AO Studio Tools

ZenGrove

Grow a plant, one node at a time.

Overview

Grow a plant, one node at a time.

Explore all 44 nodes with illustrated Maya views and plain-English explanations of every setting. Build trunks and branches, place foliage, shape growth, add wind and prepare your output.

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Asset Scatter

Places meshes from an Asset Collection along branches, with controls for position, rotation and scale.

Reference updated for ZenGrove 1.0.0-alpha.10.

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Branches · Assets

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Growth

Affect

Asset Scatter node with its affect settings in ZenGrove
ZenGrove in Maya · Affect · Open image for full size
Affect

Chooses which branches are affected. Active Branches uses the latest generated layer. Active + Descendants also includes growth from that layer. Active Generated Hierarchy additionally includes ancestors created by that same generated contribution. Entire Input uses everything arriving here. Attached children follow a moved parent even when they are not reshaped themselves.

Options: Active Branches · Active + Descendants · Active Generated Hierarchy · Entire Input

Default: Active Branches

Setup

Asset Scatter node with its setup settings in ZenGrove
ZenGrove in Maya · Setup · Open image for full size
Distribution

Count uses a total placement count. Density uses placements per unit of eligible branch length.

Options: Count · Density

Default: Count

Generation

Asset Scatter node with its generation settings in ZenGrove
ZenGrove in Maya · Generation · Open image for full size
Total Count

Sets total placements across affected branches in Count mode.

Available when Distribution is Count.

Default: 120

Distribution (1)

Asset Scatter node with its distribution (1) settings in ZenGrove
ZenGrove in Maya · Distribution (1) · Open image for full size
Distribution Range — Start %

Sets where placement begins on the parent. Zero is the base and one is the tip; the range slider displays percentages.

Default: 0.1

Distribution Range — End %

Sets where placement ends. Together with Start, this defines the Distribution Range.

Default: 1

Placement Pattern

Random distributes around the branch. Parallel creates opposing pairs at one height. Alternating uses successive heights on opposing sides.

Options: Random · Parallel · Alternating

Default: Random

Pattern Rotation

Rotates the placement pattern around the branch.

Default: 0

Position Randomness

Randomly turns each pattern while preserving pairs and alternation.

Default: 1

Position Jitter

Loosens spacing along the parent while keeping paired sites together.

Default: 0.03

Surface Offset

Moves pivots from the branch center toward its surface. Zero uses the centerline; one reaches the surface.

Default: 1

Distribution (2)

Asset Scatter node with its distribution (2) settings in ZenGrove
ZenGrove in Maya · Distribution (2) · Open image for full size
Tip Bias

Biases placement toward branch tips. Increase it for more detail near the outer crown.

Default: 0.45

Orientation (1)

Asset Scatter node with its orientation (1) settings in ZenGrove
ZenGrove in Maya · Orientation (1) · Open image for full size
Orientation Pattern

Random allows free orientation. Parallel keeps one local orientation. Alternating flips every second asset 180 degrees around its local Y axis.

Options: Random · Parallel · Alternating

Default: Random

Orientation Space

Branch follows the parent direction. Ground keeps the asset growth axis along the horizontal ground plane.

Options: Branch · Ground

Default: Branch

Align to Branch

Aligns assets to the supporting branch before additional rotations.

Default: On

Rotation X

Rotates assets around local X.

Default: 0

Rotation Y

Rotates assets around local Y.

Default: 0

Rotation Z

Rotates assets around local Z.

Default: 0

Rotation X Randomness

Adds random local X rotation.

Default: 180

Orientation (2)

Asset Scatter node with its orientation (2) settings in ZenGrove
ZenGrove in Maya · Orientation (2) · Open image for full size
Rotation Y Randomness

Adds random local Y rotation.

Default: 180

Rotation Z Randomness

Adds random local Z rotation.

Default: 180

Downward Alignment

Turns assets toward world down without bending supporting branches.

Default: 0

Up Influence

Biases the growing direction upward. Negative values bias it downward.

Default: 0.12

Scale

Asset Scatter node with its scale settings in ZenGrove
ZenGrove in Maya · Scale · Open image for full size
Scale

Scales the asset or generated child uniformly. One keeps its size; 0.5 halves it.

Default: 1

Scale Profile

Multiplies asset size across the distribution range. Left is Start and right is End. One keeps size; zero reduces it to nothing at that point.

Default: See curve in image

Scale Randomness

Varies size between placements. Zero keeps one scale multiplier.

Default: 0.25

Advanced

Asset Scatter node with its advanced settings in ZenGrove
ZenGrove in Maya · Advanced · Open image for full size
Seed Offset

Changes this node's random variation. Keep the seed and settings unchanged to reproduce the same result.

Default: 20

Generation

Shown example: Distribution = Density.

Asset Scatter node with its generation settings in ZenGrove
ZenGrove in Maya · Generation · Open image for full size
Density per Unit

Sets placements per unit of eligible branch length. Longer branches receive more.

Available when Distribution is Density.

Default: 8

Browse all ZenGrove nodes →
FAQ
What is ZenGrove used for?

Explore all 44 nodes with illustrated Maya views and plain-English explanations of every setting. Build trunks and branches, place foliage, shape growth, add wind and prepare your output.

Which host application does ZenGrove support?

ZenGrove is built for Autodesk Maya and is distributed through AO Studio Tools.

Where can I download ZenGrove?

Download the current AO Studio Tools package from https://aostudio.tools/getthetools.html and install it through AO.Hub.