Growing roots/vines with control in ICE?

[paulrus]

Another "can it be done" question for you beta ICE guys.

First, creating roots/vines that grow and occasionally branch/split while following a guide or constraint of some kind.

Second, having these roots/vines wrap around objects causing the objects to break apart.

Any thoughts on if/how it could be done?

Thanks,

Paul

[Helli]

Maybe with Particles. But normally I would say this is something where you would have to create geometry wich with ICE can't be done.

Particles and Blobshader for the veines, particle scattering for the breaking object, but thats a workaround.

[paulrus]

Ah, thanks. I guess I was thinking of something based on this: http://www.vimeo.com/1400443

Paul

[ThE_JacO]

Actually the new particle system includes strands and blobs which are rendered as actual geometry and come with UVs. It still needs some polishing and tweaks, but there's a lot you can get out of it, and the level of control is awesome.
There have already been L-Systems posted on the beta list.
Not good enough to generate a forest or something very complex for close-ups, but you can definitely get something out of it if you're after ivy or similar things.

I already managed to get something synapse looking (intro of fight club style) out of it with decent looking joints et all.

Again, it's not a fully fledged parametric geometry creation, but it can be brought quite a chunk of the way there for some stuff.