ZenGrove

Built to move. Down to the last leaf.

Overview

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.

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← All 52 nodesModifier

Look At

Aim placed leaves and assets. Look At points a leaf tip or normal towards a target, away from it or along a direction. Use coordinates or a live Maya object, blend the strength, limit the influence radius and add seeded random variation without moving attachment positions.

Reference: ZenGrove 1.0.0 · 2 November 2026 · 15 settings. Requires AO.Hub 1.6.6 or later.

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Growth

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Growth

Quick start: aim existing foliage

Leaves → Look At → Output (Growth)

Create foliage with Leaves, or use another asset-placement node.
Connect its Growth output to Look At, then connect Look At to the Growth input on Output. Keep the wood connected separately to Output's Branches input.
Choose Towards Point, then choose Leaf Tip or Leaf Normal.
Enter target coordinates, or choose Maya Object and capture a locator or transform.
Build Preview. Tune Strength, Influence Radius and Distance Falloff, then add Random Spread if you want variation.

Where it belongs in the graph

Place Look At after Leaves, Leaf Volume, Asset Scatter or another node that has already placed asset instances, then connect its Growth output to Output or Game Output. It changes instance orientation; it does not generate leaves, move their attachment positions or bend the branch structure.

Example: turn leaves towards a locator

Create a Maya locator above the canopy. Set Mode to Towards Point, Aim to Leaf Normal and Target Source to Maya Object, then capture the locator. Build a preview. Move the locator and rebuild to evaluate its live world pivot. Reduce Strength to blend back towards the original leaf orientation.

Keep the effect local

Influence Radius 0 affects every instance. Set a positive radius to affect only instances inside the sphere around the target. Choose Constant for even strength inside the radius, or Linear or Smooth to fade the effect to zero at the edge. The target remains the influence center in Direction and Random modes.

Variation you can reproduce

Random Spread adds variation around the chosen aiming direction. Zero adds no spread; 180 degrees samples all directions. Random mode chooses fully random directions. The Seed, global seed and instance identity keep the result reproducible.

Orientation and shading normals

Leaf Tip aims the asset forward axis. Leaf Normal aims local Y for X-forward leaves or local Z for Y-forward assets. This rotates the asset itself. Use Foliage Normals separately when you want to change the shading normals of the realized foliage. Output collision may adjust the final orientation.

Setup

Mode

Aim towards a point, away from it, along a direction or in a seeded random direction.

Options: Towards Point · Away From Point · Direction · Random

Default: Towards Point

Aim

Choose whether the leaf tip or the leaf normal faces the target. Tip uses the asset forward axis; normal uses local Y for X-forward leaves and local Z for Y-forward assets.

Options: Leaf Tip · Leaf Normal

Default: Leaf Tip

Strength %

Blend from the incoming orientation at 0% to full aiming at 100%. Attachment positions stay unchanged. Output collision may correct the resulting orientation.

Default: 100

Target

Target Source

Choose coordinates or a captured Maya object for the target point and the center of the influence sphere. The influence center also applies in Direction and Random modes.

Options: Coordinates · Maya Object

Default: Coordinates

Target Object

Capture a locator or transform. Its live world pivot is used on each build. Coordinates are the fallback when no object is captured.

Available when Target Source is Maya Object.

Default: Nothing assigned

Target X

World-space X coordinate of the target and influence center.

Available when Target Source is Coordinates.

Default: 0

Target Y

World-space Y coordinate of the target and influence center.

Available when Target Source is Coordinates.

Default: 0

Target Z

World-space Z coordinate of the target and influence center.

Available when Target Source is Coordinates.

Default: 0

Influence Radius

World-space radius around the target. Zero affects every instance. Scale the target handle to change the radius.

Default: 0

Distance Falloff

Constant keeps full strength inside the radius. Linear and Smooth fade the effect to zero at the edge.

Available when Influence Radius is greater than 0.

Options: Constant · Linear · Smooth

Default: Smooth

Direction X

Component of the world-space aiming direction.

Available when Mode is Direction.

Default: 0

Direction Y

Component of the world-space aiming direction.

Available when Mode is Direction.

Default: 1

Direction Z

Component of the world-space aiming direction.

Available when Mode is Direction.

Default: 0

Random

Random Spread

Cone half-angle in degrees around the target direction. At 180 degrees, orientations sample all directions.

Available when Mode is Towards Point or Away From Point or Direction.

Default: 0

Seed

Sets reproducible random orientations together with the global seed and each instance identity.

Default: 0

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FAQ

What is ZenGrove used for?

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.