Impressionistic techniques for rendering woodland scenes

The authors have been working on the simulation of trees and in particular their representation in the landscape when massed as woodland or forest. The purpose of this work is to provide a representation of trees en masse that is more visually convincing when used in architectural and environmental compute aided design applications - architectural models, landscape design and evaluation, and historical reconstructions. Although our research was directed initially at producing a better compromise between realism and the economical use of polygons, we found that we were developing an impressionistic approach to modelling elements in the landscape which, if applied in other contexts, challenged the conventional approach of creating simulations from a literal translation of the geometry of the subject. The paper explains the process by which the software was delevoped, describes the interaction by which the user produces the scenes, and ends by proposing tools which would allow the user greater determination of those factors which create a more visually convincing simulation