1. Hand-drawn Node Undeletion
Fixed an issue where a deleted hand-drawn node would come back with no geometry when undeleted.

2. Height Indicator Refreshing
Fixed an issue where the height indicator wouldn't update when editing hand-drawn subdivision surface spines.

3. RLM Upgraded
RLM upgraded to fix an issue where the SpeedTree Modeler wouldn't recognize the hostid on machines on certain versions of Linux.

4. Node Names in Exported Raw Files
Fixed an issue with node names that was preventing hierarchies from implementing correctly.

5. Tumbling Locked Out
Fixed an issue where tumbling was locked out when using keyboard shortcuts for the fan and light.

6. Crash on Subdivision Generator Deletion
Fixed a bug that was sporadically causing the Modeler to crash when deleting a subdivision generator.

1. Bifurcation Web Angle
Fixed an issue where the normals and tangents were lining up in the bifurcation web area causing shader crashes in Unity and UE4.

2. Modeler In Use On Another Computer
Fixed an issue with the subscription Modeler where on rare occasions it would kick the user out of the Modeler and report that the Modeler was being used on another computer.

1. LOD Fuzziness
Fixed a bug where the LOD fuzziness was not being restored correctly when loading models.

2. LOD curve bug that caused the Modeler to crash
Fixed an issue where editing the LOD Keep Blue Curve would crash the Modeler if the left side of the curve was brought lower than the right side.

1. Fixed a bug that caused the slow updating in v7.1.2

1. More LODs for UE4 Modeler
You can now enable 4 LODs if you disable billboards.

2. Light mapping improvements:

• Generating two sided meshes now works with light mapping.
• Option to back out of light mapping on save.
• General performance improvment.

1. Current Mesh Replacement
Generating a mesh and replacing the current one no longer causes an issue with quads.

2. Displaying Normals Correctly
Deleted nodes no longer show normals.

3. Tree Generator Locked
The tree generator cannot be deleted.

4. Light mapping fixes:

• The Modeler does not hang when computing light maps.
• A bug that was causing a crash during computation has been eliminated.

1. Unified orientation
'Leaf' and 'Spine' generators/nodes now have this option. It forces nodes orientations to reverse for nodes on the opposite side of their parent. This feature makes fern like frond orientation and phyllotaxy structures easier to achieve.

2. Group alignment style
This generation option causes alignment (how the child node is oriented relative to its parent) to be computed individually or shared among all children of that parent. This feature, combined with “Unified orientation” make phyllotaxy structures easier to achieve.

3. Topology perserved in '.obj' meshes with quads
The topology of '.obj' files that use quads are now preserved exactly everywhere in the application. It was possible that imported quad meshes would have their layout changed on import (this is still true of .fbx imports).

4. Autosave timer reset
The autosave timer now resets after manual saves.

5. Collections work with subdivision surface models
You can now assigned subdivision surface models to collections for use in things like vine growing and branch-to-branch collision avoidance.

6. '.spm' file association moved to the installer
On Windows, file associations are no longer managed in the application. They are done by the installer or via Windows native mechanisms.

7. 'Q' hot key for selection mode
'Q' now returns to selection mode from any of the other tool options (translate ('W'), rotate ('E'), or Scale('R')).

1. Exported mesh and raw xml file fixes:

• Node parent info correct and matches spine bone/parent info
• Exported quads no longer double up
• Bone ids and wind info match correctly in raw xml files with optimized geometry
• Degenerate polygon removal is more precise

2. Alpha now works on exported image sequences
Previous releases would not generate alpha channels for rendered image sequences.

3. Houdini OTL updated for v13.5+
The error in recent versions has been removed.

4. Quad UVs corrected in Alembic files
Quads now have correct uv coordinates when exported as an Alembic file.

5. Integer thumbwheels update correctly
A bug that would allow the model to change before integer thumbwheel values update has been corrected.

6. Alpha now works on exported image sequences
Previous releases would not generate alpha channels for rendered image sequences.

7. Models loading different than saved
Models that had parent curves with levels that were high enough to reference the 'Tree' generator could load differently than they were saved. This bug has been corrected.

8. 'Adapt to masks' related crash
A thread safety issue that could lead to a crash when using the 'Adapt to masks' feature on 'Zone' generators has been corrected.

9. Normals, binormals and tangents now show on meshes
When meshes are assigned to forces and place in the scene they now show normals when that mode is selected.

10. Control point selection bug fixed
It is now considerably faster and always safe to perform the 'Select from here to the end' operations on hand drawn control points.

11. FBX mesh scale
A bug has been corrected that caused some .fbx files to be scaled incorrectly.

1. New lightmapping options
The property “Lightmap:Display multiplier” has been added to the 'Tree' generator. This property allows you to preview higher resolution lightmaps without changing the UV layout.

1. Integer thumbwheels update correctly
Integer properties edited by thumbwheels now update the value immediately upon changing.

2. UE4 sample models updated
These samples were missing specular atlases. They have been restored.

3. Alembic exporting on Linux
Alembic files were not exporting correctly on some Linux platforms.

4. Maya script path problems
Path issues in the Maya scripts have been corrected.

5. Houdini OTL path problems
Path issues in the Houdini OTL have been corrected.

6. Export unwrapped
The bug preventing exporting unwrapped models has been corrected.

1. First public release of UE4 version
This release marks the first version of the subscription based UE4 Modeler.

2. Lightmap UV generation
A new render mode (lightmap density) has been added to facilitate the tuning of the new, automatically generated unwrapped uvs used for lightmapping (or any scenario where an unwrapped texture is desired).

3. Leaf normal 'Puffiness'
A new property has been added to the leaf lighting group that rounds out the normals on a model. Used primarily for real-time models.

4. Remove Unused assets tool
A new option has been added to the 'Tools' pulldown menu to delete all unused materials and meshes from a model.

5. Texture twist removed from subdivision surface nodes when unwrapping
This feature happens automatically during unwrapping to preserve texture space in the resulting map.

1. Node edits update immediately
A bug causing a delay in update the model during property bar node edits has been corrected.

2. Subdividion branches are twisted when converted to hand drawn
This bug has been corrected.

3. Continually growing subdivision branches
In some circumstances node edits on hand drawn subdivision branches could cause the branch to grow continously with each new compute. This bug has been corrected.

1. Per-vertex leaf normal smoothing
Leaf mesh normal controls can now operate per-vertex as well as per-mesh.

1. Bone exporting fixed
A bug causing bone exporting to break in high performance exporting has been corrected.

2. Unwrapped mesh exporting fixed
A bug causing unwrapped meshes to break in high performance exporting has been corrected.

3. Multithreading has been restored in Mac versions
Mac versions once again use all available threads for computing.

4. Subdivision surface cracks
A bug in the “relax” function that could potentially cause cracks in subdivided surfaces has been corrected.

5. Leaf wind group 2 flickering
Leaf meshes assigned to leaf group 2 could potentially flicker when wind was disabled. This problem has been corrected.

1. Subdivision surface geometry exporting
A bug causing subdivision surface models to not export branches has been corrected.

2. Mislabelled 'Start' Menu shortcuts
Start menu shortcuts are now labelled with the correct version number.

1. Significant mesh exporting improvements
Mesh exporting is now 5 to 10 times faster and uses 5 to 10 times less memory.

1. Leaf ripple pulsing
A bug in the export process that caused a pulsing behavior in leaf ripple has been corrected.

2. 'Fronds as leaves' growth export error
Frond geometry with 'Treat as leaves' checked was placed at the origin during growth exporting. This issue has been corrected.

3. Maya script error
The .fbx import script for Maya was stopping prematurely on some models. This problem has been corrected.

1. Faster exporting and file I/O
The file saving/loading system has been upgraded resulting in faster file operations throughout the application, particularly when exporting large files.

1. Camera rotation during image sequence export
A bug that caused the camera to rotate when image sequences are exported has been corrected.

2. UV coordinate swap
On some platforms the U and V texture coordinates of .obj files were swapped. This issue has been corrected.

3. OpenGL color issue
Background colors and light color indication are now correct on all platforms.

4. Tree Browser execution issues
The Tree Browser now launches correctly on all platforms.

5. Alembic Exporter issue
Miscellaneous bug fixes applied to the Mac version of the Alembic exporter.

1. Houdini 13 compatibility
A new OTL that works with Houdini 13 has been added.

1. Force mesh creation
Creating force meshes via the right-click menu or drag/drop produced a crash or incorrect force type. This problem has been corrected.

2. Toggle highlighting key
'~' once again toggles selection highlighting in the Tree Window.

3. 3DS exporting
The 3DS format is no longer supported by the FBX SDK and has been removed from the export options.

1. Subdivision surface modeling
Create, edit, preview, and export subdivision surface models. Click here for more information.

2. Animated growth
Use the timeline in conjunction with the new 'Growth' properties to animate the growth of any polygonal model. Click here for more information.

3. Alembic export
Models can now be exported in the Alembic format.

4. Season changes
Models can now be rigged to support season changes, including natural leaf transitions. Click here for more information.

5. Focus
This technique allows you to drill down to a specific part of the tree, edit it interactively, and then apply the changes to the whole model quickly.

6. New generation algorithms
Easier to use methods (the 'Generation' properties) for controlling the number of nodes have been added (the previous versions are still present and functional).

7. Texture color adjustment
Modify diffuse texture map colors in the application, new textures are generated on export.

8. Revamped GUI
Much of the interface has been reworked to provide quicker access to common actions. Examples include:

• New tool bars in the 'Tree Window' and 'Generation Editor'
• Thumbwheels have been added for smooth and easy value editing
• Sliders and thumbwheels are always visible
• Faster computing and rendering

9. Return force
This force causes branches to return to their original growth direction. Use this in combination with 'Disturbance' and 'Jink' to create twisty branches that still grow roughly in a controlled direction.

10. Faster loading and smaller file sizes
Large models now load significantly faster and are much smaller when saved.

11. Render Image Sequence
Render out previews of wind, growth, and season animations.

1. Node hiding
Hiding a node now hides it and its descendants. This change makes 'Focus' possible and is more in keeping with what users expect. Use the LOD properties to make a node not contribute geometry to the model but still have its descendants visible.

2. Isolate has been removed
It has been replaced by 'Focus'.

3. Nothing selected behavior
With a model open and nothing selected, the property window displayed global tree properties. In v7.x, a list of options is displayed instead. Click the 'Tree properties' button to show the global tree properties.

4. Popup curve editor
The curve editor now pops up in place and disappears when it loses focus. It was a docking window in v6.x.

5. Context sensitive help removed
Property help is now part of this online documentation system and is easily accessed via the '?' icons on the property groups.

6. Docking color bar has been removed
The in place color picker is now used for all color selection.

7. Node edits are no longer color coded
Nodes with edits can be shown by right-clicking a generator in the 'Generation' Editor and selecting 'Select nodes with edits'.

8. Light theme has been removed
The dark interface theme is the only theme available.

9. 'Simple' mode removed
All properties for the selected tab are now shown all of the time.

10. Degradation changes
Full degradation has been removed (64 bit builds and improved internal mechanisms have rendered it obsolete). Interactive degradation has been renamed 'Fast edit' and is now accessible on the main tool bar.

1. Bone weights and bifurcated branches
A bug redarding bone weights and bifurcated branches with a small number of bones has been corrected.

1. Simplify Tool
Replace complex geometry with images and simple meshes to drastically reduce polygonal complexity.

2. Prolile curve on leaf 'Jitter'
A profile curve has been added to this property to help control how jitter is distributed across leaf meshes. This is particularly useful for eliminating jitter at the attachment point.

1. Bad tex coords related to 'Jaggedness'
It was possible to generate bad 'V' texture coordinates on branches with high 'Jaggedness' values. This problem has been corrected.

2. Leaf 'Keep' curve crash
If the left side of the 'Level of Detai:Keep' curve on leaf generators was set to zero the application crashed. This problem has been corrected.

3. Arbitrary scene scale not working on relative length branches
Branches using this length style now scale correctly.

1. Streamlined exporting/importing for 3ds Max and Maya
Presets have been added to the fbx export mesh dialog that target these apps. These presets set up .fbx files and their accompanying maps for use with the new import scripts. Previous versions of the scripts are still available.

2. V-Ray support
V-Ray is now supported in 3ds Max and Maya via the new import scripts.

3. Rhino support
A native .3dm exporter has been added. Access it via the File→Export mesh… dialog in the “Save as type” combo box.

4. Bump map generation
An option has been added to the exporters that allow bump maps to be generated from normal maps during export.

5. Mesh Wizard
When importing meshes this tool sets up other scene objects based on how you intend to use the mesh.

6. Compute ambient occlusion on save
You can now force SpeedTree to compute AO (if necessary) before each save on the “Preferences” dialog, “General” tab.

7. Improved navigation
Double click in the scene to set the navigation pivot point to any spot on the model.

8. Background image control
The viewport menu now has an option to disable the background image.

1. Missing triangles in Maya
Improved degenerate polygon detection has corrected the missing polygons in Maya error.

2. Map copying on Mac
A bug has been corrected that would occasionally prevent maps from being copied on export.

3. “Import new mesh” menu option
This option now appears only in “Geometry” combo boxes as intended.

1. Wind Wizard fix
6.2.1 introduced an error in the “This model most closely resembles” combo box that has been corrected.

1. Per step roll
This new generation property in the “Steps” group has been added to rotate each successive step by a fixed amount.

1. Maya navigation
6.2.0 introduced a rotation bug in the Maya control scheme that has been corrected. In addition, left-right dragging during zoom operations now works in addition to up-down dragging.

1. Wind wizard
A new wind feature that automatically computes wind parameters based on minimal guidance from the user.

2. Property categories
Category buttons appear at the top of the property for complex objects to speed up property editing.

3. Mesh and material importing made easier
Any place where meshes and materials can be assigned to tree components there is now a menu option that will import, create, and assign assets in one step. Also, mesh and material import options added to “File” menu.

4. Texture conversion on export
Convert textures to the format of your choosing during export.

5. Screenshot safe frame
Rendering the “safe frame” for screen shots can now be enabled via the “Tree Window” properties. This feature shows the area that will be used on the next image or material export.

6. Copy/Paste additions
Ambient occlusion and “Tree” generator settings can now be copied/pasted between models.

7. Image format option for .obj and .fbx exporting
It is now possible to choose the image format when exporting these formats.

8. Material/Mesh name conflicts eliminated during exporting
Conflicting material and mesh names are now automatically corrected when exporting, preventing errors in some dcc apps.

1. Proxy generators with no associated mesh now collide correctly
In previous versions default proxies would not collide against other proxies.

2. Mesh assets can now be dropped on proxies
In previous releases dropping a mesh on a proxy did not assign the mesh to the proxy.

3. Quad geometry frond fix
When using quad geometry it is now possible to use two-side and inverted fronds correctly.

4. Animated two-sided fronds fix
Exported, animated two-sided fronds now work correctly in dcc apps.

5. Copy/Paste multiple selection bug
Pasting with multiple generators selected now pastes the buffer in to each selected item (previously only the first item received the new value).

6. Scribe lines color fix
Custom scribe colors and “outline” selection mode now work together correctly.

7. Mesh force collection fix
Multiple mesh forces can now contribute to a single collection correctly.

8. Collision primitive fix
“Sink” values are now honored when using the “Generate collision primitives…” tool.

9. Mouse/keyboard button sticking fix
Situations where mouse button and key releases were ignored have been fixed. This was most noticeable during drag/drop operations and during occasional selection failures.

10. Size scalar/Sink parent curve
The “Size scalar” and “Sink” parent curves in the generation group now work consistently for parent levels that reach the tree generator level.

11. Zone wireframe fix
Zone meshes using quads now render correctly in wireframe mode.

12. Screenshot fixes
Gradient backgrounds and ground rendering are now disabled during image and material exports.

13. Undo fixes
Undoing node edits now correctly marks them as unedited. Undoing slider manipulation now works as expected (whole slider moves undone as opposed to each small move during a drag operation).

14. Collection fixes
Mesh forces using collections now appear through the ground correctly and have their attenuation line indicators rendered in the correct location. Collections created from zones using meshes now contain the correct geometry.

15. Proxy export fix
When exporting world building data, proxies that are children of deleted nodes are no longer included in the output.

16. Misc Linux fixes
Screenshot errors, font sizes, etc.

17. Misc crash fixes
Several crash bugs have been fixed.

1. SpeedTree Forest plug-in For Maya
A new plug-in has been added to the scripts repository for getting world building data from the Modeler into Autodesk's Maya.

2. Houdini 12 compatability
A Houdini digital asset compatible with Houdini 12.0 has been added to the scripts repository.

3. “Use lowest LOD mesh” option added to degradation
This option forces all meshes to use the lowest level of detail version if it's available when degradation is on.

1. Misc. fixes related to compute time optimization introduced in 6.1.2
Some actions such as certain Property Bar edits and undo/redo were not consistently causing the tree model to recompute. This error has been corrected.

2. Houdini 11.1 fix
The Houdini 11.1 digital asset now allows blank SpeedTree materials to be loaded in a SHOP context (bug only occured after the 6.1.1 release).

3. Maya Plug-In bug fixes
A few minor Python exceptions have been corrected in the SpeedTree FBX For Maya Plug-In, as well a problem with adding environment variables via “Maya.env”.

4. 3ds World Building Script Fix
An error has been fixed where the script would fail if the export worlding building file dialog was exited without pressing OK.

5. Left side bifurcation weld failures eliminated
An error that caused many welds to the left side of a bifurcated branch has been corrected.

6. Scribe lines no longer rendered into shadow map
When using “Scribed” mode the outlines are not longer rendered into the shadow map.

1. Toggling check box properties no longer prevents variance editing
Previously, editing any check box locked the Properties bar out of variance mode until the selection was changed.

2. Fixed Curve Editor/Property GUI synchronization
Curve edits and parent level changes are now timely revealed in the Properties bar.

3. Fixed a crash that could result when mesh zones and regular zones were present in the same model
It is now okay to have multiple zone types in a single model.

4. Bones now honor sink values
Bones were not adhering to sink values and could become separated from the geometry.

5. Node editing forces is now reflected immediately in the model
Previously the model had to be jogged to reflect a force being turned off at the node level.

6. Fixed error that result from deleting materials assigned to proxies
This worked previously but generated error messages in the console. It now works without generating errors.

7. Node now show as edited when force strength values are changed
Previously force value edits were not registered as node edits.

8. Eliminated circular/incorrect collections from mesh forces
Mesh forces that were contributing to collections used on zone meshes could enter a loop of continuous computes that resulted in incorrect leaf collision. This issue has been corrected.

1. New Cinema4D (.C4D) mesh exporter
Native C4D files can now be exported directly from the Modeler via the “File→Export Mesh” menu item, ensuring models will appear in Cinema4D exactly as designed. Simply select “.C4D” as the file format and choose the appropriate options.

2. New SpeedTree FBX Plug-In for Maya
Trees exported as FBX files are now fully supported in Maya through a new custom plug-in. Imported trees are faithfully interpreted for use by any of Maya's native renderers, including mental ray®.

3. Automatic updater
A built-in software updater will push updates to your SpeedTree applications, taking the guess work out of whether your app is up-to-date or not, and eliminating the need to manually obtain updates and hot fixes.

4. Unwrapped exporting
Models exported as FBX files can now have their textures “unwrapped” into a single, non-tiling texture map, with the correct texture coordinates embedded in the FBX file.

5. 64-bit exporter
Native 64-bit FBX, OBJ, and C4D exporters are now available along with the 32-bit versions. The 64-bit versions will allow for larger (over 2GB) tree models and point caches to be exported.

6. Various other exporter improvements
The exporters have been improved in a number of other areas, including stitched branch and bifurcation seams, and a much faster wind computation algorithm, and other mesh optimizations as well.

7. Significant performance increases
Trees now compute up to six times faster overall, with our mesh crawling algorithm up to three times faster and leaf collision speeds up to 35 times faster. These improvements combined with GUI and collection optimizations make for an even more interactive experience while editing trees.

8. Accelerated leaf collision style
A new leaf collision algorithm can be specified with the new “Leaf Collision Style” property called “Accelerated”. It computes leaf collision in far less time (up to 35x faster) than the legacy “Classic” version.

9. Various other FBX exporter improvements
The FBX exporter has been enhanced with new options to include branch intersection blending, extract and invert alpha maps, as well as touting a reorganized layout that better prevents superfluous exporting of “extra” data such as bones.

10. Background gradient option added
A gradient image is (by default) used in the Tree Window background. This can be turned off on the Application Preferences dialog.

11. Tree Window tab added to application preferences
Tree Window specific preferences are now housed in their own tab, leaving only application-wide preferences in the “General” tab.

1. “Sync Index” no longer applies unless multiples indices are detected
Previously, only the first index of a frond, branch, or cap would actually show up on the tree if less than two of each were detected.

2. Fixed leaf spread bug introduced in version 6.1
An over-optimization would result in incorrect leaf spreading after a tree has been computed the first time. This has been fixed.

3. Collections now compute even when generators/nodes comprising them are hidden
Collections needed to compute regardless of whether the nodes that comprised them were visible or not, since other generators may depend on the collection.

4. Mesh force “Give up action→Stop” fixed
Fixed an error using “Give up action→Stop” which would allow branches to continue through the mesh force geometry.

5. Fixed collection wireframe with quads rendering errors
Any collections that are converted to quads no longer show degenerate triangle strips in wireframe.

6. Various Exporter Fixes
Numerous FBXand OBJ Exporter fixes have been implemented, including:

• “Orphaned” (isolated) vertices are no longer present at the scene origin.
  
• Wind simulation now matches the preview in the Modeler 100%.
  
• The missing “initial binding pose” has been fixed when exporting bones.
  
• “Flipped” leaf cards now have corrected winding to ensure that normals face the correct direction.
  
• Bad face normal directions have been removed (that were caused by the “fix leaf winding” option).
  

7. Fixed error when exporting camera-facing leaves form the XY plane orthographic view
Due to an “over the pole” issue, when using a top-down orthographic camera view at the time of exporting, camera-facing geometry was not being generated correctly.

8. Importing OBJ models with quad faces fixed in 3ds Max
Using the SpeedTree FBX Processor script, the “convert to editable poly” option of the 3ds Max OBJ Importer is forced off to avoid bad normals after the conversion.

9. Importing OBJ models with MTL material libraries now works in Maya
Quotation marks have been removed from MTL files to make them work better in Maya. This comes with the side effect of absolute paths with spaces in the filenames may no longer work right in other 3D applications.

10. Background images no longer displayed in inappropriate render modes
If using a background image, it no longer shows in the “Normal map” or “Overdraw” render modes.

11. 3ds FBX Processor relative paths bug
It was previously possible for relative path names to be parsed incorrectly when importing FBX files into 3ds Max using our import script.

1. Branch intersection blending
Enabled per material, welded branches can now have their textures blended with their parent's texture at the point where they meet, greatly reducing texture seams. Three new branch properties were added to help tune the effect – Intersection blending style, texture pull, and offset.

2. Optional Autodesk® Maya® or 3ds Max® style navigation
For modelers used to these other 3D applications, a new preference has been added to accommodate them, implementing the same control schemes these other applications use.

3. Background image support
Background images can now be assigned to the viewport. The method used to map the image to the background is controlled with the Background image style property of the Tree Window.

4. “Export material” option added
A set of corresponding texture maps can now be exported directly from the Modeler. Three maps are created: Diffuse+Opacity(Alpha), Normal+Height(alpha), and Specular+Transmission(Alpha). The different maps are generated using the SpeedTree Modeler's rendering modes. These maps can be used together to create a complete material.

5. Camera-facing leaf cards exportable with FBX
Camera-facing leaf cards and meshes can now be exported with the tree model via FBX. The leaf cards will be positioned to face the camera as it is in the Tree Window at the time of export.

6. New Point Cache FBX Export Options
Exported wind via point cache can now be exported as FBX .MC (either a single .MC file or as a single .MC file per frame) or as .MDD files for third party applications that do not handle FBX point caches.

7. Various Other FBX Exporter Improvements
The FBX exporter has been enhanced with new options to include branch intersection blending, extract and invert alpha maps, as well as having a reorganized layout that better prevents superfluous exporting of “extra” data such as bones.

8. “Jitter” added to leaf meshes
Jittering in the Modeler means to randomly offset the vertices of each individual leaf mesh a little differently each time so that the geometry is never quite the same from leaf to leaf. This option has been available for leaf cards for some time, but now has been added to the leaf meshes group as well (see Jitter).

9. “Sync index” option added to spine generators Sync index can be applied to spine generators that have more than one branch material as well as more than one cap or frond material. When enabled, the assigned frond or cap will coincide with the randomly selected branch material to ensure that they match, if they are intended to do so.

10. Branch welding to zones added
Branches growing off of zones with welding enabled will now weld to the zone geometry.

11. Scribed rendering mode A new option has been added to the “rendering modes” menu called “Scribed”. When enabled, a wireframe overlay is drawn on top of the chosen rendering mode. The scribed look is a toggle rather than a true rendering mode. The color of the scribed lines can be set with the Tree Window property Scribe color.

12. Improved rendering modes menu
The available rendering modes have been streamlined to include only the most regularly used options, and the “default” highest quality mode has been moved to the top of the list and named more appropriately (now called “Realistic”). Additionally, hot keys have been added to quickly jump to any rendering mode by holding the CTRL key and pressing a number value.

13. Ground plane added to Tree Window
A new option for rendering the ground plane has been added to the Tree Window properties, the “View” menu, and the visibility menu button in the Tree Window toolbar. Note that the rendering of the shadow on the ground is completely dependent on this property now. The ground color opacity can be controlled with the new Ground shadow weight property.

14. Add templates via the right-click menu in the Tree Window
Default generators and saved templates can be added to the scene (or selected geometry) via the right-click contextual menu directly in the Tree Window, similar to the functionality already present in the Generation Editor.

15. Force wind gust by double-clicking on the “gust area” of the wind visualization
By double clicking on the gust region of the wind visualization, a gust will be forced.

16. Copy/paste light added
The scene light can now be copied and pasted between trees via the right-click menu of the light, or through it's property buttons.

17. “Inherited” frond geometry added
Frond mesh asset assignments can now be inherited from parent nodes, the same as materials.

18. Property Editor preferences button added
The “group stacking” button has been replaced with a “property editor preferences” button, which quickly directs the user to the place where they set all of the preferences for the property bar at one time.

19. Interactive Degradation simplified
The individual options for interactive degradation have been removed in favor of a single checkbox, Enable interactive degradation. Most of the individual options were either not used frequently or were superfluous.

20. Official Linux support
A Linux distribution can now be directly purchased for SpeedTree Cinema and SpeedTree Studio. While previously available on a case by case basis, many Linux distributions are officially supported (contact support@speedtree.com to see if your build is supported).

21. Improved 3ds Max FBX Processor Script
The FBX Processor for 3ds Max has been improved in the following ways:

• Support for branch intersection blending
  
• Support for bump mapping (alternative to normal mapping)
  
• Various bug fixes including relative path names in versions of 3ds Max prior to 3ds Max 2011
  

22. Improved Houdini FBX Processor
The FBX Processor for Houdini has been improved in the following ways:

• Official support for Houdini 11.1
• Added handles to the SpeedTreeFBX node.
• Added “Lock .fbx contents” option to give the user the option whether to include the FBX data in the HIP file, or to load from disk.
• Added support for MDD point caches. They must be in the same folder as the FBX file, and associated MC point caches will still take precedence.
• Changed FBX point caches so they point to the CHOP network.
• Added support for point cache and bones used in tandem.
• Added support for relative filepaths in FBX associated files, such as textures.
• Added generic “Render” folder to the SpeedTreeFBX node.
• Added a hold to the last frame of animation in .bgeo animation files so they still render past the animation length.
• Added “Wind offset” property to animated files for offsetting the animation.

23. Improved Houdini SpeedTree Material
The SpeedTree Material for Houdini has been improved in the following ways:

• Added support for branch intersection blending data.
• Added “Matte” and “Normals” render passes.
• Improved normal mapping algorithm now supports “Compute From UV” tangent calculation.
• Added “Tangent Style” option for normal mapping.
• Better organization of internal shader nodes.
  

24. Improved Houdini SpeedTree Forest Loader
SpeedTree Forest for Houdini has been improved in the following ways:

• Added “instance visualization” for previewing instance transforms when using the point instance option.
• Added handles to the SpeedTreeForest node.
  

1. Fixed crash when undoing node manipulated control points
Undoing transforms the control points on a hand drawn node (with the 3D node manipulator gizmo) no longer results in a crash.

2. Fixed FBX exporter to not output double vertices/faces on non-facing leaves
The FBX exporter from 6.0.1 was doubling non-facing leaf geometry.

3. Removed degenerated vertices in exported FBX files
Degenerate vertices were previously being created whenever branch optimization was being used. These vertices are now removed.

4. Normal maps without alpha now report displacement of 0.5
When using a displacement source of “material”, but the material's normal map is missing height data (in the alpha channel), the displacement is now processed as 0.5 (no displacement) instead of 0.0 (inward displacement).

5. Embedding geometry, collision objects no longer options for Studio or Cinema
“Geometry embedding” (saves all of the geometric data into the SPM file) and collision objects in general have been removed from the Cinema and Studio versions, since they do not pertain to their usage.

6. Fixed sporadic crash while computing FBX vertex cache in MacOSX Lion
Wind computation would sometimes crash the exporter if running on MacOSX Lion.

7. X, Y, and Z node offsets now affected by scene scales.
These node offset properties were not getting scaled with the scene via the “Tools” menu options.

8. Parent level and cascade values now carry over when copy/pasting curves or properties
Previously these two curve settings were not copied over.

9. Fixed extents for lower LOD meshes
Lower LOD meshes may have had incorrectly computed extents.

10. Reloading many mesh assets no longer floods the display list with redundant mesh copies
Fixed a bug where it was possible after reloading many mesh assets in a row where the graphics card became overloaded with redundant geometry.

11. Fixed “internal error” when frequency distribution curve set to “linear decay” preset
Fixed a bug where, if a generator was set to “absolute” frequency style and the frequency distribution curve was set to the “linear decay” preset, an internal error would surface when enabling steps.

12. Fixed various bugs related to copy/pasting/saving/loading files or assets that don't exist on disk
There were several scenarios that would result in a crash if a tree file or asset was pasted into or attempted to be loaded or saved where it no longer exists on disk.

13. Procedural branches converted from hand drawn now respect the procedural frequency value after conversion
Previously the generation from the hand drawn version would stick with the tree until reloaded.

14. Fixed bug where children of hidden nodes were not updating while the parent was hidden
Nodes with hidden parents were not computing while their parents were hidden.

15. Mesh preview for LOD meshes now synced correctly after manual filename changes
Previously a manual renaming of an LOD mesh asset could cause the preview to become out of sync with the selected preview state.

16. Houdini FBX Processor Bug Fixes
The FBX Processor for Houdini has been improved in the following ways:

• Fixed a Windows issue where Houdini would report a crash on close after an animated tree was loaded prior to closing.
• Fixed issues with loading trees out of $TEMP folders on Linux, and added better support for environment variables in general.
• Fixed conversion of .fbx to .bgeo in the case of bone inclusion to maintain bone associations.
  

17. Houdini SpeedTree Forest Loader Bug Fixes
SpeedTree Forest for Houdini has been improved in the following ways:

• Fixed SWA reader on some versions of Linux.
• Fixed reading SWA files out of the $TEMP folder on Linux, and better overall support for environmental variables.
  

1. Added relative spine length options
Three new spine properties have been added, Length style, Length percentage, and Limit length. Length style can be set to “absolute” or “relative”. Used in tandem these properties allow for branch length to depend on the length of parent branches. The optional length limiter will ensure that no branches are longer than the generic Length value.

2. Added absolute branch radius option
A new branch property has been added, Radius style, which allows for branches to be computed with an “absolute” radius. This is ideal for secondary branches, or long stems like those of a Weeping Willow, where each node should be uniform in thickness.

3. Added relative path support to the SpeedTree FBX Processor for 3ds Max
Texture paths that have been manually converted to relative through an FBX ASCII export can be read by the SpeedTree FBX Processor script in 3ds Max. Relative paths are not supported natively for FBX files in 3ds Max.

4. Simple mode improvements
Two wind properties (Apply and Weight) and mesh LOD index properties were added back to the simple mode set. Additionally, buttons were added to the quick launch screen for purchasing tree models (Studio), world building (Cinema/Games), and to randomize the current tree. Navigation controls also noted on the quick launch screen.

1. Fixed exaggerated leaf motion in point cache files
Leaf motion exporting has been corrected to match the distances seen in the real-time preview.

2. Fixed errant extents in FBX files when using point caches
Some trees were showing infinite extents in third party packages due to an error in processing the point cache data for leaves.

3. Fixed point cache export on Macs
Wind data exported as point cache was not correct on Mac OSX.

4. Fixed wind data import copy/pasting on Macs
Transferring of wind data was causing a graphics card error on Mac OSX.

5. Fixed miscellaneous Mac issues
Several other minor issues were fixed on Mac OSX, most importantly slow drag and dropping and picking. Also fixed the “size all” cursor, sticky mouse buttons, font rendering, missing icons, etc.

6. Ambient occlusion in trees using LOD no longer gets cleared in SpeedTree Cinema or SpeedTree Studio on load
These two products, which don't fully support level of detail, now correctly maintain LOD ambient occlusion values initially set in the SpeedTree for Games edition.

7. Fixed crash related to mesh frond LOD
The app would crash if an endpoint of either frond mesh index curve dipped below zero.

8. Fixed crash related to zero length bifurcated branches
The app would crash if a bifurcated branch had a length of 0.0.

9. Improved clearing of memory on closed trees
More memory is now released when a tree is closed.

10. Pivot point taken into account for LOD meshes
LOD meshes that have different extents or pivot points from the “main” mesh now take the pivot of the LOD meshes into account, allowing for more accurate LOD transitions.

11. Fixed several small bugs related to collections
Collections no longer become invalid after computing ambient occlusion, nor do they draw incorrectly during low detail navigation or after a long compute.

12. Capped segment multiplier at 2
The valid range for the Segment multiplier branch property has been limited to a maximum of 2. This change was made because it previously was too easy (and tempting) to apply a multiplier value that would either crash the app or bring the tree to a crawl due to a huge and instant increase in polygon counts.

13. Added Generation Editor Icon for “Branch with Leaf-Style Fronds”
A new icon has been created in the case of a spine generator that has both branches and leaf-style fronds enabled.

14. Fixed cursor loss with some mouse button combinations, right-clicking on spinners
The cursor could disappear if a spinner button was right-clicked, or if left+middle mouse buttons were clicked but not released at the same time in some windows of the app.

15. Removed absolute paths from sample FBX
The sample FBX file of the broadleaf has been replaced with an ASCII version, using only relative paths.

16. Fixed graying out issues
Several places throughout the app were not disabling (“graying out”) correctly (mesh force attenuation, fbx camera import, wind properties, create collection from mesh, etc.).

17. Corrected 64-bit redistributables for Windows
Some third party distros were not included correctly for 64-bit Windows.

18. SpeedTree Forest for Houdini: Fixed FBX to BGEO option in the case of multiple FBX meshes that use point cache

1. New User Interface
Version 6.0 comes with a completely redesigned user interface, resulting in a completely new user experience with dozens of new individual features. Highlights include:

• Support for multiple platforms
• 64-bit executables
• Drag and drop functionality
• Improved Property Editor
• Improved Generation Editor
• Improved Asset Bars
• Color themes
  

2. Support for Multiple Platforms
Starting with version 6.0, the SpeedTree Modeler runs on the following operating systems, in 64-bit where applicable:

• Windows 7/Vista 64-bit
• Windows 7/Vista/XP 32-bit
• Max OSX Snow Leopard (10.6.7)
• Linux CentOS
  

3. SpeedWind 6.0
A new method for simulating wind animation has been developed for version 6.0. Highlights include two-level branch motion, curve controls from low to high wind, two distinct leaf wind groups, palm-style wind effects, and the ability to apply only the wind effects that are needed per tree type.

4. Fan/Wind Preview Improvements
A new controller has been incorporated into the Tree Window with a graphical interface for editing wind strength, gust strength, and gust frequency. The fan object has also been updated to include quick options for copying/pasting wind, and controlling the visibility of the fan.

5. Simple Mode
A new mode for editing trees that is better suited for beginners. Simple mode hides many of the properties that some users find too complex. Simple mode can be turned off by switching to Complete Mode in the Property Editor toolbar.

6. Collections
“Collections” are self-updating mesh assets that are mapped to objects in the scene. For instance, a trunk generator may be added to a collection, then looped back into the scene as a zone for ivy to grow off of. See the collections help page for more info.

7. Mesh LOD
Mesh assets can now be combined with lower-resolution versions that are interchanged during the LOD progression. These “LOD meshes” are assigned in the LOD group of the Mesh Asset bar.

8. Quad Polygon Mode
Geometry can now be comprised of either triangles or quadrilateral faces.

9. Leaf-Style Fronds
A new hybrid geometry type “leaf-style fronds” has been added. When enabled, frond geometry will be rendered in the same pass as leaves and will receive leaf-style wind effects.

10. Camera-Facing Leaf Meshes
Arbitrary leaf meshes can now be set to “camera-facing”, which treats the meshes the same as “leaf cards”. This improvement can be used to cut out transparent areas of leaf textures by importing and assigning custom trimmed meshes, or by generating a custom mesh within the Modeler via the “Generate mesh…” dialog on a leaf material.

11. Leaf Welding
“Leaf welding” is a checkbox added to leaf generators that will attempt to position the leaf nodes directly on the surface of their parent. A “surface adhesion” property has also been added to align the leaves to the surface normal of the parent.

12. “Generate Mesh…” Tool
This new tool easily generates a mesh that reduces the amount of transparent pixels in a material. The mesh asset will be created without any need to leave the SpeedTree Modeler during the process.

13. Drag and Drop Interface
A “drag and drop” workflow has been incorporated into the user experience. Users can drag and drop the following items:

• Assets (such as materials, color sets, and meshes) can be dragged onto both parts of the 3D tree in the Tree Window and onto generator icons in the Generation Editor.
• External files can be dragged into the Modeler (with support for multiple files at once). Examples include texture files onto material texture slots or meshes onto the Mesh Asset Bar.
• Generator icons can be dragged around in the Generation Editor. Drag an icon onto another to make it a child, or reorder icons by dragging them to a different position.
• Colors can be dragged from color selectors onto color swatches in either the Color Set Asset Bar or the Property Editor.
  

14. SWA World-Building Format
World-building data can now be exported as SWA (SpeedTree World-Building ASCII) or STF (legacy format). SWA includes support for arbitrary 3D rotations and relative filepaths, and is compatible with the entire 6.0 pipeline.

15. Tree Window View Selector
A persistent label for the current view is available at the top-left of the Tree Window. Clicking on the label will reveal a drop-down menu allowing the user to change the current view, including any cameras that have been imported via FBX.

16. Import Cameras From FBX
Cameras can be imported from FBX files via the 'File' menu. Once loaded, all cameras (including animation data) will be available for use in the Tree Window's view selector. The animation can be played by using the Timeline bar.

17. Timeline Bar
The Timeline bar is used to play or “scrub” through camera animations. Animated cameras must first be imported through FBX, then assigned to the active viewport before they can be manipulated via the Timeline bar.

18. “Create Mesh Asset (or Collection) From Selection” Tools
Two new tools have been added to the “Tools” menu for automatically creating mesh assets from the current scene selection. The latter option (collections) will stay updated with the selected geometry after this operation.

19. Export Tree Image Tool
Found under the 'File' menu, this tool will export an image of the tree in the Tree Window with several useful options such as including the alpha channel, eliminating edge bleed, and exporting at any resolution.

20. “Toggle Hand Drawn” Spine Option
Spine generators and nodes can now be toggled between hand drawn and procedural via a button click on the Property Editor.

21. Ambient Occlusion Data saved separate from geometry
Ambient occlusion data is stored in all tree models, nullifying the need for the “Compute AO on load” option.

22. Context-Sensitive Node Manipulators
The type of node manipulator used while in node-editing mode can be cycled by pressing the “N” hotkey. Three node editing manipulators exist – the “spine” manipulator, the “leaf” manipulator, and the “proxy” manipulator. Additionally, the node manipulator can be hidden by cycling to the last manipulator type for each node.

23. Hierarchy Traversal With Arrow Keys
By using the arrow keys, the user can navigate the tree hierarchy. The up and down arrows will go to the first child/parent, while the left and right arrows will go to the next sibling generator or node.

24. “Sticky” Last Edited Node
When switching between generator and node-editing modes, the last selected node(s) will be remembered the next time the mode is switched back to node-editing mode.

25. New Selection Highlighting Options
Selected objects can now be highlighted by a variety of methods, including highlight (legacy), outline, wireframe, frame, box, and none.

26. New and Improved Property Editor
The Property Editor has been completely overhauled. Features include:

• “Property stacks” allow the user to jump to any property group at any time.
• Properties and property groups can be copied and pasted between generators and trees.
• The “property filter” allows the user to type in a filter string to narrow the properties shown.
• Sliders can be displayed in place of float and integer spinners when there are known value clamps.
• “Variance mode” is used to delineate between property values and the variance applied to the value.
• A more responsive contextual help pane.
• An updated “look and feel” including animated scrolling.
  

27. Improved Generation Editor
The Generation Editor has been updated to include the following new features:

• Drag and drop functionality (to create links or apply assets to a generator).
• Portrait, landscape, and auto-select orientation modes added.
• Scene objects such as forces, mesh forces, and collision objects are represented in the Generation Editor.
• Linked generators can be collapsed into a single icon to help organize complex generation graphs with a double-click.
• Beziere links are drawn between generator icons.
  

28. Axis Indicator Added To Tree Window
An “axis indicator” has been added to the top-right portion of the Tree Window. The indicator shows the direction of the X,Y, and Z axes in the Tree Window. The axis indicator can be toggled off via the Tree Window Properties bar.

29. Improved Asset Previews
The texture and mesh asset preview windows now expand vertically and horizontally when their asset bars are resized. Texture previews can be zoomed and panned, and mesh assets can be rotated with the mouse. Additionally, right-click options have been added to the mesh preview for toggling lighting, backface culling, and wireframe scribing.

30. Color Themes
Users can choose between a modern “dark” or a more traditional “light” color theme under the pull-right menu “Window→Theme”.

31. Mesh Assets in New Formats, Including FBX
Mesh assets can now be imported in multiple formats, including STM, OBJ, FBX, 3DS, DAE (Collada).

32. Enhancements to Imported Meshes
If a mesh asset is in either STM or FBX format, two new vertex properties have been added to this release – detail texture coordinates and vertex color. Detail texture coordinates can be utilized by leaf meshes, frond meshes, mesh forces, and zones (vertex colors are currently not utilized).

33. New Frond Options
Standard (non-mesh) fronds can now be tagged as set to two-sided or inverted.

34. New Zone Options Zones have been outfitted with new mesh options, to aid in world building. “Place at origin” and “Area influence” have been added to absolutely position terrains and ensure even proxy placement over terrains, respectively. Also added is the ability to have global wind affect zones.

35. New Mask Asset Options
New options have been added to terrain and image masks. Terrain masks now have both relative and absolute elevation options, where relative adapts to the overall height of the scene. Image masks can now utilize either the base or the detail set of texture coordinates of where the mask is mapped to.

36. Improved Curve Editor
The Curve Editor has undergone a variety of improvements, including the ability to double-click points to toggle handles or double-click lines to add new points. Additionally the Curve Editor toolbar has been streamlined to save space and allow the Curve Editor to be usable in a more compact form.

37. “Unresolved” Mesh Assets are not instantly overwritten
When the “Embed in tree” option is disabled on a mesh asset, a copy of the embedded mesh is kept in memory until the user “re-embeds” the mesh or closes the tree. If the file is found on disk, but may have changed externally, an “unresolved” label will appear until either the mesh asset has been reloaded or re-embedded.

If the file is not found on disk, a “file missing” label will appear. If a “file missing” asset is not resolved or re-embedded during the current session, the mesh asset will be missing the next time the tree is loaded. Previously the mesh asset would be wiped out instantly in this case.

38. Export Mesh Asset Button
Mesh assets can be exported (as OBJ or STM) via a button press, whether the asset is embedded or not.

39. Separated Asset Bars
The asset bars (color sets, materials, meshes, masks, and displacements) have been separated out to individual panes. This allows the user to organize them however they desire, including the ability to hide asset bars that are not commonly used.

1. New Generators: Zones and Proxies
Two new types of generators were added; zones, which allow for more flexible growth, and proxies, which aid in world building.

2. Vastly Improved Memory Usage
The amount of memory used while modeling high detail trees has been reduced by up to 40%.

3. World Building and STF Export
New features have been implemented to allow for world building directly in the Modeler, including zones, proxies, masks, and SRT file import. SpeedTree Forest (STF) file export has been added to save tree locations in a text file.

4. Arbitrary Scene Scale and Scene Unit Conversion
Two new tools have been added to scale the entire scene (the tree, forces, collision, world-unit distances, etc.) without disturbing the shape of the tree. The arbitrary method scales by any user assigned value while the unit conversion method scales between commonly used world units.

5. Advanced Wind Features
A second set of optional wind features has been added. Features include rolling wind, tumbling, twitching, and more.

6. FBX Export Enhancements, Including Wind Animation

• Wind animations can be exported as point caches
• The scene camera can be exported.
• The user can specify the units used to design the tree.
• Splines can be exported for each branch.
  

7. “Height Indicator” Added To Tree Window
A scale prop has been added to the Tree Window (a configurable human figure). Additionally, the height of the model is displayed on top of the height indicator.

8. Hand Drawn Spline Resampling
Hand drawn branches can be resampled after creation (the number and type of control points can be reconfigured).

9. X,Y, and Z Offset Added To Nodes
All nodes can be offset by their local X, Y, and Z positions rather than only by their hierarchical positions.

10. Frond LOD Size Scalar Added
Fronds can now become larger as LOD progresses, taking up the space of vanishing fronds. This is similar to the leaf LOD technique.

11. “Mask” Assets Added
Masks (primarily used in world building) can be used to place nodes more precisely off of their parents. Masks are added like other assets, including meshes and materials.

12. SRT Format Added To Mesh Import
SRT (SpeedTree Run-Time) files can be imported as mesh assets. When used as proxies in world building, SRT files have the added advantages of appearing as cross-hatched billboards in the viewport, as well as providing access to real collision volumes for culling purposes.

13. “SDK Statistics” Tool Added
Use this tool to track important performance values for a tree, including draw calls.

14. Ambient Occlusion “Ground Effect” Added
Two new ambient occlusion values have been added to simulate the effect of the ground in ambient occlusion.

15. “Ambient Occluder” Option Added To Mesh Forces
Even if a mesh force is not “included in model”, it can still contribute to ambient occlusion when this new option.

16. Curve Editor Slide Lock
By holding the SHIFT key, control points can be locked in either the X or Y directions while sliding.

17. Collision Detection Progress Tracking
The collision detection phase of the tree compute is now shown as a blue bar in the status bar.

18. Faster Pick Speeds
Picking of nodes on the tree model has been sped up significantly.

1. Forces not embedded in the model no longer affect scene extents
Zooming now focuses only tree model geometry.

2. Reloading a normal map texture used as a displacement now recomputes the displacement
Prior to this fix, the previous displacement would remain until the tree was reloaded.

3. Modeling parameters not implementing size scale correctly have been fixed
Frond mesh 'Z Scale', cap offset, and flare height were previously unaffected by size scalars.

4. Hand drawn features now adhere to size scale correctly
Branch segmentation, child generation frequency, and control points now scale as intended with hand drawn branches.

5. 'Jaggedness' no longer leaves zero area caps at the ends of closed branches
It was possible for jagged branches to create invisible caps that were still rendered by the SDK.

6. 'Y' value for curve control points is correctly updated
Control points positioned with the mouse now correctly update the displayed Y value.

7. All edited nodes are now correctly colored when the corresponding generator is selected
Previously, nodes with only profile having parameters edited were showing as unedited.

8. Min curve step distributions no longer crash the application
These curves are now treated as having a zero frequency.

1. Significantly enhanced FBX exporting performance

• Exporting is two orders of magnitude faster than previous versions and uses far less memory during the process.
• Meshes can now be exported by material, node, generator, or as a single mesh.
• Meshes can now be exported with bones and skin associations for all grouping options listed above.
• Coordinate system options have been enhanced with options for '3ds Max', 'Maya', 'OpenGL', and 'DirectX'.
• Meshes grouped by 'Node' or 'Generator' are no longer subdivided by material (they are given a multimaterial instead). The previous version could potentially result in the creation of up to three times the number of created objects as expected, depending on the node properties.
  

2. Backface culling added as an option on color sets
This feature enables any geometry, especially embedded meshes, to be back face culled.

3. Curve controls added to the 'Material→Weight' properties
Weight curves allow you to target where any indexed material will occur through the distribution of a generator.

4. V Tile clamp removed for texture coordinates
This allows branch textures to tile in the opposite direction

5. Generation Editor and Curve Editor selection has been sped up
Where possible, optimizations in the selection process have been made so that generator selection and selection box creation in both the Generation Editor and Curve Editor execute more quickly.

6. “None” has been added as a color set option
The introduction of user controlled back face culling required a default color set with culling off to be present.

7. The Tree Generator now has a size scalar property
Use this option to scale an entire tree up or down.

8. Profile curve added to frond mesh Z scale
This curve lets you scale the Z component of frond meshes along the length of each node, in the same way as height and width.

9. Fill rate statistics added
Use this option to show how fill rate and triangle counts are distributed throughout the tree.

10. Custom data per tree
Users can enter up to five strings to be stored with the tree model that can be retrieved at run time.

1. Face ordering on frond and leaf meshes corrected
This bug became evident with the advent of user controlled culling. Vertex ordering has been corrected for frond and leaf meshes to make face culling work as expected.

2. 'Frond mesh Z scale' now conforms to the 'Lock aspect ratio' frond shape property
This correction makes it easier to control the shape of mesh fronds.

3. Mesh fronds obey 'Adjust frond start' properly
This correction makes it easier to control the shape of mesh fronds.

4. Mesh fronds obey 'Adjust frond start' properly
In previous versions, mesh fronds on bifurcated spines always behaved as if this property were checked. Now, if this property is not checked, mesh fronds will behave like normal fronds until the bifurcation points exceeds the start point. This new behavior makes it easier to align mesh frond length segments with branch segments.

5. Mesh fronds have the same normals with both 'Spine' and 'Frond' offset directions
Previously the normals incorrectly flipped if using the 'Spine' option.

6. Ambient occlusion cast from leaf cards handled correctly
In version 5.0.2, leaf cards weren't contributing to ambient occlusion.

7. Mesh indicators retain visibility when switching render modes
When changing between render modes that don't show force indicators and those that do, the indicators return where applicable (they used to remain hidden).

8. Invalid vertices in branch geometry due to LOD settings fixed
Prior to this fix, it was possible to produce invalid vertex positions in branches with zero radius spine vertices used in conjunction with LOD levels.

9. Node editing multiple nodes with the node manipulator could crash the application
Prior to this version, if both a parent and some of its descendants were selected for node editing and the length property was changed a crash would occur.

10. U correction not applied to detail texture
Detail U texture coordinates are now corrected, unless they have been clamped.

11. Multiple selection errors in the Generation Editor have been fixed
Rapidly clicking in the Generation Editor no longer produces errant results. Also, right-clicking a node will never deselect it (even with CTRL down) to facilitate context sensitive actions.

12. System info reports correct memory capacity on 64 bit machines
Previous versions reported 640KB.

13. STM file loading bugs fixed
An STM file with non-standard characters in the filename could crash the Modeler on save in previous releases.

14. Low detail navigation no longer shows child nodes positioned after the breaks on broken spines
This bug fix eliminates the “floating” nodes that could appear when using low detail navigation.

15. Trees with no material assignments no longer render slowly
The material option “none” was added to the internal material caching system.

16. Pasting materials from tree to tree no longer disables the “Use material” displacement option
Previous versions would lose the pasted material's displacement until the tree was subsequently loaded.

17. Triangle count reporting no longer counts hidden nodes
Previous versions incorrectly counted hidden triangles toward the total.

18. Materials with mesh options now include a 'None' option for node edits
For example, fronds replaced by custom meshes can now be individually turned back into standard fronds.

19. 'Spine' offset direction (for mesh fronds) no longer affects normals
Previous versions affected both geometry and normal generation when only geometry should have been affected.

20. 'Use material' displacement corrected when no material is assigned
In the event that “Use material” is the displacement type and no height map is present, the geometry is now unmodified.

21. Hand drawing off of a Tree node with a non-zero sink value has been fixed.
Previous versions showed and offset between the cursor and the drawn spine.

1. Screen space manipulation
Control points (in hand drawn nodes), forces, and collision objects can be translated in screen space, rather than only along axis constraints.

2. Billboard start/end added to LOD indicator and tree rendering
When using the near/far LOD preview method, the billboard start parameter is indicated by the fading in of a billboard outline, and the billboard end is indicated by full opacity of the outline (outline dimensions are approximate).

1. Fixed startup crash on some computers using 64-bit versions of Windows®
Some 64-bit systems would experience a crash related to the 64-bit tablet device interface drivers. The tablet device interface has been disabled.

2. Fixed crash related to region settings
Users with region settings that use commas in place of periods as decimal points were experiencing a crash when opening trees. Region settings have been disabled.

3. Frond vertex winding has been corrected
This fix correctly orients exported frond geometry for use with two sided materials in offline rendering packages.

4. Randomizing generators now marks the tree as edited (thus prompting save warnings on exit)
Previously, opening a tree and randomizing it did not prompt a save warning on exit.

5. Pan and zoom reversing now work in orthographic views, the generation editor, and the curve editor
Fixed issue where reverse panning and zooming worked only in the perspective window.

6. Caps on hand drawn branches no longer become highlighted
Previously caps would become highlighted when editing control points or selecting a hand drawn node twice in a row.

7. Frames of spine-only generators can now be displayed with frames enabled
The centerline (spine) of nodes without visible geometry can now be viewed by enabling frame rendering.

8. 'W' hotkey now reverts to 'Lit shadowed' rendering mode when coming out of 'Wireframe' rendering mode and no previous rendering mode is found
'W' previously only switched between wireframe and the previous rendering mode. However if a tree was saved in wireframe mode, no previous state could be found.

9. Switching between generator and node selection no longer modifies the current selection set
Previously pressing the TAB key or toggling the Node Selection Mode icon cleared the current selection.

10. Mesh export issues
The FBX mesh exporter has a few minor fixes:

• Mesh forces now export (when checked).
• When exporting detail textures, only branch geometry is exported with detail texture data (previously, if a branch contained a detail texture, caps and fronds on the same node were incorrectly exported with detail texture data as well).
  

1. UDK Compliance
This release includes the SpeedTree Modeler for Epic Games' UDK (Unreal Development Kit). The UDK version of the modeler saves encrypted .SPM files that can only be read by the corresponding SpeedTree Compiler for the UDK (5.0.1).

2. Selection undo/redo
The selection state history can be accessed with undo and redo until an action (property edit, etc.) takes place.

3. Default light angle set to 45°
The previous light angle was a close, but arbitrary angle.

1. Changing the position of newly added color sets no longer invalidates color sets on existing materials
Color sets no longer lose their ordering within materials in this case.

2. Maximized tree windows remain maximized when opening new tree models
Previously each new tree opened in a cascaded view.

3. “Paste into” error related to materials has been fixed
“Paste into” now works when pasting between two trees with a different number of color sets or materials.

4. “Compute AO on load” now works when opening multiple trees simultaneously
Previously this feature only worked when opening a single tree model.

5. Crashes related to displaying the key dialog during initialization have been fixed
The key dialog no longer causes a crash.

6. Planar force indicator color now behaves correctly
The indicator (colored dot) in the middle of the planar force model now shows the appropriate force indicator color.

7. “Random Seeds” group removed from the Tree Properties
This property is only functional with physics enabled (physics integration is currently disabled).