I was wondering if there are any tutorials on how to use the groundcover function in irender. Nothing I have been doing will render the ground cover. even when i use the premade groundcovers that can be loaded into the model, they dont show up in the rendering. when i try to create my own groundcover it says under the rptree maker when i press start:

See: Ground Cover

If you have any problems, let us know and we will fix them up.

Ground Cover

nXt">IRender nXt lets you define Ground Cover for use on the ground or on topiary bushes.

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In about 2 hours we will post the first test version of Ground Cover.

As Rich and I were testing it I found a better way to implement it which we will put in the next version.

For now, you must:

A. Create a XXX.ArGroundCover file using Tree Maker.

B. Save the file somewhere

C. Use the Object Properties right -click on a surface to assign the Ground Cover to It.

D. Render it.

- To change it, you can load and resave the .ArGroundCover file with the Tree Maker, and re-render

- Give it a try and let us know if it works.

Define Ground Cover

• You MUST save a .ArGroundCover file before you can user your Ground Cover.)

To define a ground cover, right click on a face or surface to which you want to set ground cover, and select 'Set Object Properties'

Click Load editor to create file to define a ground cover. 

Ground Cover settings

Foliage settings. Click on leaf to select a different leaf.

Rendered Ground Cover (in center) with a different leaf.

Click Start from the Raytrace menu if you want to see a sample of your foliage.

Save the ground cover .ArGroundCover file on the disk some place. (You MUST save a .ArGroundCover file before you can user your Ground Cover.)

Click OK.

Assign to surface

In the Object Properties Dialog Box, click the ... browse button and select the file you just created, (or a .ArGroundCover file you have created previously.)

Set the vegetation mode - Vertical for items which grow up from the ground, or Topiary for items which should be molded to a surface.

Notes

• Ground Cover is not fast. It creates 3D geometry for each leaf. It keeps your SketchUp model small and fast, (because there are no 3D leaves in the SketchUp model), but it can take a lot of time to render.