Apart from regular branching, where the Branch component splits smoothly into two, Botanica also includes the concept of side branches. These are branches that stem from the main branch, typically extending to the side, with the user controlling various angles and behaviors. This is an example of a side branch:
The connection isn’t very natural, though — they are just two independent tubes. In reality, branches have a smooth transition, becoming wider at the point where they connect to the main branch.
In Botanica 181, it is now possible to create a smooth connection. This is controlled by three new attributes that allow you to define the properties of the transition:
The transition now looks like this:
This is a detail of a plant model, shown both without and with the feature enabled. The change is quite subtle, but clearly visible. Real plants are full of such details — and they are a significant part of what makes them so fascinating… 😉
