BY-GEN V9.2
The Generator’s Lab
The Generator’s Lab is the first official content pack for BY-GEN, featuring a collection of experimental parametric effects to help you create generative artwork.
Artwork by Gabriel Jiménez
🦄 What is it?
BY-GEN is a multipurpose toolkit designed to help people create artwork utilizing generative techniques within Blender.
With version 9, it has become modular and extensible through the use of additional content packs that users can create and share (even commercially).
The default package features the primary BY-GEN addon along with the official default content pack, providing people with a good starting point to create interesting generative artworks.
The addon has evolved over time, initially providing a collection of modifier templates, allowing people to create interesting parametric shapes by modifying values in the modifier stack. Over time, new features were added to let people generate structures using branched and layered generation algorithms, along with a collection of fun, miscellaneous operations to play with.
With the new support of geometry nodes, the toolset has expanded to add new types of scattering, displacement, and soon structural generation methods. In time, geometry nodes should replace all of the original modifier styles, but this conversion will take time (and further updates) as the feature set of geometry nodes is expanded in Blender.
Watch the Introductory Video!
Make sure to watch the version nine release video to give yourself an introductions and get up to speed on how to use them.
💎 What’s New?
Version 9.2 (7 January 2023)
Addressed an import issue with Blender 3.4 on Mac and Linux systems. Please update from 9.1.1 to 9.2 if you are encountering this issue.
Surface Effects
Apply artistic effects over the top of a surface, or paint them on using the weight-paint mode. Modify their properties inside of the imported geometry nodes trees. When importing, you can choose whether to make collections unique or use those that have already been imported - making it easy to modify the effects to your liking.
Displacement Effects
Apply displacement effects to a surface with one click. Note: this requires a high density of geometry to look good so I recommend using the subdivision surface modifier and setting the viewport levels to a low value while working on the scene. A ‘Depth Tool’ blend file has also been included to help people create their own displacement maps.
Volume Effects
Effects intended to create a ‘filled space’ underneath the surface of another object, or the gaps between them. Similar to surface effects, these have been prepared to be offset along the normal direction of the source mesh. They can however, also be used on their own to create interesting generative effects with high density levels.
👀 Look Out!
If you want to apply a geometry nodes modifier of a surface or volume effect, make sure to add a ‘Realize Instances’ node between the Rotate Instances and Join Geometry node. Currently, Blender doesn’t automatically realize instances even if they are plugged directly into the geometry output of the node tree.
This is a shame because using the Realize Instance node will dramatically slow down the node tree performance (so only use it when you have things set up perfectly). If I had it my way, any instances passing geometry to the group output node would be realized on applying the modifier, because people expect the scene result to stay the same when modifiers are applied.
I am also looking into an issue with random rotations not being correctly generated in geometry nodes modifiers that are not the first in the stack.
🎁 Make it Your Own
With a new content pack system, you can create your own packs containing new content for surface, mesh displacement and volume effects (with more types coming in future updates). Take a look at the ‘Official’ pack that comes pre-packaged with the addon to see how this should be laid out. You can find the official pack in the ‘content_packs’ folder in the addon’s root folder. This is where all expansion content packs / folders should be placed.
This also means you can modify the official content that comes with the addon to suit your needs.
Do you think something is missing from the template geometry nodes trees? (proximity detection cough cough), then go and add it yourself, you lazy duckling. Just open the pack and start adding nodes.
But also feel free to suggest new node features that should be added to presets in future versions.
💙 Share Your Work
Use the #bygen hashtag when sharing your results on social media so I can see the amazing projects you’ve been working on!
🤗 How Can You Help?
If you bump into any bugs, please contact me using this page with a description of what you did to encounter the issue.
If you have suggestions for extra features, please let me know so I can add it to the list (and adjust the priorities of new features based on demand).