Speedtree

On February 7, 2015, at a ceremony in Beverly Hills, California, a Scientific and Technical Academy Award® was presented to the three principal developers of SpeedTree®: IDV co-founders Michael Sechrest and Chris King, and Senior Software Architect Greg Croft.

In selecting SpeedTree for this honor, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences wrote:

“This software substantially improves an artist’s ability to create specifically designed trees and vegetation by combining a procedural building process with the flexibility of intuitive, direct manipulation of every detail.”

SpeedTree use has been confirmed in dozens of major films since the software was featured prominently in 2009’s Avatar, which received nine Oscar® nominations and three Oscars. Several other Oscar-winning and -nominated films have featured SpeedTree, including The Great Gatsby and The Wolf of Wall Street, as well as blockbusters like The Avengers, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Iron Man 3, and Maleficent.

基本介紹

• 外文名：Speedtree
• 屬性：軟體
• 用途：三維樹木建模
• 構成：三部分

構成

SpeedTree5.2版由SpeedTree Modeler、SpeedTree Compiler和SpeedTree SDK三部分構成。Modeler，顧名思義主要負責樹木的建模，Compiler主要是將材質和貼圖打包為程式所用，SDK則主要結合程式繪製SpeedTree建模的樹木或者森林。

2011年speedtree更新到6，並根據所面對的不同用戶群體將軟體分為了三個版本，其中包括面向遊戲產業的speedtree for games、面向電影業的SpeedTree Modeler Cinema和面向建築工程行業的speedtree architectural。

特點

我們都知道在工業生產領域，流水線工作方式的出現帶來了效率的極大提升。比如槍械的製造，在最早期的時候由工匠獨自一人完成整個產品，不僅效率低下而且一部分壞掉之後往往整個都要報廢。後來出現流水線方式的生產後，每個人只需各司其職將自己的零部件按照規格做好，最終就可以裝配成一個完整的產品。這樣做不僅工人的熟練程度和工作效率可以大大提高，同時也可以把細節做得更加精益求精。

如今在遊戲製作領域也漸漸出現了類似的情況。大家玩3D遊戲的時候一定都很注意遊戲所營造的效果，而衡量的標準又是什麼呢？大多數人一定都會注意這幾個方面：樹木、水、光照以及人物等等。

的確，樹木、水、光照以及人物都是3D遊戲效果製作的重中之重，如果這些方面都做好了，這款遊戲的效果必然就不會差。但這就有點類似剛剛提到造槍的例子，僅靠一己之力要想把這些都做好並不容易，必然要投入大量的人力物力和時間為代價。

也許是受到傳統工業流水線的啟發，3D引擎方面也逐漸出現了單獨專注於某個領域的產品，例如我現在要講的SpeedTree就是這樣的一款配合引擎使用的軟體。顧名思義，SpeedTree是專門負責在遊戲中“栽種”樹木的程式，它不僅能夠營造出非常真實的樹木和森林效果，而且可以作為“零件”方便的嵌入到其他渲染引擎當中，為任何一款遊戲帶去優秀的畫面。

SpeedTree還擁有很多特效以及最佳化技術。開發者只需要輸入環境中的風速和風向等自然條件，SpeedTree就可以讓樹木實時生成絕對逼真的擺動效果。在最佳化方面，上面的示意圖說明了在極遠處的樹木，我們只需要2個多邊形加上霧化就足夠真實了，而隨著距離的拉近，SpeedTree動態將樹木的多邊形數量調整到了1126個，最大程度上達到了性能和視覺效果的平衡。此外，SpeedTree引擎還能夠最佳化程式代碼，在運行期間調整CPU與GPU之間的工作量分配，讓系統資源發揮出最大的效率。

樹庫

SpeedTree早期的一些樹庫裡邊樹種如下表:

科羅拉多州藍色雲杉(Picea Pungens Glauca)

道格拉斯冷杉(Pseudotsuga Menziesii)

蘇格蘭人松樹(Pinus Sylvestris)

美國人冬青樹(冬青樹Opaca)

Amur軟木塞(Phellodendron Amurense)

黑色齒齦(Nyssa Sylvatica)

Bradford Callery梨(Pyrus Calleryana)

共同的鉤刺(阿拉伯樹膠Caffra)

假鬍子桃金孃(Lagerstoemia Indica)

英文的橡樹(Quercus櫟樹)

Ficus (Ficus Benjamina)

皂莢樹(Gleditsia Triacanthos)

槲樹(Quercus Virginiana)

桃子(Prunus Persica)

鵝卵石橡樹(Quercus Imbricaria)

Sourwood (Oxydendrum Arboreum)

南的木蘭(木蘭Grandiflora)

糖楓(高手Saccarum)

鬱金香(Liriodendron Tulipifera)

垂柳(Salix Babylonica)

柳樹橡樹(Quercus Phellos)

椰子樹(椰子樹Nucifera)

捲曲的手掌(Howea belmoreana)

棕櫚(Sabal棕櫚)

美國人黃楊木(Buxus Sempervirens)

杜鵑花(北美杜鵑)

卡羅萊納州鼠李(Frangula Caroliniana)

額外的陸地

萬聖節前夕

仙人掌仙人掌(Carnegiea Gigantica)

所獲榮譽

On February 7, 2015, at aceremony in Beverly Hills, California,a Scientific and Technical Academy Award®was presented to the three principal developers of SpeedTree®: IDV co-founders Michael Sechrest and Chris King, and Senior Software Architect Greg Croft.In selecting SpeedTree for this honor, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences wrote:

21科技成果被授予奧斯卡獎

“This software substantially improves an artist’s ability to create specifically designed trees and vegetation by combining a procedural building process with the flexibility of intuitive, direct manipulation of every detail.”

SpeedTree use has been confirmed in dozens of major films since the software was featured prominently in 2009’sAvatar, which received nine Oscar®nominations and three Oscars. Several other Oscar-winning and -nominated films have featured SpeedTree, includingThe Great GatsbyandThe Wolf of Wall Street, as well as blockbusters likeThe Avengers,X-Men: Days of Future Past,Iron Man 3, andMaleficent.

• Official Announcement from the Academy:2
  
• 1 Scientific And Technical Achievements To Be Honored With Academy Awards®
  
• Reuters/Yahoo News:Hollywood’s movie tech wizards honored by Oscars organizers
  
• Develop:SpeedTree® Receives a Scientific and Technical Academy Award
  
• Inside Science:The Science Behind Oscar's Award-Winning Trees And Tresses
  
• Popular Mechanics:Why the Scientific and Technical Oscars Are the Most Important Awards Show
  
• University of South Carolina:And the winner is ...
  
• Below the Line:Academy Sci Tech Awards: An Evening of Destruction and Voxels
  
• Business World Online:Hollywood’s movie tech wizards honored
  
• Destructoid:Congrats on the Academy Award, SpeedTree
  
• Gizorama:Tree Generating Software SpeedTree Wins an Oscar