snow crystals

[udvat]

I want to model the shapes of snow cryatals.
www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/photos/photos.htm

question 1:

Should I use DLA?(diffusion limited aggregation). please suggest books/algos.

question 2:
Is there any easier software environment other than openGL to do this coding?

[Kenneth Gorking]

Q1: That's a matter of taste i guess... Have a look at this (http://psoup.math.wisc.edu/Snowfakes.htm) and this (http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~reiterc/mvq/3d_snow/), if you haven't already. You could also use an L-System for this.

Q2: Easier how?