Forest Pack Installation Files

This guide describes the directory structure of Forest Pack and how to customize it. We will use a default Forest Pro installation, in Forest Lite some files may be different.

Directory Structure​

We define [forestdir] as the folder where you installed Forest Pack (C:\Program Files\Itoo Software\Forest Pack Pro by default) , [maxdir] is your main 3DS directory, and [librarydir] as the location of librarys (C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Itoo Software\Forest Pack Pro\ by default).

[forestdir] Contains the following files in the root directory:

The setup program also creates the folder structure shown below in [forestdir] .

The setup program creates libraries using the folder structure shown below in [librarydir].

The plugins and shaders for VRay and Mental Ray are copied to the 3ds Max directories as follows (Note only one of Lite or Pro plugins should be installed for each Max version):

The following entries are created in the Windows Registry:

In Forest Pack 6.1 and above you can disable the

iToo Toolbars (both Forest and RailClone) by adding the following registry key:

All commercial Itoo Software products use also additional keys for the licensing management:

Unattended Installation​

From Forest Pack 3.9.2 and above, the setup program supports unattended installations using the following parameters:

• /? See available parameters
• /S Enable silent installation
• /MAXVER=[max2013-32, max2013-64, max2014-64, max2015-64, max2016-64, max2017-64, max2018-64, max2019-64, max2020-64, max2021-64, max2022-64, max2023-64, max2024-64]
• /MAXDIR=[3dmax installation path]
• /LICMODE=[rendernode, network, stand-alone]
• /LICHOST=[License server host]
• /LICPORT=[License server TCP port]
• /SHAREDFOLDER=[network path for shared files]

Network Rendering​

You can install Forest on your renderfarm computers using the setup program, or copying the files manually. In Forest Pro select "Render slave node", in Forest Lite use default installing option​

For a manual installation, these are the required files:

If you use Presets or other elements of the Library, they must be visible by the render nodes. Use the Asset Tracker to locate the texture maps and XRefs used by the scene.

From version 4.0.2, Forest configures automatically in the render nodes the paths listed in the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Itoo Software\Forest Pack Pro\TexturePaths. These are the paths included by default by the installer:

All these files can be installed on network paths if you configure Max to use them (as shared plugins, Mental Ray shaders and textures). For details, see:

Autodesk 3ds Max Help -> Customizing the User Interface - > Configure Paths .

Is it possible to modify the sub-objects of a Forest object from MaxScript?​

Yes, but only if the Forest object is in "Custom Edit" mode. there is an interface named "trees" for using it provided by MaxScript. You can see all the functions included witd showinterfaces($forest01). these are some of them:

Add a tree in position p (local coordinates), using width, height and geometry ID values

<Forestobject>.trees.create p:<point3> width:<float> height:<float> geomid: <integer>

$forest01.trees.create p:[50,50,0] width:10 heigth:10 geomid:1

Delete the tree at position n in the array

<Forestobject>.trees.delete n:<integer>

$forest01.trees.delete n:0

Modify the properties of the tree at position n (width, height, geometry ID, random seed)

<Forestobject>.trees.edit n:<integer> width:<float> height:<float> geomid:<integer> seed:<integer>

$forest01.trees.edit n:0 width:10 height:10 geomid:1 seed:123456

Returns the number of trees of the object

<Forestobject>.trees.count()<integer>

$forest01.trees.count()

Move the n-th tree to the position p

<Forestobject>.trees.move n:<integer> p:<point3>

$forest01.trees.move n:0 p:[50,50,0]

Set the rotation of the n-th tree (angle in degrees)

<Forestobject>.trees.rotate n:<integer> angle:<float>

$forest01.trees.rotate n:0 angle:45

Configuring the plugin using environment variables​

From Forest Pack 6 onwards it is now possible to configure the main attributes of the plugin using environment variables instead of registry keys. To do this e

ach registry key used in the configuration can be replaced by a variable, replacing non-alphanumeric characters with underscores (_).

For example: for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Itoo Software\Forest Pack Pro\MainDir, you would define the variable ITOO_SOFTWARE_FOREST_PACK_PRO_MAINDIR

The minimum variables to run Forest Pack are the following:

For Network licenses:

- ITOO_SOFTWARE_FOREST_PACK_PRO_MAINDIR=C:\Program Files\Itoo Software\Forest Pack Pro
- ITOO_SOFTWARE_LICENSES_LICENSEDIR=C:\ProgramData\Itoo Software\Licenses
- ITOO_SOFTWARE_FOREST_PACK_PRO_USELICSERVER=1
- ITOO_SOFTWARE_FOREST_PACK_PRO_LICSERVHOST=192.168.1.20
- ITOO_SOFTWARE_FOREST_PACK_PRO_LICSERVPORT=16720

For Stand-alone licenses:

- ITOO_SOFTWARE_FOREST_PACK_PRO_MAINDIR=C:\Program Files\Itoo Software\Forest Pack Pro
- ITOO_SOFTWARE_LICENSES_LICENSEDIR=C:\ProgramData\Itoo Software\Licenses
- ITOO_SOFTWARE_FOREST_PACK_PRO_USELICSERVER=0

For Libraries

• ITOO_SOFTWARE_FOREST_PACK_PRO_LIBRARYDIR=C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Local\Itoo Software\Forest Pack Pro\lib

For Effects

• ITOO_SOFTWARE_FOREST_PACK_PRO_EFFECTSDIR=C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Local\Itoo Software\Forest Pack Pro\effects