Because of their complexity, plant models used in computer graphics are commonly created with procedural methods. A difficult problem is the user control of these models: a small number of parameters is insufficient to specify plant characteristics in detail, while large numbers of parameters are tedious to manipulate and difficult to comprehend. To address this problem, we propose a method for managing parameters involved in plant model manipulation. Specifically, we introduce decomposition graphs as multiscale representations of plant structures and present interactive tools for designing trees that operate on decomposition graphs. The supported operations include browsing of the parameter space, editing of generailized parameters (scalars, functions, and branching system silhouettes), and the definition of dependencies between parameters. We illustrate our method by creating models of bonsai trees.
Categories and Subject Descriptors: I.3.6 [Computer Graphics]: Methodology and Techniques
Frederic Boudon, Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz, Pavol Federl, Christophe Godin and Radoslaw Karwowski. Interactive design of bonsai tree models. Proceedings of Eurographics 2003: Computer Graphics Forum 22 (3), pp. 591-599.
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