DarkTree 2.5 is an advanced procedural shader authoring tool. By combining any of 100+ procedural components into a texture tree, you can interactively create photo-realistic textures, surface shaders, and animated effects.

The textures generated by DarkTrees are calculated in 3D space instead of being derived from bitmaps. Because of this, DarkTree materials can be rendered with full detail at any size, map seamlessly onto any shape, and can be easily changed during the creative process (or over time for special effects).

DarkTree textures and shaders can be saved out as bitmaps or brought directly into a 3D application via the included Simbiont plugins.

DarkTree 2.5 currently supports RenderMan, 3ds max, LightWave, Cinema4D, trueSpace, Animation:Master, and an API for creating your own plugins. Third parties have made Mental Ray and Softimage XSI plugins available using the DarkTree plugin API.

Since the release of DarkTree Textures 1.0 in 1998, DarkTree has proven itself a reliable and powerful tool in computer game, TV, and film production. DarkTree 2.5 continues to push the boundaries with the addition of new plugins for RenderMan and Cinema4D, large format and UVW bitmaps, and new APIs that allow you to write your own procedural components and DarkTree-based plugins.