Tree Hierarchy view UI reference
Root node reference
The root node has properties that affect the entire tree, although you can override some properties at the branch or leaf group level.
Distribution
| Property |
Function |
| Tree Seed |
The randomizing seed for the tree. Change the seed to vary the tree’s procedural generation. Note that the seed from the root node changes the structure of the whole tree, including all branch groups, whereas seeds from a branch group change only that group. |
| Area Spread |
The tree’s radius. This parameter has an effect only if your trunk branch group has a frequency of more than 1. It also impacts the spread of leaves if you attached a leaf group to the trunk. |
| Ground Offset |
Lowers the tree relative to the Tree GameObject’s y-axis. In other words, the tree can extend below its GameObject. Use this to sink the tree partially into the ground, for example to partially cover its roots. |
Geometry
| Property |
Function |
| LOD Quality |
Default level of detail (LOD) for the entire tree. Note that you can change the value for specific branch groups. The higher the LOD, the more complex the tree and the higher its performance impact. The Hierarchy Stats field in the Tree hierarchy view shows the mesh’s complexity as a count of vertices and triangles. |
| Ambient Occlusion |
Ambient occlusion makes a tree more realistic by creating soft shadows where the tree, branches, and leaves obscures some light. It’s enabled by default, but you can disable it to improve performance. |
| AO Density |
Density of the ambient occlusion, from 0 to 1. The higher the density, the more detailed the shadows, but at the cost of increased memory use. |
Material
| Property |
Function |
| Translucency Color |
A color multiplier to tint backlit leaves. It simulates the light coming through and creating a halo around the leaves. You might need to rotate your view around your tree to notice the impact, placing the tree between your view and the scene’s light source. |
| Trans. View Dep. |
Translucency View Dependency. Determines how much the translucency depends on either the view angle or the leaf’s normal vector. When the value is 0, the translucency remains constant even if the camera tilts up or down. If the value is 1, the translucency changes when the camera tilts. |
| Alpha Cutoff |
Clips alpha values in the texture that are lower than this value. This creates a cutout in the texture. Note that the materials also have an Alpha Cutoff property, and you might need to adjust both cutoffs to get the desired appearance. |
| Shadow Strength |
A shadow multiplier softening the leaves on shadows. Note that this softens all shadows, including those cast by large objects such as neighboring trees and mountains, and so can create shadows that appear too light for their surroundings. |
| Shadow Offset |
Scales the values of the material’s Shadow Offset texture. This offsets the position of the leaves when collecting shadows, so that the leaves don’t look like they were placed on one quad. Billboard leaves must always have brighter values in the center of the texture and darker ones at the border. |
| Shadow Caster Res. |
The resolution of the texture atlas that has alpha values from source diffuse textures. The Unity Editor uses the atlas when rendering leaves that cast shadows. Higher resolutions can impact performance. |
Additional resources
Tree Hierarchy view UI reference