Real-time visualization of animated trees

Realistic visualization of plants and trees has recently received increased interest in various fields of applications. Limited computational power and the extreme complexity of botanical structures have called for tradeoffs between interactivity and realism. In this paper we present methods for the creation and real-time visualization of animated trees. In contrast to other previous research, our work is geared toward near-field visualization of highly detailed areas of forestry scenes with animation. We describe methods for rendering and shading of trees by utilizing the programmable hardware of consumer-grade graphics cards. We then describe a straightforward technique for animation of swaying stems and fluttering foliage that can be executed locally on a graphics processor. Our results show that highly detailed tree structures can be visualized at real-time frame rates and that animation of plant structures can be accomplished without sacrificing performance.