yggdrasil

Tree Draw is system created as part of a Computer Science Honours reseach project undertaken at the University of Cape Town in 2011. It was created by Mark Danoher, Matthew Black and Neil Goldberg under the supervision of A/Prof. James Gain and Rudy Neeser.

The aim of the project was to create an interactive sketch-based interface for the procedural generation of realistic 3D tree models, using parameterised Lindenmayer systems with user-specified variation. Interactivity was defined as the abilty to generate a tree in under 30 seconds.

The sketch interface allows users to draw the skeleton of a tree and specify variation in both the angle and the length of the branches. This 2D sketch is then converted into a 3D representation. From this, a parametrised L-System is constructed. This L-System encodes the variation provided by the sketch, and can be used to generate any number similar, yet unique models

Tree Draw achieved its research goals, however, there were several avenues of potential future work.
1) The models are constructed as a set of generalized cylinders which suffer from gaps and abrupt transition where branches meet.
2) The same texture is applied to every model, reducing the overall variation amongst the generated trees.
3) The tree models lack any kind of foliage.
These areas were identified and formed the basis of the Yggdrasil reasearch project.