Visual Simulation of Leaf Arrangement and Autumn Colours

The representation methods of botanical trees have been presented so far by several researchers in recent years. A great deal of effort has been dedicated mainly to designing a procedural modelling method, especially a growth model of a tree/plant skeleton. However, few previous works have treated the problems of appropriate leaf arrangement and autumn colour evolution of a leaf which are essential to giving natural and seasonal impressions in a close-range view of a tree. In this paper, we will present the simulation methods for these attractive problems based mainly on the estimation of the amount of sunlight and the brightest direction of each part of every leaf.