Houdini 21.0 Nodes Geometry nodes

Labs Tree Branch Placer 1.0 geometry node

Places and shapes procedural tree branches with interactive and rule-based controls.

This node provides a comprehensive system for adding, shaping, and refining branches on procedural trees.

It supports both parameter-driven branch placement and interactive, drawn branches, while offering detailed control over bending, radius, meshing, tropism, noise, resolution, and displacement.

This node is intended to be used primarily through its viewport state. To activate the state, select the node and press Enter while the cursor is over the viewport.

Branch Placement and Editing:

Branch Adjustment:

Construction Plane: For correct branch placement and movement, set the construction plane perpendicular to the tree’s main axis. In most cases, this is X or Z, depending on the tree orientation.

Parameters

Tag

Tag used to identify the branch set generated by this node.

Delete Previous Levels

Deletes branches generated at previous levels before placing new ones.

Override Branch Level

Overrides the inherited branch level.

Branch Level

Branch level assigned to newly created branches.

General

Placed Branches

Roll

Roll offset applied to placed branches.

Branches

Position | Length

Length

Length of the generated branch.

Position

Normalized position along the parent branch where the new branch originates.

Rotation

Rotate Around

Rotation of the branch around the parent axis.

Rotate Up Down

Vertical rotation offset of the branch.

Radius

Radius Falloff Ramp

Controls how branch radius tapers along its length.

Radius Adjust

Scalar applied to the inherited radius.

Override Inherited Radius

Overrides the radius inherited from the parent branch.

Radius

Base radius of the branch when overriding inheritance.

Bend

Bend

Overall bend strength applied to the branch.

Up Vector Angle

Angle between the branch and the up vector.

Offset Start

Offset from the branch start before bending begins.

Capture Length

Length over which bending influence is captured.

Bend Profile

Profile controlling bend distribution along the branch.

Remap Bend Profile

Min

Remaps the bend profile range.

Max

Remaps the bend profile range.

Make Knot

Enable

Enables knot generation on the branch.

Offset

Position offset for the knot.

Shape Ramp

Controls the knot shape profile.

Drawn Branches

Angle

Angle used when interactively drawing branches.

Roll

Roll applied to drawn branches.

Radius Falloff Ramp

Radius taper profile for drawn branches.

Radius Adjust

Radius multiplier for drawn branches.

Override Inherited Radius

Overrides inherited radius for drawn branches.

Radius

Base radius for drawn branches.

Initialize Input Branches

Initializes existing input branches for drawing.

Advanced

Detangle

Attempts to reduce branch intersections.

Grid Behavior

Defines how branches interact with grid constraints.

Ray Points to Surface

Projects branch points onto intersecting surfaces.

Meshing

Override Meshing

Overrides inherited meshing settings.

Intersection Behavior

Defines how branch intersections are resolved.

Smooth Amount

Amount of smoothing applied to intersection seams.

Blend Falloff

Falloff distance for seam blending.

Enable UV Blending

Blends UVs across intersections.

Blend Distance

Controls UV blend region and softness.

Blend Falloff

Controls UV blend region and softness.

End Caps

End Cap Type

Type of geometry used to close branch ends.

Cap Divisions

Resolution of grid-based end caps.

Triangular Poles

Uses triangular poles for cap topology.

End Cap Scale

Scale applied to end caps.

End Cap Roundness

Controls roundness of end caps.

Tropism

Override Tropism

Overrides inherited tropism settings.

Bend Along Parent

Enable

Bends branches along the parent direction.

Strength

Strength of parent-based bending.

Falloff

Falloff of parent-based bending.

Gravitropism

Enable

Enables gravity-based bending.

Direction

Direction of gravitational force.

Strength

Strength of gravitational influence.

Falloff

Falloff of gravitational bending.

Phototropism

Enable

Enables light-seeking behavior.

Direction

Direction of the light source.

Strength

Strength of phototropic bending.

Falloff

Falloff of light influence.

Thigmotropism

Enable

Enables surface-avoidance or attraction behavior.

Object 1

Object used for thigmotropic interaction.

Strength

Strength of the interaction.

Falloff

Falloff of the interaction influence.

Noise

Line Noise

Override Line Noise

Overrides inherited line noise settings.

Enable

Enables noise along branch curves.

Primary

Noise Type

The type of noise being used.

Intensity

Controls the intensity of line noise layer.

Frequency

Controls the frequency of line noise layer.

Roughness

Controls the roughness of line noise layer.

Step Size

The resolution for the noise.

Randomize Offset

Controls the randomization of line noise layer.

Offset

Controls the offset of line noise layer.

Secondary

Intensity

Controls the intensity of line noise layer.

Frequency

Controls the frequency of line noise layer.

Roughness

Controls the roughness of line noise layer.

Randomize Offset

Controls the randomization of line noise layer.

Offset

Controls the offset of line noise layer.

Intensity Ramp

Adjusts noise amplitude along the length of the branch.

Seed

The seed for the randomization of noise.

Mesh Noise

Override Mesh Noise

Overrides inherited mesh noise settings.

Enable

Enables noise on branch surface geometry.

Type

Controls the type of the surface noise.

Frequency

Controls the frequency for the surface noise.

Randomize Offset

Controls the randomization for the surface noise.

Offset

Controls the offset for the surface noise.

Intensity

Controls the intensity for the surface noise.

Multiply Intensity by Radius

Scales noise strength based on branch radius.

Intensity Ramp

Controls the intensity for the surface noise using a ramp.

Resolution

Override Resolution

Overrides inherited resolution settings.

Resolution

Base resolution of branch geometry.

Refinement Amount

Additional refinement applied in high-curvature regions.

Divisions

Number of mesh divisions.

Displacement

Override Displacement

Overrides inherited displacement settings.

Enable Displacement

Enables texture-based displacement.

Displacement Texture

Texture used for displacement.

Displacement Intensity

Strength of displacement.

Subdivision Amount

Subdivision applied before displacement.

Reduce Resolution

Reduces resolution after displacement.

Visualization

Override Visualization

Overrides inherited visualization settings.

Enable Visualization Color

Enables viewport coloring for debugging.

Color

Visualization color.

See also

Geometry nodes