Forest Pack
The Ultimate Scattering toolkit for 3ds Max
WHAT IS FOREST PACK?
Forest Pack is the world's most popular scattering plugin for 3ds Max®. It provides a complete solution for creating vast areas of objects, from trees and plants to buildings, crowds, aggregates, ground-cover, rocks and more. If you can model it, Forest Pack can scatter it.
Countless studios rely on Forest Pack's production-tested algorithms and native shaders to render scenes with virtually unlimited numbers of objects and polygons, all without putting a strain on computer resources.
Simulate natural distribution patterns and get the most out of your assets using advanced mapping and randomisation tools, or fine-tune your scatters with granular control over every aspect of the plugin.
CREATE WITHOUT RESTRICTIONS USING FOREST PACK AND TAKE YOUR RENDERS TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
WHAT'S NEW IN FOREST PACK 8
NEW VERSION AVAILABLE NOW
Forest Sets pluginHOT
Create a container of objects to use for areas, scatter items, surface, or references using a new helper plugin. It can even update automatically using the contents of a layer.
Linked areas
Reference areas found in another Forest Pack object to link together multiple scatters. Combine Forest Sets and linked areas to create huge flexible interlinked ecosystems.
Use areas in surface UV modeHOT
Use Spline, Object, and other areas can now be used in combination with UV surfaces by projecting them along one of 3 axes using a new Axis parameter.
Forest Effects improvementsHOT
Create advanced scattering rules using the Forest Effects system which is now more powerful than ever with support for spline objects and material IDs.
New Forest Effect presets
Take advantage of the new Forest Effects features without writing a single expression using a new collection of built-in presets.
Filter Forest Effects
Filter Forest Effects so that they only apply to a subset of the geometry list to limit the results to individual types of plants manipulated using the powerful effects system.
Autumn Leaves libraryHOT
Render amazing autumnal images with a new library of high quality photo-scanned leaves. The presets are logically organised by colour and supplied as individual leaves and patches.
Randomise position in path modeHOT
Shuffle the position of objects while still following the spline when using path distribution mode - great for more believable distribution of hanging plants or other objects.
Scatter linked hierarchiesHOT
Scatter linked objects, maintaining their hierarchy. Hierarchical objects can be animated, and Forest Pack can even randomise and control playback just like a normal mesh!
Easier error identificationHOT
Save precious time by identifying issues at a glance. Forest Pack's icon now changes colour depending on three different error states.
User properties retained in V-Ray
V-Ray CPU users can take advantage of user properties. These are now retained from the source objects making it possible to use advanced texturing workflows.
Vertex colours supported in Arnold
Arnold users can now take advantage if vertex colour in their materials and be confident that Forest Pack will retain the final look.
KEY FEATURES
SCATTERING PERFECTED
FAST
Forest Pack is fully multi-threaded and highly optimized for speed and efficiency. A typical scene can effortlessly use over 100.000 objects each with 1 million polys, and render in just a few minutes.
INTERACTIVE
Points-Cloud display mode faithfully previews scattered objects in the viewports as they will appear in the render. Amazingly fast, this mode allows you to move and edit items in real-time, while maintaining an accurate preview of your scenes.
PARAMETRIC AREAS
From the moment you pick a scatter area Forest Pack is fully parametric. With no destructive editing you make design decisions at any time, and see the results in the viewport instantly.
NATURAL
Recreate the limitless variation found in nature with the ability to randomise distribution, objects, transforms, animation, bitmaps and tints. Mimic natural growth patterns using the innovative Clusters feature.
PRECISE
Maps Control when you need it. Drive parameters using maps and expressions or use Tree Editor mode to scatter along splines, on markers or even edit and place individual objects.
READY TO USE
Use Forest Pack's built-in Library Browser to select and assign plants with a single click. Over 100 models are included in Forest Pack Pro, or you can create your own presets and share them effortlessly with colleagues.
FREE LIBRARY OF OVER 430 ASSETS
HUNDREDS OF READY-TO-USE HIGH-QUALITY MODELS AND PRESETS INCLUDING TREES, SHRUBS, GRASS, GREEN WALLS, MULCH, GRAVEL, FLOWERS, ROCKS, LEAVES, HEDGES, STUMPS AND MUCH MORE!
WHERE
SEE EXAMPLES IN OUR GALLERY
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
THE ULTIMATE SCATTERING TOOLKIT FOR 3DS MAX
Forest Pack includes all the features you need to create perfect scatters, every time. The fully integrated solution uses a familiar UI and workflow to create almost unlimited geometry with complete control over every detail. That's not all, use Forest Maps to randomise maps and add tints, quickly populate a scene using our included library presets or create your own, and use Forest Tools to convert scatters to max instances or XML data for use in large pipelines. With its power, unrivalled features list, ease-of-use, and premium support. Forest Pack will change the way you render.
SUPPORTED AREAS
Forest Pack fits into existing pipelines with the widest support of any plugin for defining a scatter area, including splines, surfaces, PFlow objects, markers, objects, and paint areas. You can even even exclude objects using another Forest Pack area to create sophisticated and layered interdependencies.
DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS
Use one of the 35+ built in distribution patterns of create your own custom patterns using procedural maps or images. Group together plants into naturalistic growth patterns automatically, or use a custom colour maps. Use fast collision detection to prevent objects from overlapping and see the results in real time.
ITEM EDITOR MODE
Refine compositions using the manual editor mode by modifying individual scattered items without any loss of rendering efficiency. Select or create single or groups of objects, swap models, rotate or translate to get the perfect render. Convert scatters to native instances to make the scene easier to share or for export to other applications.
ANIMATION
Scatter animated objects while retaining significant memory efficiency. Sync animations or use one of 3 powerful modes to randomise animation and control the offset or set the current frame using maps. If these options don't suit your needs you can even create your own custom animation modes using Forest Effects!
RENDER WITHOUT LIMITS
Forget about polygon counts and running out of memory. Forest Pack's intelligent instancing technology enables nearly limitless geometry with minimal overhead. Viewport previews are fast and interactive thanks to the point-cloud.display mode.
SUPPORTED ITEMS
If you can create it you can scatter it. Forest Pack can use nearly any object including geometry, lights, splines, groups, proxies, parametric tools like RailClone and GrowFX, animated geometry and much more.
LIBRARY AND PRESETS
Set up scatters in an instant by importing geometry using Forest Pack's built-in library browser. Import individual models and build your own scatter or import entire pre-built presets. You can even use many libraries from popular 3rd party vendors.
LICENSING
A Pro license gives you access to the full range of features, a comprehensive library, and free unlimited render nodes. For the duration of your maintenance plan you are also entitled to premium technical support and upgrades.
TAKE FOREST PACK TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH
AN EXCLUSIVE RANGE OF HIGH-QUALITY TREE AND PLANT MODELS, ALL FULLY INTEGRATED WITH FOREST PACK
WHAT'S INCLUDED?
A PRO LICENSE OF FOREST PACK INCLUDES
Plugins compatible with 3ds Max 2013 - 2024 (Official support from 2019)
Forest Pack comes in 2 versions
- Can be used commercially.
- Free to use and never expires.
- Does not include a Maintenance Plan, with no access to prioritised technical support, forum file downloads, new content and betas.
- Can scatter up to 3 source objects.
- Can use up to 4 areas.
- Can use planar surfaces.
- Cannot use non-planar surfaces with advanced features.
- Can randomly tint by object.
- Cannot randomly tint by element.
- Cannot be collapsed to editable mesh.
- Limited subset of presets.
- Libraries cannot be customised.
- Does not include Forest Pack Tools, cannot be converted to instances.
- Can be used commercially.
- Perpetual licensing.
- Includes a one year extendable Maintenance Plan with prioritised technical support, early access to beta versions, and regular updates.
- Can scatter unlimited source objects.
- Can use unlimited areas.
- Can use planar surfaces.
- Can use non-planar surfaces with advanced features.
- Can randomly tint by object.
- Can randomly tint by element.
- Can be collapsed to editable mesh.
- Over 430 presets.
- Add your own preset libraries.
- Includes Forest Pack Tools to convert to native instances.
Prices Exclude VAT
AN EXCLUSIVE RANGE OF HIGH-QUALITY TREE AND PLANT MODELS, ALL FULLY INTEGRATED WITH FOREST PACK