Release Grove 2.1 for Blender and Houdini

The Grove employs a parametric approach to tree creation with controls that simulate factors influencing the forms of real plants, allowing for more realistic results. Once the general form is defined, The Grove complements it with details using "Twigs" – instant geometry representing not only actual twigs but also leaves, flowers, and fruits, which are sold separately from the main application.

The resulting textured geometry can be exported in standard file formats, including FBX and OBJ, for use in other DCC applications. Users can also generate wind and growth animations, exported in Alembic format.

Starting from version 2.0, The Grove, originally a plugin for Blender, became a standalone application with integration into Blender and Houdini. The update aims to increase the accuracy of growth simulation with a focus on secondary growth: trunk and branch thickening as the tree ages. Previous versions of the software followed Leonardo da Vinci's "Rule of Trees": the total cross-sectional area of a tree's branches at any height equals the cross-sectional area of its trunk.
Grove 2.1 has abandoned the 500-year-old rule, designed to help artists realistically draw trees, in favor of a new model that more accurately reflects how trees grow in reality.

According to Van Keulen, the old approach worked well for large branches but not as well for thin, new branches, which play a crucial role in defining the visual form of the tree. The update also reworks The Grove's handling of tree aging—now trees can dry out instead of continuing to grow indefinitely, and it affects how they shed dead branches. Additionally, The Grove now uses scientific names for trees at the beginning of specified names, meaning similar species will be grouped together when sorted alphabetically. Van Keulen also boldly claims that in the release, "all known issues" with the software have been addressed and that The Grove is as "reliable" as it was before the 2.0 update.

Grove 2.1 is compatible with Blender 3.6 and above and Houdini 19.5 on Windows, Linux, and macOS. The software is available in three editions. All of them include a plugin for Blender, but only the Studio edition includes a plugin for Houdini. The Starter edition costs 89 euros. The price of the Indie edition is 149 euros. The Studio edition costs 720 euros.