This post is one of a series exploring the creation of Lindenmayer System patterns using my Lindenmayer System Explorer.

The introduction of branching into our patterns, which we explored in my previous post, allows for a near infinite variety of designs. Often these pattens come remarkably close to the patterns seen in plant growth. In order to provide some realism to the patterns, there are a few more options in the explorer which are only available when creating branches: Line Scale, Line Taper, Angle Increment, and the option of using multiple colors.

Line Scale modifies the length of individual line segments. Line taper modifies the width of line segments. Angle Increment adjusts the angle that a branch is drawn from its parent.

The following images illustrate how each modification works. Clicking on an image will take you to the explorer pre-configured to recreate that image.

Start with this basic tree shape:

Now change the Line Scale to .75. You should end up with this:

Each branch is 75% of the length of its parent. This can be any number greater than 0. For branches twice the length of their parents, set the value to 2. For half as long, set it to .5.

For line thickness, update the line width so that it is something like 10:

Now change the Line Taper to .75:

Each branch is 75% of the thickness of its parent. You can use any number greater than 0. For instance, to have each branch twice as thick as its parent, you would set this field to 2. For half as thick, you would set it to .5.

Now change the Angle Increment to 10:

The angle of each branch from its parent is 10 degrees greater than that of the preceding branching. This can be any positive or negative number, though they will always evaluate to a value between -360 and 360.

Finally, you can use multiple colors, which are applied at each branching, by creating a comma-separated list of hexadecimal color numbers. This will have the following effect:

As the pattern is rendered, at each branch the next color in the list is used.

You can use any hexadecimal color you would like, and use as many as you would like.

So that, along with the previous post, is Lindenmayer System branches, in a nutshell. Enjoy!

This is the fifth in a series of blog posts explaining the usage of the Lindenmayer System Explorer. Clicking on an image will take you to the explorer page, pre-configured to draw that image.

So far, we have seen many different patterns created with the L-system explorer – fractals, dragon curves, snowflakes, and so on. They all have one thing in common: they are made up of a single line.

To create branches, enclose the rules for a branch in square brackets, like so:

[F]+[F]+[F]

Instead of yielding a bent line, it creates a pattern like this:

Not terribly interesting yet, but it does allow for the creation of more interesting shapes. Remember: Astrid Lindenmayer was a botanist, and he originally created this system to model the structure of living plants. If we nest a few brackets, and play around with the angles, we can get patterns like this:

Branch rules can be nested within each other, to the extent that extremely complex patterns can emerge very quickly:

And with a little practice, the patterns can become increasingly plant-like:

So that’s it for branches. In the next post I will show how you can use branching to change the drawing angles, colors, line length and line thickness to create increasingly life-like plants.

More posts on this subject:

Lines
Angles
Rule sets
The Start Condition