How to Pack Irregular Tree Branch Meshes Into a Solid Column

[lee3 (lee)]

Hi everyone,

I’m working on a material reuse project where I scanned real tree branches using photogrammetry and converted them into mesh geometry. After cleaning up the meshes, I now have open-mesh models of these irregularly shaped branches.

My goal is to assemble these branches as densely as possible to form a column-like structure, and fill the remaining voids with other material (e.g., resin, infill, etc.) to create a solid, structurally usable element.

The challenge is:

• The branches are not straight or uniform—they are curved and organic, which makes close-packing extremely difficult.
• I want to find a way in Grasshopper to pack these meshes together with minimal gaps.
• This feels similar to a 3D bin-packing or nesting problem, but most solutions I’ve found are either 2D-based or not suited for organic geometry.

I’d love to hear if anyone has encountered similar workflows or can suggest any plugins, strategies, or even optimization approaches (Galapagos? Kangaroo? others?) that could help.

Thanks in advance for your insights!

For reference, I’ve uploaded the mesh and test files here (due to file size):

Branch.3dm

[Tom_P]

200 mb download ?

post a screenshot please, so people know what to expect.

(1)
postprocessing the scanned data is the first step. Rhino is not the most powerful software for this. shrinkwrap might help. Make sure the meshes are closed - this will allow more workflows to play with. Create a low resolution version to find the position and to experiment.
If you have a workflow that suits - you can try if it works with the higher resolution. Or just replace the data after the position is found.

(2)
there are a few topic about 3d-nesting - not a 100% match but maybe a starting point:

Nesting or Packing in Grasshopper in 3D space with mesh objects

I am attempting to create a script that is able to optimize and nest geometry within 3D space. An example below: [ARC574 Notes] The geometry used in the simulation will be 3d-scanned watertight meshes. Actual questions: Could you please point me in the right direction with regards to what library I should use. Is there an appropriate method to do this in Kangaroo with Galapagos perhaps, but I am not sure about collision detection in Kangaroo with complex meshes and the ability for Galapago…

3D print nesting

I’m trying to pack as many strange shaped nodes into a resin 3d printer like this. [image] The print time is dictated only by the Z height, so my idea is to use gravity and collisions to shake simple parts into a box, then orient more detailed components with the same transformation. This works quite well, but it is a bit unreliable. As you can see parts intersect and exit the volume, and i’m not sure if it ever converges [nesting animation 3_small] I’m using @DanielPiker example here as a …

(2b)
search for a service or specialised software that does the 3d-nesting / maybe use the trail version.

[lee3 (lee)]

Thank you!

[Tom_P]

and the volume you want to pack them in ? a box / board ?

maybe do some research how traditional craftsmen handle this issue when they build a log cabin ?

[lee3 (lee)]

want to pack them in a column

maybe do some research how traditional craftsmen handle this issue when they build a log cabin ?

→ Kind of

[volchinskiy (Kirill Volchinskiy)]

Consider the order for something like this, perhaps pack the large objects first? Like this old analogy:

[Eef_Weenink]

In past I did look a couple of episode of living/building in the wild (discovery channel? ) where they build a cabin from tree/logs.
As I rembember they did this:

• placed two vertical poles (a bit smaller trees/logs) in the ground
• they looked at the log, decided what side would be laying on the ground.
• if bumps where sticking out, they were cut off with an axe
• and placed against the vertical poles.
• the second log, was turned around untill the curving would fit the best with the first log.
• the axe was used for adjusting an the log was placed on top of the first and against the vertical poles
  No rocketscience:

• 1 a couple of lines to place the mesh against
• 1 a long rectangle box, to fit your mesh in, (top and down side all what sticks out, cut it off), so you a mesh flattened on top and bottom side. Not too much, but just a bit to get a better fit.
  and so on.

Second method:

• cut all logs in 1/2 (length), that gives a nice straight surface to build with,
• a vertical channel is cut out to hold the vertical pole
• place the flat side of 1/2/ log onto the vertical poles
• the second half the same but:
  !! !/2 log higher and on the other side.
  Advantage: Completely sealed wall

Good luck, enjoy the new build house. Regards, Eef