BranchK, developed by Jim Meston, is a free toolkit for Houdini aimed at procedural environment creation. It introduces new nodes, BK Point Capture and BK Deform, which enable users to work efficiently with hierarchical structures such as trees, branches, and leaves. According to the developer, the tools can process non-BranchK-native meshes, automatically derive orientations from a “rest mesh” reference, and scale deformation or attribute information across multiple levels of hierarchy. The developer also claims that BranchK performs roughly three times faster than Houdini’s standard Surface Deform operator. This hasn’t currently been verified.
Why it matters
Environment artists and technical directors often need to maintain consistent orientation and deformation across complex hierarchical models. BranchK directly addresses this need by combining orientation capture and hierarchical deformation in a single procedural framework. The “rest mesh” workflow allows users to define a stable reference state for geometry, which the system then uses to propagate motion or deformation through an environment’s hierarchy. For pipelines focused on realtime engines or high-volume vegetation, this combination promises significant efficiency gains.
Technical details & usage notes
Available information suggests that BranchK’s core functionality centres on two stages: capture and deformation. The BK Point Capture stage records positional, scale, and orientation data from a reference mesh, while BK Deform applies that information to a working mesh or hierarchy. The toolkit reportedly supports non-BranchK meshes, which means users can introduce it into existing environment assets without needing to rebuild geometry. Performance improvements are claimed by the developer, yet they remain unverified in third-party benchmarks.
Licensing terms specify that BranchK is free for use but may not be redistributed. Any production that employs the toolkit must credit the author. Compatibility information, such as supported Houdini versions, render engines, and export formats (USD, Alembic, or FBX), is currently undocumented. Artists and studios should confirm these details through testing before relying on BranchK in active production.
