It's not going to be easy to choose between these applications. I've had a chance to use ST (Speedtree Studio in my case) for a while now and I'm very pleased with the software. I also have a demo version of TPF (The Plant Factory Studio) and have spent some time getting familiar with the workflow and interface. First: the 'high end' versions are both aimed at the professional market and designed for production pipelines. ST recently won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement and supports numerous real time gaming platforms, TPF has yet to succeed in those markets. I doubt if either ST Cinema, or TPF Producer are on your shopping list. So I think the best comparison point is between the 'Studio' versions of each. The normal retail price is very similar: ST $895, TPF $995. The sale price currently of TPF is $697, sale price of ST has been $595. But, as usual it's not so much about price as how you are going to use these apps and how much of a learning curve that will take (and the time). From my experience so far, ST is absolutely the easier to get up to speed with (no pun intended - but they did title it SPEED tree). TPF, in my case, proved to be a bit more difficult; the interface presents more additional options, and a node network that can quickly become very complex. The level of control in TPF is immediately obvious, though not immediately accessible. I think that the creators of TPF engineered a unique, and powerful modeler of recursive forms. For a professional plant modeler there probably is more potential to build virtually any botanically correct or complex imaginary object in TPF then in ST. Not that I'm a professional, but I'd certainly like to have the access to create such things. So I plan to add TPF Studio to my toolkit up the road. Back to : how am I going to use this? If your objective (like mine) is to create foliage for TG primarily, then ST is probably the best option. If you really want to drill down to botanically correct plants with control of all detail, and are willing to commit the time, then TPF may be a better choice. Tony Meszaros, one of the best plant modelers at e-on, said this in an interview regarding TPF:
"I would also advise people to think if they really want to get into TPF. It's not a tool for the faint hearted, and its not a tool for everyone. Not to down-sell it or discourage anyone, but I feel I've got to say that, and people should have realistic expectations.
"
