Creating and Editing ICE Trees

This section describes how to create an ICE tree manually.

As an alternative to creating ICE trees manually, several commands in the ICE module automatically build ICE trees for specific effects.

Creating an ICE Tree Manually

Display the ICE tree view. See The ICE Tree View.
Select the geometric object to which you want to apply an ICE tree.

If the ICE Tree view is locked, you must update it to show the selection.
Do one of the following:
- Choose Create Simulated ICE Tree to create an ICE tree in the Simulation region. The Simulation and Post-Simulation regions are created automatically if required.
  
  or
- Choose Create ICE Tree to create an ICE tree in the current construction region.
An ICE tree is created and the root node appears in the ICE tree view.

For more information about simulated versus non-simulated trees, see Understanding the ICE Framework.
Add nodes and connect them to achieve the effect you want. See the following sections:
If the tree is a simulation, add the appropriate node to make sure that it updates properly at each frame: Simulate Particles or Simulate Rigid Bodies.
If desired, you can create a compound node and export it for reuse in other trees and scenes. See Building ICE Compounds.

NoteIf a Simulation region already exists, all new ICE trees are added to it. You can move the tree to another position in the stack as described in Changing the Order of Operators [Modeling and Deformation Basics].

Editing an Existing ICE Tree

Select the object with an ICE tree.
If necessary, click Refresh in the ICE Tree view.
If there are multiple trees on the object, select the appropriate tree node in the explorer on the right of the view. If the explorer is not visible, click Hide/Show Explorer View (the right arrow button).
Add nodes and connect them to achieve the effect you want.