convert boolean to object

BradCarsten

I'm trying to instance trees. 

I hit create and selected the evergreen 5 tree. 

When I tried to use instancing lab I ran out of memory quickly, and discovered that Instancing groups creates duplicates of those groups, not instances.

I then found a trick where you ungrouped the objects, create an instance, regroup those instances together, which will allow you to then use them in instance lab.

I then noticed that it created instances of the branches, but not the trunk. Looking at the trunk, I discovered that it is a boolean, not a mesh. 

So now I'm trying to convert it to a mesh, so that I can instance it with the rest of the tree. Object > convert boolean to mesh is grayed out.  

Any ideas?

Horo

BradCarsten - this is a very old tree that existed already in Bryce 4. The better idea would be to use Bryce Tree Objects. You can access them by holding down the Alt-key and click on the tree icon on the Create shelf. This opens a dialog where you can select a tree. These are true Bryce trees that can be modified in the Tree Lab. I have a 14 page PDF on my website that shows all 108 BTO trees rendered. Go to
Documents > Mine > Objects > Bryce Tree Objects (BTO) or here's the direct link (7.8 MB): https://horo.ch/docs/mine/pdf/BTO-Trees.pdf

But if you insist using the tree you selected. Yes, Instancing does not take the trunk. So here's what you can do. Ungroup. Select the trunk (Cone 1). Then on the Menu Bar on top of the screen Edit > Copy Matrix (or Alt + C). Next export it: File > Export Object, use Wavefront OBJ Files (*.obj). Delete or move Cone 1 away.

Now import the previously exported trunk: File > Import Object. navigate to the just saved one. The imported trunk is selected so you resize and put it in place of Cone 1. Edit > Paste Matrix or (Alt + V).

Now select the whole tree, which is ungrouped, and create one instance of it: Edit > Instance (or Ctrl + I). Group it (name it MyGroup or whatever). Select the Terrain, click on I to open the Instancing Lab. In the Brush Editor select MyGroup then Paint. Select the created Trees, Ungroup and Group to remove the terrain.

Truly instanced objects have dashed lines. The trees, except the original, do have dashed lines in the wireframe view.

If you use a BTO tree, you can just use it directly in the IL. A Bryce tree is one object. This makes life easier.

BradCarsten

Thanks Horo. 

The only reason I was using the evergreen tree was because the tree objects weren't updating, as you mentioned in your tutorial. Now that I know about the alt+click, it's working 100%. Thanks for the help and the link to the tutorial. The renders at the end are a fantastic resource for seeing what the trees are going to look like. I'll bookmark that page. 

Horo

BradCarsten - you're more than welcome. Thank you for reporting back. By the way, you can also download the PDF.