The demos are loaded, laptops are packed, and the SpeedTree team is headed out the door with a virtual forest of new tech for UE4, Lumberyard, Unity, VFX, and games. We’ll be putting down roots in the south hall of the Moscone Center, booth #842 so be sure to come by to talk trees or get a demo from our top SpeedTree artists!

Here is a sneak peek of the new features we’ll be showing off:

SpeedTree 8 for UE4

It has arrived. SpeedTree 8 has landed along with UE4.19, bringing with it PBR materials, one draw call exporting, and a free export only mode for anyone with a free SpeedTree store login!

New Features

A free export-only mode for UE4 users

Full PBR material workflow and rendering

Infinite seasonal variation

All new 3D surface-scanned PBR texture library

A new library of over 120 game models in multiple resolutions and seasons

One-draw-call models with tiling textures, wind, and LOD

New techniques for low-poly branch structure modeling and mesh editing

New art director tools and more intuitive workflow

Export Only Mode

Replacing our drop-in ready models, the export only mode allows artists with a free SpeedTree Store Login to use any game tree from the SpeedTree Store and customize the season as well as packing options. Export-only mode gives the user full control over infinite seasonal variations as well as advanced packing and texture resolution choices. Editing and saving are disabled in this mode but can be unlocked with a $19/month subscription to the Modeler.

Download Now

New Tree Models

We’ve been hard at work harvesting new models for the SpeedTree store and we’ve got a fresh crop live now for SpeedTree 8 for UE4 and SpeedTree for Lumberyard. Including a new batch of sample trees that come with the new installers. Download the new Lumberyard installers from your account page and the new UE4 installer from here.

Shop New Trees

One More Thing…

Our engineers are getting the latest SpeedTree 8 tech ready for Unity 2018, working with the Unity terrain team to try and make sure that our integration is optimized and ready for PBR materials. The code changes will need to be worked into the Unity release cycle, but it’s coming, and we can’t wait to share it with you.

Stay tuned for more exciting SpeedTree news at GDC!