Procedural Plants with L-Systems in TouchDesigner — Tips, Tricks, and Tox

L System Plus component and demo file download: https://github.com/kylebmeredith/L-System-Plus

This video is intended as an intermediate tutorial for people already familiar with the basics of L-Systems. It covers rendering leaves separately from the trunk/branches, limiting generations, using instancing for leaves, and customizing the scale and color of those leaf instances.

To learn more about L Systems, I recommend these resources:

L System SOP docs: https://docs.derivative.ca/LSystem_SOP
Algorithmic Beauty of Plants: http://algorithmicbotany.org/papers/abop/abop.pdf
TDSW L-System workshop: https://derivative.ca/event/touchdesigner-vol031-procedural-plants-l-system/63022
Houdini Kitchen article: https://www.houdinikitchen.net/2019/12/21/how-to-create-l-systems/
Magic Market Houdini tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vE8GiXhOWM&ab_channel=Houdini

I created these L Systems for an interactive installation called the Boreal Oasis. You can learn more about the project here: https://www.kyle-meredith.com/single-post/the-boreal-oasis

Check out @kayem.visuals on Instagram to see more of my work

Contents:
0:00 – Intro
0:30 – L-system learning resources
2:39 – Separating leaves from trunk
6:01 – A better separation method
9:31 – Limiting generations
12:36 – Using instancing for leaves
15:23 – Customizing leaf instances
18:18 – Customizing based on geometry
21:10 – Adding color to instances
23:54 – L System Plus component
26:50 – Outro