Simulation

The growth simulation: the graph and its core verbs, how a plant is grown, and the endless variation one recipe produces.

Simulate real growth

In this procedural vegetation system, just like in the real world, plants respond to light and shade to steer away from obstacles as they grow.

Simulation

Grow from a grammar

Under every Natsura plant is a small grammar of core verbs: Grow, Split, Switch, and Repeat. Compose them into a graph and you're writing the rules of a simulation, not modelling geometry. One recipe, endless variation.

The core verbs

Natsura foliage node graph and interface inside Houdini

Work at scale

From hero trees to entire forests, keep the same workflow and toolset for scalable game foliage and procedural vegetation.

Large-scale forest generated with Natsura for Unreal Engine 5

Build Factories

Pass points laden with attributes from other Houdini systems to Natsura to generate immense variation in trees and plants.

Overview of scalable forest generation setup for UE5 foliage

Add Micro Detail

The same tools that make enormous forests possible also facilitate high-detail work on individual assets.

Dense grass and micro-foliage close-up for environment art

Define Species

Create compact species definitions, with recipes that respond to hyper-parameters such as age, vigor, health, and shade for your vegetation library.

Pine forest showing species and age variation in a game environment

Master plants in Houdini

One of our goals is to make Natsura accessible to everyone, even if you have no prior Houdini experience. If you do, we've got you covered for deep procedural foliage workflows.

Overview Natsura 101

Natsura trees and foliage rendered in Unreal Engine 5

Seed Points

Why grow a single tree when you can grow 100 at the same time, or simulate an entire ecosystem? Pass points laden with attributes from other Houdini systems to Natsura.

Tree canopy showing crown shyness pattern in a simulated forest

Understand Attributes

Mapping, Effectors, Wrangles: it's all just attributes. Grasp working with Natsura through its attributes and you're on the way to mastery of procedural vegetation.

Attribute spreadsheet view used to drive foliage in Natsura

Write VEX

Use the Natsura Wrangle to read and write attributes during growth, drive rules, and package custom operators for your environment team.

Custom VEX driving advanced procedural plant growth in Houdini

Docs: Simulation in depth

The features above are the highlights. The docs walk through the whole workflow, concept by concept.

Core concepts: Simulation

Shaping

Controlling the form: mapping, effectors, the environment a tree responds to, and the interactive tools for reaching in by hand.

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