“We've given artists a powerful new tool in the SpeedTree modeling process,” said IDV CEO Chris King. “Now they can preview vast forests of their creations right from the editor in a high performance rendering environment that supports local wind, 360 degree billboards, advanced lighting and other features.”

SpeedTree 4.2 delivers:

• Forest Preview. Create a tree in SpeedTreeCAD and then view it instantly as part of a forest in the SpeedTree reference application. This feature allows artists to quickly get a feel for how their trees will look and perform with other trees, without leaving SpeedTreeCAD.
• Local Wind. The SpeedTreeRT Reference Application now demonstrates full run-time local wind capabilities. Forests can be affected by multiple local wind sources to simulate explosions and other localized events even more realistically.
• COLLADA and OBJ Mesh Export. For situations where mesh formats are required, SpeedTreeCAD now enables mesh export that captures SpeedTree's normals, binormals, tangents, and wind weights as well as the standard geometric features (vertices, texture coordinates, etc.).
• Updated Tree Library with 20+ New Species. The huge and varied SpeedTree library grows to 216 species in 4.2, with all models now containing height maps for all bark textures. See the tree library on the official website.

SpeedTree v4.2 is available today in a near-final beta version on PC and next-gen consoles.