree placement and importing/exporting tools. Also it includes a full library of billboard trees and shrubs, 3d Trees and Shrubs, ground cover presets and the the ability to edit libraries and add your own objects and textures.

In addition, a Pro license of ForestPack permits you to prioritised technical support, early access to beta versions, and regular updates.

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ForestPack LITE

ForestPack Lite is free to use, even commercially. It provides many of the features found in ForestPack Pro but with the ability to scatter a maximum of 3 source objects using up to 4 flat areas. The Lite edition has a limited subset of presets, and does not include Creation Tools, Forest Tools, or user editable libraries.

If you want to know the differences between our Pro and Lite version, please read this documentation

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