Review: SpeedTree Cinema 8

The industry-standard vegetation creator turns over a new leaf in this impressive update.

Scrubby tree

Our Verdict

Cheaper but much more powerful, with results that stand up to the closest inspection, the latest SpeedTree is essential if you need realistic foliage.

For

  • PBR-based materials
  • Faster rendering system
  • More natural-looking results

Against

  • Often fiddly to work with

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Used by the likes of ILM, Digital Domain, Sony Imageworks, Activision, BioWare, Guerrilla Games and many more, SpeedTree is pretty much the industry standard for the creation of vegetation in visual effects and video games. So what has changed in version 8 of the VFX-focused Cinema edition?

First of all, SpeedTree Cinema 8 has had a price drop from $4,995 to $1,650 for a perpetual node-locked license, or $2,500 for a perpetual floating licence – although if you want unlimited access to the SpeedTree library, the cost increases to $3,150 or $4,000, respectively. 

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The Verdict
10

out of 10

Review: SpeedTree Cinema 8

Cheaper but much more powerful, with results that stand up to the closest inspection, the latest SpeedTree is essential if you need realistic foliage.

Steve has been interested in CG for many years. He’s a regular contributor to 3D World and edited the magazine for two years, and has worked for other magazines including Edge, T3, Official UK PlayStation magazine, Laptop magazine and Windows Visa: The Official Magazine. For Creative Bloq, he mainly contributes tutorials and reviews creative kit.

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