SpeedTree is a group of vegetation programming and modeling software products developed and sold by Interactive Data Visualization, Inc. (IDV) that generates virtual foliage for animations, architecture and in real time for video games and demanding real time simulations.

SpeedTree has been licensed to developers of a range of video games for Microsoft Windows, and the Xbox and PlayStation console series since 2002.

SpeedTree Cinema has been used in more than 40 major films since its release in 2009,[1][2] including Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness, Life of Pi and Birdman, and was used to generate the lush vegetation of Pandora, in Avatar.

[6][7] SpeedTree was conceptualized at IDV in circa 2000, and originated due to the firm's lack of satisfaction with 3rd-party tree-generation software on the market.

[8] The initial version of SpeedTreeCAD (CAD standing for "computer-aided design") was developed by IDV for a real-time golf simulation.

Although backers pulled out of the golf project, IDV refined the CAD software as a 3D Studio Max plug-in for an animated architectural rendering, dubbing it SpeedTreeMAX.

In early 2009, IDV discontinued the SpeedTreeMAX and SpeedTreeMAYA plugins, replacing them with SpeedTree Modeler and Compiler products.

IDV and three of its engineers received a Scientific and Technical Academy Award in 2015,[9] for their SpeedTree Cinema product suite.

Atlas control, HDRI lighting, USD export, material for backside of the leaf geometry[12] SpeedTree Cinema was released by IDV in 2009, and saw its first major use in Avatar by James Cameron.

[18] Meshes generated with the system are low poly, with multiple levels of detail, use texture atlases, and are typically stored in an efficient binary format.

[14][27] SpeedTree Compiler is a software that enables creation of efficient tree models for use in real-time rendering or video games.

[17][29] Full source code is available to licensees for use in video games and other real-time applications, and modification of the engine is supported.