Check out the new features in the ForestPack 9.1 updates
ForestIvy can now generate 3D ivy along conventional 3ds Max splines: just one of the changes made to ForestPack’s accompanying ivy generator plugin in the recent ForestPack 9.1.x updates.
Itoosoft has updated Forest Pack, its scattering plugin for 3ds Max.
The Forest Pack 9.1 updates add new features to ForestIvy, the new accompanying plugin for generating 3D ivy, including the option to grow ivy without an underlying surface.
The ‘ultimate scattering tool for 3ds Max’
Described by iToo as “the ultimate scattering tool for 3ds Max”, Forest Pack is designed to distribute objects across a scene: usually plant models, but also rocks, buildings or lights.
The scattering process is fully parametric, and object distribution can also be controlled by image maps, splines or painting directly onto terrain geometry.
Forest Pack can scatter both static and animated objects, with the option to randomise both texture maps and the time offset of animation cycles, or control them via image maps.
Forest Pack 9.1 updates: new features in ForestIvy
The last major update to the software, Forest Pack 9.0, introduced ForestIvy, a new plugin for generating 3D ivy and other climbing plants.
Users set the overall form of the ivy using a combination of manual and procedural workflow, drawing it directly onto surfaces, generating it automatically, or blending between the two.
Since then, Itoosoft has updated ForestIvy steadily through a series of ForestPack 9.1 updates: the latest listed on the forum is ForestPack 9.1.7.
(Full disclosure: it was actually released just before the New Year, but we only spotted it when Itoosoft mentioned it in its email newsletter.)
New features include the option to generate ivy along a path, without the need for an underlying 3D surface, as shown in the image above.
It is also possible to create or save paths as standard 3ds Max splines.
There are also new Surface Offset and Check Ground Hit options, which shift the ivy away from an underlying surface, and flatten it along the ground, even without a ground object in place.
ForestIvy is also now compatible with real-time ray tracer Chaos Vantage, and V-Ray 7, the latest version of the production renderer.
Pricing and availability
Forest Pack 9.1.7 is compatible with 3ds Max 2019+ running on Windows 10+. You can find a list of compatible render engines here.
New perpetual licences cost $275. There is also a free Lite edition. It’s feature-limited, but can be used on commercial projects.
Read an overview of the new features in ForestIvy on Itoosoft’s blog
Read a full list of new features in Forest Pack 9.1.x on Itoosoft’s forum
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