Why doesn’t anything happen when I drag the parameter sliders?

▪        The parameter sliders don’t update until you let go of the mouse button. You can also change values when a slider is focused by typing the arrow keys – this gives you finer control.

I tried to change the color of a flower, and it just stayed green. 

▪        If you are changing colors in the parameters area on the main window, try changing the other color (if you are changing the back-face color, change the front-face color). 

▪        Make sure the things you are looking at are really flowers. Sometimes leaves can look like flowers, flower buds can look like flowers, and flowers can look like fruit. To find out what type of structure you are looking at, zoom in on it and pretend to pose it (choose Posing selection mode and hover your mouse over it). The hint that appears will tell you what type of plant part it is. 

▪        Of course, that’s not always enough; for flowers, you still need to know what layer of petals it's in or whether it’s a pistil, stamen, or sepal. For that layer of detail, examine the structure while you change colors for each part of the flower. See when the color changes (or change the 3D object and see what changes). 

▪        Some plants can have both primary and secondary flowers, so you might be change the parameter for the wrong type of flower. Secondary flower parameters only apply if the parameter [General parameters: Plant has both primary and secondary flowers] is turned on. 

Is there a quicker way to try out different leaves on a plant? 

▪        Move the 3D object chooser (which you get to by clicking on the 3D object parameter) to the side so you can see your plant in the main window. Then double-click on any 3D object you want to see on the plant (it's the same as clicking Apply). Keep doing this until you see one you like. If you change your mind afterward, undo the change. 

I chose a great leaf for my plant, but it's upside-down!

▪        Change the parameter [Leaves: Leaf X rotation]. This turns the 3D object around when the leaf is drawn. You can use any 3D object to draw leaves (including those made to draw flower petals and fruit sections), so this is sometimes necessary to get the effect you want. 

I have a group of plants, and I want them to flower at slightly different times so that the effect looks natural. How can I do that? 

▪        Change the parameter [General parameters: Age at which flowering starts] to a slightly different number for each plant. Also, you can make small changes in how long it takes inflorescences to produce their flowers [Primary or secondary inflorescences: Days for all flowers to develop] so that the inflorescences don't all develop at exactly the same speed. 

I'm placing axillary inflorescences on my plant, and there they are, but I want them more at the top of the plant, not the bottom. Is there another parameter I can set to push them up to the top? 

▪        Well, not exactly, but you can trick the plant into doing this by making it less probable for inflorescences to appear lower down. First set the parameter [General parameters: Number of axillary inflorescences] higher than you really want it to be (like double), then set the parameter [Meristems: Probability each meristem will become reproductive when it gets flowering signal] to a value less than one, like 0.5. This will make it less probable for each meristem to "turn" reproductive, which in effect pushes the meristems up the plant.

Do you have any recommendations for generating more tree-like plants?

▪        Make your internodes thick and long.

▪        Use simple 3D objects for your leaves.

▪        Choose a very long age at maturity (like 500).

▪        Turn on secondary branching.

▪        Turn off flowering (set zero apical and axillary inflorescences).

▪        Choose compound leaves (it looks leafier).

▪        Set a long petiole length (they'll look like twigs). 

▪        Make the compound leaves spread out.

▪        Set the internode and petiole colors to brown.

▪        Reduce the internode curving indexes to make the plant look more stiff.

▪        Reduce the optimal biomass of internodes and leaves to make more appear in the time allocated.

▪        Have some patience because it's going to take a while to draw. 

▪        Don't expect the animation to look correct -- it'll only look something like a tree at the end. 

Why does the first and/or second internode sometimes look skinny? 

▪         This is a problem we've had since the beginning. It has to do with a tricky relationship between the seedling and the growing plant. Things that can reduce this include increasing the parameter [Internodes: Minimum fraction of optimal biomass needed to create] and decreasing the parameter [Internodes: Maximum days for meristem to create].  You can also “chop off” the first and second internodes in your 3D program for a larger stem at the starting point.

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