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Overview

SpeedTree Engine is an SDK designed to integrate compact SpeedTree procedural definitions directly into your VFX pipeline, facilitating deferred geometry generation, unique wind and growth animations, seasonal changes, and limited render-time control over procedural parameters.

SpeedTree Engine is a companion software library to SpeedTree Cinema 8.2 (and newer). It is used to read SpeedTree procedural definition files and provide all of a model’s geometry, materials, hierarchy, animated data, and more.

One major advantage of Engine is that it’s a faster, more flexible way to access SpeedTree procedural data than the exporters built into SpeedTree Cinema (e.g. FBX, Alembic), especially when the geometry reaches into the millions of polygons or wind is involved.

Engine is also useful in facilitating deferred geometry generation. This involves a complex integration with both the DCC app and renderer in use, but can result in dramatically faster workflows. The figure below illustrates, comparing a Cinema 7 + Alembic export with Cinema 8 + Engine.