Getting Started

Once you have downloaded the files, there will be a file named 'Simple Snow [version number].blend' that contains all the data. Keep track of where you saved it as we will be linking from it later on when we append the node setup to your project.

If you opened the file, you may have noticed that there are two primary assets. A geometry nodes tree named 'simple_snow_2' and a procedural material simply named 'snow'
Since the material is assigned to the generated mesh in the node tree, it is automatically appended at the same time. The shader is fast and completely procedural, so it should be a plug-and-play experience.

Once you have appended the node tree, you can start adding snow to your scene!

New Workflow for 2.0

If you remember the antics that version 1 required, you will be glad to know that things are a lot simpler in version 2. If you want to use more than one object with the same settings, use this workflow:

• Import the 'simple_snow_2'  geometry nodes group
• Add a plane toy our scene and name it something like 'snow_source'
• Apply the geometry node group to the plane
• Add a collection named 'SNOW' to all the objects you want affected
• Select your snow source object, and add the SNOW collection as object and collision source

Limitations and best practices

There are a few limitations that a solution this simple have, I'll list the big ones here so there are no surprises:

• Blender version 3.0+ is mandatory, Geometry Nodes changed dramatically since it's first iteration and this setup cannot work with older versions.
• Objects added to the Snow or Collision collections need to be removed from the collection before being deleted, or they will still be used in calculations.
• Solved with collection support added in 2.0 - Objects with complex modifier stacks need to have snow added manually, as the main way to propagate your settings is by transferring modifiers (if I come up with a solution to this in the future, I will let you know and release it as a free update)
• Added overhang detection in version 2.0 - Since this is a simple implementation, there is currently no overhang detection so some surfaces may get way more snow than is realistic

Future Goals

As you can see, there are a lot of avenues for improvement. I can't promise anything, but here are some areas I want to explore. 

• Bug fixing and increased reliability
• Added in version 2.0 - More snow depth controls
• Added in version 2.0 with collection features - Simple script or addon to bulk assign chosen values to selected objects/collections
• Added in version 2.0 with collection features - Attribute linking among different objects to make editing after assignment easier

Have an idea or feature request? Feel free to make a suggestion!