10¥

My generative trees project, which I have been tracking on here, has finally been finished. Not only can you generatively draw trees, but you can also grab and influence the branches.

Development Cycle

1. Fractal Basis

   This was the beginning of this project. I felt that it was important to analyze and understand how fractals are generated as they are the basis for L-systems.

2. First Generation Tree

   After working with the fractals, I made my first generative tree. It involved one single recursive algorithm with no variations. Unfortunately, since there was no differentiation between trunk, branch and leaf, the look of the tree is not very realistic

3. Second Generation Tree

   After developing the first generation tree, I split up the process even more, creating 4 different files that work together; a FLA starter file, a tree file, a branch file and a leaf file. The FLA calls the tree, which calls itself and branches which call themselves and leaves. The big advantage of this process is that it is extremely easy to control styling to each of the different elements and implement direct targeting onto any particular part

4. Tree Grower Application

   This is the final version of the tree, integrating the interactive elements so that you can pull on the branches as well as Inverse Kinematic chains that allow for the branches to be influenced by each other and bounce back. The Final version of the file is designed for a multitouch display screen where one can physically use one’s fingers to pull on branches. The tree in this file is turned 90 degrees in order to take advantage of the length of the multitouch display. I’m afraid I have been unable to get it to work properly vertically, but I will continue to try and improve it.

Overall, I’m really happy with how the project turned out. There were a number of issues and bugs that needed to be overcome, especially in the IK chains, but ultimately I found every last one. I feel especially good about the project as I developed all the code myself and gained a very strong understanding of recursive functions. In addition, it was created in Actionscript 3 and is my first project in that language, so I’m glad that it actually turned out, let alone turned out well! I would like to revisit this project later and add in new features like being able to prune the branches and grow elements, but the implementation of those features was beyond the time limit and scope I had available.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 at 12:45 pm and is filed under Flash, Work Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.