ZenGrove
Built to move. Down to the last leaf.
Built to move. Down to the last leaf.
The ZenGrove 1.0.0 reference: 52 nodes, 907 settings and short WebM demos. Explore Look At asset orientation, GameDynamics, joint previews, skeletal export and per-leaf random vertex colors. Requires AO.Hub 1.6.6 or later.
Cross Section
Shapes procedural tubes with a closed Bézier contour. Edit its points and tangents, control alignment and dimensions, and blend from round to shaped along the Influence Range.
Branches
Branches
Start with Circle, Oval, Lens or Triangle. Click the curve to insert a point; drag points or Bézier handles. Alt-drag unlinks tangents, Shift-drag links them, and Corner / Smooth changes the selected point. Keep a closed, counterclockwise contour without crossings or self-touching edges. Invalid edits revert to the last valid contour.
Width and Thickness scale the contour around the existing radius; Radius Profile and Taper control radius along the branch. Influence Profile blends from round to authored shape inside Influence Range, with round sections outside. Complementary Mask paths and Structural Combine can blend different contours, dimensions and rotations.
Ground establishes a world-up reference at the attachment, Parent follows the parent’s local direction, and Local retains the earlier tube frame. The frame then follows the curve. Use Twist (Along Branch) for progressive rotation. Authored corners survive Resolution and LOD, which can require more radial samples than a low requested count.
Place Cross Section before Leaves or Asset Scatter so Surface Offset follows the shaped surface. It shapes procedural tubes; imported Mesh Trunks and captured segment meshes retain their topology. Collision uses a conservative round envelope, so flat contours can retain extra clearance.
Watch the Cross Section settings tour
Current Maya controls, including conditional settings. Each view stays on screen for one second (three views take three seconds); pause or choose a group to inspect it.
Affect
- Affect
Chooses which procedural branches receive the contour: the active generator cohort, that cohort and its descendants, the active generated hierarchy, or the entire input. After Split, Active Branches affects the upper continuations; Entire Input also includes the lower branch.
Orientation
- Alignment
Establishes orientation at the branch base, then transports it along the curve with minimal twist. Ground starts with horizontal width. Parent sets width across the parent/child plane and falls back to Ground without a parent. Local keeps the original tube frame. Ground does not flatten every ring along a bent branch.
- Rotation
Adds roll around the branch tangent after alignment. A 90-degree rotation turns a flat profile edge-on.
Shape
- Cross Section
Edits a closed, counterclockwise cross section. Choose Circle, Oval, Lens or Triangle from Preset, then move points and handles. Click the contour to insert a point; right-click a point to remove it, keeping at least three. Alt-drag unlinks a tangent; Shift-drag links it again. Corner collapses the handles and Smooth restores them. The default is Circle; the illustration uses Lens.
- Width
Scales the contour along its width relative to the existing branch radius. It combines with the branch radius and any Radius Profile or Taper along its length.
- Thickness
Scales the contour along its height relative to the existing branch radius. Circle with Width and Thickness both set to 1 preserves the ordinary round tube.
Influence
- Influence Range — Influence Start
Sets the start of the shaped region along each affected branch, from base (0) to tip (1). Outside the Influence Range the section is round.
- Influence Range — Influence End
Sets the end of the shaped region. Unlike accumulated bending or twisting, the cross section returns to round outside this range.
- Influence Profile
Blends from round (0) to the authored contour (1) within the Influence Range. Combine this profile with Mask and Invert Mask for different shapes in different regions.
What is ZenGrove used for?
The ZenGrove 1.0.0 reference: 52 nodes, 907 settings and short WebM demos. Explore Look At asset orientation, GameDynamics, joint previews, skeletal export and per-leaf random vertex colors. Requires AO.Hub 1.6.6 or later.
Which host application does ZenGrove support?
ZenGrove is built for Autodesk Maya and is distributed through AO Studio Tools.
Where can I download ZenGrove?
Download the current AO Studio Tools package from https://aostudio.tools/getthetools.html and install it through AO.Hub.