Modeling the mighty maple

Abstract

A method is presented for representing botanical trees, given three-dimensional points and connections. Limbs are modeled as generalized cylinders whose axes are space curves that interpolate the points. A free-form surface connects branching limbs. "Blobby" techniques are used to model the tree trunk as a series of non-circular cross sections. Bark is simulated with a bump map digitized from real world bark; leaves are textures mapped onto simple surfaces.