Quote from: Oshyan on October 05, 2015, 03:19:34 PM
Interesting answer. I wonder what specifically he feels makes this plant generator work best with Blender. Does it rely on Blender's built-in physics functions, or particles, for example? Perhaps there really is some technical reason and not just a preference or philosophical one.
- Oshyan
In reading through the site, it looks as though the plugin allows you to build the trunk/branches of the tree, then either manually or using a Blender Particle system, apply "twigs" which are the living portion - leaves, buds, blooms, etc.
https://www.thegrove3d.com/learn/build/It's under the Twig Duplication section.
The author is still adding documentation and planning a couple of UI changes.
Aside from that, there are some very good points made in the thread at the Foundry - including that Blender can be run from a USB stick (meaning, for those that don't want to, you don't have to install it), that the plugin interface is pretty extensive, so there's minimal interaction with Blender's interface and that, by making it a plugin for Blender, the author gets all of Blenders tools, viewport, navigation and object export for free and can concentrate instead on the plant specific features.
And, of course, Blender itself is free - so the monetary cost is simply what you spend on the plugin and any of the twigs you purchase. So, it's essentially a standalone system for generating plants with a massive set of free 3D functionality you don't have to use if you don't want to.

~Micheal