Forest Pack 7.3 released

What's new

There are two big improvements in this update. First, the way groups are handled has been completely rewritten. In previous versions, when using groups with random transformations, surface matching, regions, or camera clipping, each member of this group was processed separately. In the new version, the entire group is treated as a single entity. Of course, if you prefer the old behavior, you can simply switch between them using the new "Keep Group Hierarchy" option in the "Geometry" rollout.

The second big improvement makes it much easier to assign specific geometry to reference objects. In previous versions, when using markers, a random object from the list of items was used. This version introduces the ability to map a geometry to a marker by name. This gives you complete control over which models you want to use for each reference object.

Forest Pack now supports VRayVolumeGrid objects. This means you can now add 3D effects to the Forest Pack's expanding list that can be scattered, along with existing support for geometry, lights, splines, and some other types of non-geometric objects.

Speaking of lights, the developers report that their dispersion has become much more efficient thanks to version 7.3's ability to use native V-Ray instantiation. This also means that the color of lights can now be randomized with Forest Color or native V-Ray maps. However, this feature requires V-Ray 5.2 or higher, so make sure you have the latest version installed!

This release remains at the forefront with compatibility with Arnold 7. Previous versions of Arnold are no longer supported, so be sure to update to the latest version from the Arnold website. You will know if you need to upgrade because Forest will let you know with a warning message.

There are many more minor improvements and fixes, including the removal of automatic billboard generation from the forest_templates layer, the reintroduction of the camera parameter for manual camera selection, support for importing non-geometric objects from the Library Browser, and more. See the full list on the official website.