AREAS (part of the MDO Plants product)

The Areas plugin from the MDO Plants product offers an easy way to create areas on a landscape or any kind of surface object.
Areas are regions for distributing plants or objects in. Draw areas on objects as if writing with a pen. Adding clumping (include) and exception (exclude) areas is easy and adds great amount of details to ecosystems.

KEY FEATURES:

• Draw areas
• Create spline areas with a width
• Add clump regions to areas (include areas)
• Add exception regions to areas (exclude areas)
• Use altitude and slope on clump areas
• Add noise to areas
• Assign area regions to landscapes or objects material IDs
• Create area regions from a landscape or object
• Presets to store and apply frequently used settings

PRESENTATION MOVIE: (more tutorials are included with a license)

Areas UI information:

Areas Navigation
Click to easily navigate throughout the Areas rollout.

Settings Select Surface Convert To Area Draw Area Spline Area Areas Add Noise To Area (right click for Add Noise To Area Presets) Clumping Area (right click for Clumping Area Presets) Altitude Slope Exception Area (right click for Exception Area Presets) Help Close (click to close all rollouts and right click to open all rollouts)

Module
Adjust different settings for the Areas plugin.

Save Settings Saves the plugin settings manually. Save Settings Automatically Saves the plugins settings automatically. Display UI at Mouse Point Displays the user interface at your mouse point instead of its fixed position on screen. Dynamic UI Loads the user interface dynamically. Show License Rollout Shows the license information. Show About Rollout Shows the about box.

Select Surface
Select a surface to draw areas on.

Select Surface Selects a surface object from your scene. Select Surface by Name Opens a dialog to select a surface object by name from your scene. Surface Name of surface object.

Convert To Area
Convert a spline shape to an area and add noise, clumps and exceptions to it.

Select Spline Selects a spline shape from your scene. Select Spline by Name Opens a dialog to select a spline shape by name from your scene. Spline Name of spline shape. Convert to Area Converts the selected spline shape to an area.

Draw Area
Draw areas on your objects as easy as writing with a pen.
Object areas are for distributing plants or objects in while material areas are for assigning material IDs to your object.

Area Color Sets a color for the area. Interval Sets how dense the final vertex count will be in a created area. A lower value results in more vertices. Attach Area to an Area Attaches created area to an existing one. Center Axis after Creation Centers the area axis after area creation. Draw Objects Area Draws objects area to distribute plants or objects in. Single click to start drawing (without holding your mouse button) and left (or right) click to close your area. Full Objects Area Creates an objects area of your full object automatically to distribute plants or objects in. Draw Materials Area Draws materials area to apply material IDs to your object. Single click to start drawing (without holding your mouse button) and left (or right) click to close your area. Full Materials Area Creates a materials area of your full landscape or object automatically to apply material IDs to your object.

Spline Area
Give a spline shape a width, convert it to an area and add noise, clumps and exceptions to it.

Select Spline Selects a spline shape from your scene. Select Spline by Name Opens a dialog to select a spline shape by name from your scene. Spline Name of spline shape. Width Sets the width of your spline shape. Convert to Area Converts the selected spline shape to an area.

Areas
Apply different settings to your areas.
From updating areas to applying material IDs or object IDs.
Applying material IDs will apply a material ID to all faces of your object that are inside any of your areas.
Applying object IDs will create a new object where all faces outside your areas are removed.

Select All Areas Selects all areas in your scene. Center Axis on All Areas Centers the axis on all your areas. Center Axis after Update Centers the axis on the created area after update. Update All Areas Updates all areas in your scene including all matching areas which are part the corresponding objects. Freeze MaterialIDs Freezes the created material ID object when assigning material ID(s). Bounding Box MaterialIDs Shows the created material ID object as bounding box when assigning material ID(s). Renderable MaterialIDs Sets the created material ID object as renderable when assigning material ID(s). Assign MaterialIDs Assigns different material IDs to all faces of your object that are inside any of your areas. Each material ID represents a different area. Assign MaterialID Assigns one material ID to all faces of your object that are inside any of your areas. One material ID represents all areas. Freeze ObjectIDs Freezes the created object ID object when assigning object ID(s). Bounding Box ObjectIDs Shows the created object ID object as bounding box when assigning object ID(s). Renderable ObjectIDs Sets the created object ID object as renderable when assigning object ID(s). Assign ObjectIDs Creates different object IDs from all faces of your object that are inside any of your areas. Each object ID object represents a different area. Assign ObjectID Creates one object ID object from all faces of your object that are inside any of your areas. One object ID object represents all areas.

Add Noise To Areas Presets
Store different settings you frequently use and apply them to the Add Noise To Areas rollout settings.

Help () Shows help information for the Add Noise To Areas Presets rollout. Preset Selects a preset from the dropdown list. Apply Applies the selected preset settings to the Add Noise To Areas rollout settings. Update Preset Updates the selected preset with settings from the Add Noise To Areas rollout. Add Adds a preset to the dropdown list. Remove Preset Removes the selected preset from the dropdown list. Add/Rename Preset Name of preset to add or to rename the selected one.

Add Noise To Areas
Add noise to your areas to add some variation in detail.

Help () Shows help information for the Add Noise To Areas rollout. Automatic Update Updates the plugin automatically. Select Area Selects an area from the area list. Update Area List (1st little button) Updates the area list to match your scene. Select Area By Name (2nd little button) Opens a dialog to select an area by name. Select Area From Scene (3rd little button) Selects an area by picking one from your scene. Add Noise to Area Adds noise to the selected area. Segment Length Determines how many control points are added. Smaller values produce more control points while larger values produce fewer. The positions of the original vertices of your area are disregarded. Vertices are set to regular intervals. Scale The size of the noise effect (not strength). Larger values produce smoother noise, lower values more jagged noise on your areas. Fractal Roughness The extent of fractal variation. Lower values are less rough than higher values. Fractal Iterations The number of iterations (or octaves) used by the fractal function. Fewer iterations use less fractal energy and generate a smoother effect. An iteration of 1,0 is the same as turning fractal off. Strength X The strength of the noise effect along the X axis. Strength Y The strength of the noise effect along the Y axis. Update Noise on Area Updates the noise on areas manually. Remove Noise from Area Removes the noise from areas.

Clumping Areas Presets
Store different settings you frequently use and apply them to the Clumping Areas rollout settings.

Help () Shows help information for the Prepare Library rollout. Preset Selects a preset from the dropdown list. Apply Applies the selected preset settings to the Clumping Areas rollout settings. Update Preset Updates the selected preset with settings from the Clumping Areas rollout. Add Adds a preset to the dropdown list. Remove Preset Removes the selected preset from the dropdown list. Add/Rename Preset Name of preset to add or to rename the selected one.

Clumping Areas
Add clumping areas (include) to your main areas to create detail in your ecosystems.
Clumps are include regions on your objects where plants or objects are grouped together.
Add a lot of variation to your clumps with different radiuses and by adding noise to them.

Help () Shows help information for the Clumping Areas rollout. Automatic Update Updates the plugin automatically. Select Area Selects an area from the area list. Update Area List (1st little button) Updates the area list to match your scene. Select Area By Name (2nd little button) Opens a dialog to select area by name. Select Area From Scene (3rd little button) Selects an area by picking one from your scene. Duplicates Sets how many clumps are created in the selected area. Clump Color Sets a color for all clumps. Add Clumps to Area Adds the clumps to the selected area. Minimum Radius Sets the minimum radius of all clumps. Maximum radius Sets the maximum radius of all clumps. Segment Length (minimum and maximum) Determines how many control points are added. Smaller values produce more control points while larger values produce fewer. The positions of the original vertices of your area are disregarded. Vertices are set to regular intervals. Scale (minimum and maximum) The size of the noise effect (not strength). Larger values produce smoother noise, lower values more jagged noise on your areas. Fractal Roughness (minimum and maximum) The extent of fractal variation. Lower values are less rough than higher values. Fractal Iterations (minimum and maximum) The number of iterations (or octaves) used by the fractal function. Fewer iterations use less fractal energy and generate a smoother effect. An iteration of 1,0 is the same as turning fractal off. Strength X (minimum and maximum) Sets the strength of the noise effect along the X axis. Strength Y (minimum and maximum) Sets the strength of the noise effect along the Y axis. Update Clumps on Area Updates all clumps on the selected area manually. Remove Clumps from Area Removes all clumps from the selected area. Seed Duplicates Sets the random seed for the clump duplicates. Seed Clumping Sets the random seed for the clumps shape.

Altitude
Set an altitude range for your clumping areas.

Help () Shows help information for the Altitude rollout. Enable Altitude Enables the altitude range. Minimum Altitude Sets a minimum altitude. Maximum Altitude Sets a maximum altitude.

Slope
Set a slope range (angle and exposure) for your clumping areas.

Help () Shows help information for the Slope rollout. Enable Slope Enables the slope range. Minimum Angle Sets a minimum slope angle. Maximum Angle Sets a maximum slope angle. Minimum Exposure Sets a minimum slope exposure. Maximum Exposure Sets a maximum slope exposure.

Exception Areas Presets
Store different settings you frequently use and apply them to the Exception Areas rollout settings.

Help () Shows help information for the Exception Areas Presets rollout. Preset Selects a preset from the dropdown list. Apply Applies the selected preset settings to the Exception Areas rollout settings. Update Preset Updates the selected preset with settings from the Exception Areas rollout. Add Adds a preset to the dropdown list. Remove Preset Removes the selected preset from the dropdown list. Add/Rename Preset Name of preset to add or to rename the selected one.

Exception Areas
Add exception areas (exclude) to your main areas to create exclusion regions in your ecosystems.
Exceptions are exclude regions on your landscape where plants or objects are not distributed.
Add a lot of variation to your exceptions with different radiuses and by adding noise to them.

Help () Shows help information for the Exception Areas rollout. Automatic Update Updates the plugin automatically. Select Area Selects an area from the area list. Update Area List (1st little button) Updates the area list to match your scene. Select Area By Name (2nd little button) Opens a dialog to select an area by name. Select Area From Scene (3rd little button) Selects an area by picking one from your scene. Select Exceptions Selects an exception area(s) from the object list. Update Exceptions List (1st little button) Updates the exception areas list to match your scene. Select Exception By Name (2nd little button) Opens a dialog to select an exception area(s) by name. Select Exceptions From Scene (3rd little button) Selects an exception area(s) by picking one or more from your scene. Exception Color Sets the color of all exception areas. Add Exceptions to Area Adds exception areas to the selected area. Minimum Radius Sets the minimum radius of all exception areas. Maximum radius Sets the maximum radius of all exception areas. Segment Length (minimum and maximum) Determines how many control points are added. Smaller values produce more control points while larger values produce fewer. The positions of the original vertices of your exception areas are disregarded. Vertices are set to regular intervals. Scale (minimum and maximum) The size of the noise effect (not strength). Larger values produce smoother noise, lower values more jagged noise on your exception areas. Fractal Roughness (minimum and maximum) The extent of fractal variation. Lower values are less rough than higher values. Fractal Iterations (minimum and maximum) The number of iterations (or octaves) used by the fractal function. Fewer iterations use less fractal energy and generate a smoother effect. An iteration of 1,0 is the same as turning fractal off. Strength X (minimum and maximum) Sets the strength of the noise effect along the X axis. Strength Y (minimum and maximum) Sets the strength of the noise effect along the Y axis. Update Exceptions on Area Updates all exception areas on the selected area manually. Remove Exceptions from Area Removes all exception areas from selected area. Random Seed Sets the random seed for the exception area shapes.

Help
Help system for the Areas plugin.

Areas Tooltips Adds or removes tooltips to/from UI controls where available. Areas Help Opens the help system for the Areas plugin.