Pine Tree - 3D Voxel Animation Tutorial

This guide walks you through how to generate a looping 3D voxel animation of a pine tree using SpatialStudio. The script creates a detailed pine tree with layered branches that sway in the wind inside a cubic 3D space, then saves the animation to a .splv file.

What this script does

Creates a 3D scene of size 128×128×128
Builds 1 detailed pine tree with:
- A brown trunk with bark texture
- Multiple layers of green branches
- Natural wind-swaying animation
- Realistic proportions and tapering
Animates gentle wind movement for 8 seconds at 30 FPS
Outputs the file pine_tree.splv that you can play in your viewer

How it works (simplified)

Voxel volume Each frame is a 3D grid filled with RGBA values (SIZE × SIZE × SIZE × 4).
Tree trunk The trunk is drawn as a tapered cylinder with brown bark texture that gets thinner toward the top.
Branch layers Pine branches are generated in horizontal layers, each smaller than the one below, creating the classic cone shape.
Wind animation Branches sway using sine waves with different frequencies to simulate natural wind movement.
Texture details Bark texture is added to the trunk, and branch density varies to look more organic.
Animation loop A normalized time variable t cycles from 0 → 2π, ensuring the swaying motion loops smoothly.
Encoding Frames are passed into splv.Encoder, which writes them into the .splv video file.

Try it yourself

Install requirements first:

pip install spatialstudio numpy tqdm

Then copy this script into pine_tree.py and run:

python pine_tree.py

Full Script

import numpy as np
from spatialstudio import splv
from tqdm import tqdm

# Scene setup
SIZE, FPS, SECONDS = 128, 30, 8
FRAMES = FPS * SECONDS
CENTER_X = CENTER_Y = CENTER_Z = SIZE // 2
OUT_PATH = "../outputs/pine_tree.splv"

# Tree settings
TREE_HEIGHT = 60
TRUNK_HEIGHT = 20
TRUNK_BASE_RADIUS = 4
BRANCH_LAYERS = 12
MAX_BRANCH_RADIUS = 20

def add_voxel(volume, x, y, z, color):
    if 0 <= x < SIZE and 0 <= y < SIZE and 0 <= z < SIZE:
        volume[x, y, z, :3] = color
        volume[x, y, z, 3] = 255

def generate_trunk(volume, cx, cy, cz, t):
    trunk_colors = [(101, 67, 33), (139, 69, 19), (160, 82, 45)]
    
    for y in range(TRUNK_HEIGHT):
        # Trunk tapers slightly toward the top
        radius = max(2, TRUNK_BASE_RADIUS - (y * 0.1))
        
        # Add slight sway to trunk
        sway_x = int(np.sin(t * 0.8) * (y * 0.05))
        sway_z = int(np.cos(t * 0.6) * (y * 0.03))
        
        for dx in range(-int(radius), int(radius)+1):
            for dz in range(-int(radius), int(radius)+1):
                if dx*dx + dz*dz <= radius*radius:
                    # Add bark texture
                    texture = int(np.sin(dx*0.5 + dz*0.3 + y*0.2) * 2)
                    color_idx = (texture + 1) % len(trunk_colors)
                    color = trunk_colors[color_idx]
                    
                    add_voxel(volume, 
                             cx + dx + sway_x, 
                             cy - TRUNK_HEIGHT + y, 
                             cz + dz + sway_z, 
                             color)

def generate_branch_layer(volume, cx, cy, cz, layer_y, layer_radius, t):
    branch_colors = [(34, 139, 34), (0, 100, 0), (46, 125, 50), (76, 175, 80)]
    
    # Wind effect - higher layers sway more
    wind_intensity = (layer_y / TREE_HEIGHT) * 0.3
    wind_x = np.sin(t * 1.2 + layer_y * 0.1) * wind_intensity * 8
    wind_z = np.cos(t * 0.9 + layer_y * 0.15) * wind_intensity * 6
    
    for angle in np.linspace(0, 2*np.pi, int(layer_radius * 3)):
        for r in range(1, int(layer_radius)):
            # Create irregular branch edges
            r_variation = r + np.sin(angle * 4 + t * 0.5) * 1.5
            if r_variation <= 0:
                continue
                
            x = int(r_variation * np.cos(angle) + wind_x)
            z = int(r_variation * np.sin(angle) + wind_z)
            
            # Add some vertical variation to branches
            for dy in range(-2, 3):
                if np.random.random() > 0.3:  # Not completely dense
                    # Vary branch color for realism
                    color_variation = int(np.sin(angle + r + layer_y) * 2)
                    color = branch_colors[color_variation % len(branch_colors)]
                    
                    add_voxel(volume, cx + x, cy + layer_y + dy, cz + z, color)

def generate_pine_tree(volume, cx, cy, cz, t):
    # Generate trunk
    generate_trunk(volume, cx, cy, cz, t)
    
    # Generate branch layers from bottom to top
    for layer in range(BRANCH_LAYERS):
        # Layer position - start above trunk and go up
        layer_y = -TRUNK_HEIGHT + 5 + (layer * (TREE_HEIGHT - TRUNK_HEIGHT) // BRANCH_LAYERS)
        
        # Branch radius - larger at bottom, smaller at top (cone shape)
        progress = layer / BRANCH_LAYERS
        layer_radius = MAX_BRANCH_RADIUS * (1.0 - progress * 0.8)
        
        # Skip very small top layers
        if layer_radius > 2:
            generate_branch_layer(volume, cx, cy, cz, layer_y, layer_radius, t)

def generate_scene(volume, t):
    # Generate single pine tree at center
    generate_pine_tree(volume, CENTER_X, CENTER_Y + 20, CENTER_Z, t)

enc = splv.Encoder(SIZE, SIZE, SIZE, framerate=FPS, outputPath=OUT_PATH, motionVectors="off")

for frame in tqdm(range(FRAMES), desc="Growing pine tree"):
    volume = np.zeros((SIZE, SIZE, SIZE, 4), dtype=np.uint8)
    t = (frame / FRAMES) * 2*np.pi
    generate_scene(volume, t)
    enc.encode(splv.Frame(volume, lrAxis="x", udAxis="y", fbAxis="z"))

enc.finish()
print(f"Created {OUT_PATH}")

Next steps

Adjust BRANCH_LAYERS to make the tree more or less detailed
Change MAX_BRANCH_RADIUS to create wider or narrower trees
Modify wind intensity by changing the multipliers in the wind calculations
Add multiple trees by calling generate_pine_tree() with different positions
Experiment with branch_colors for autumn or winter effects
Add snow by placing white voxels on top of branches

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Pine Tree - 3D Voxel Animation Tutorial

What this script does

How it works (simplified)