Houdini 13.0 Nodes

interface version 1

Group creation and editing using a series of operations.

This operator provides an alternative to the original Group SOP. It provides roughly the same functionality, but instead of having a fixed order, operations can be freely arranged.

  • Creating multiple geometry groups using several new Bounding primitives.

  • User-defined order of group operations (rename, convert, combine).

How to edit group bounds visually

Since this operator allows to specify more than one boundary selection when creating groups, there is a mechanism for visually editing any of such boundaries.

To edit a “New->Bounding” boundary visually, do the following:

  • Find the appropriate boundary parameter tab in the Parameters view. Beside “Bounding Type”, there is a button labeled “Manipulate...”.

  • Press the Manipulate... button –

    • This will set the bounds as “currently being edited” state, with additional controls appearing in the Parameter View. The additional controls are Adjust: Center, Adjust: Size and Done Editing.

    • Go to the viewport and press Enter, then edit the boundary visually.

    • Once finished, go to the Parameters view, and press Done Editing.

    • Pressing this button is an important step, as it finalizes the edits of the boundary.

Note

Make sure to follow these steps or you might end up editing the wrong boundary.

Parameters

Default Group Name

A name that will be used by all “new” operations, by default.

Highlight Group

Name of a single geometry group to highlight. This parameter can be useful if the operator is set up to create multiple groups.

(The operator can determine the group name automatically if only a single group is being created.)

Show Guide(s)

Display group boundary shapes as guides.

Guide Details

Display a mode detailed guide variant, with color-coding and numeric indicators.

Operations

A series of group-related operations. Make sure to read the Group SOP documentation.

New

Create a new group based on various criteria.

Bounding

... (todo: describe “Manipulate...”)

See the section above on how to visually edit boundaries in the viewport.

Random

Select components in a random fashion.

Ratio

The ratio between selected and unselected components.

Seed

Random seed.

Note

This is a work-in-progress feature with the following limitations:

  • It requires another “New” method to be enabled (i.e. just enable “New->Number” as a quick workaround)

  • It doesn’t work on edge groups for the moment

  • It might be slow for large geometry

(These issues will be resolved in the future.)

Combine

Combine existing groups using boolean (set) operations.

Rename

Rename group(s).

Note that renaming of multiple groups is supported (as per the regular Group SOP): to do this, use an asterisk (*) in both old and new name fields.

Convert

Convert group(s) to one type to another.

Delete

Delete the specified group(s). A pattern specifying multiple groups is accepted.

Limitations

  • No proper error messages (unfortunately)

  • ...

TODO

  • add grow/shrink functions

  • UI should make use of collapsible layouts once H14 is out

  • should be working from the viewport (and set up selection properly)

  • document extra features in help page (bbox prim manip, etc.)

  • (WIP) implement New->Random

  • (DONE) convert should really convert multiple groups with wildcards and everything

  • (DONE) bounding object primitive group support (ie. use not the entire object but a specified sub-group)

  • (DONE) correct disable behaviour of convert/omit

  • (DONE) variable $N must be supported in creation parameters (Number, Edges tabs)

  • parameter linking should be supported in all fields (or, wherever appropriate)

Release Notes

interface version 1 —

2014-11-30

  • Work-in-progress New->Random implementation

    • Might be slow (uses hscript expressions)

    • Doesn’t work for edges

    • Requires another “New” option to be enabled (doesn’t work by itself)

  • Minor UI improvements

    • descriptive parm now shows group name

    • Set group name from OP name and vice versa

    • Group name menu allows choosing an existing group name

  • (Hopefully) better visual distinctions for multiple group bound guides

2014-10-03

  • Minor UI improvements

    • Added “Default Group Name” (helps easier construction of a single group)

    • Manipulate/done editing workflow improvement

    • Added UI for new/Random mode (not yet implemented)

2014-10-01

  • Added descriptive parm

  • Added group highlighting support

  • Trying to fix issues that prevent it from actual use :o

2013-01-24

First prototype ready.

2013-01-23

Started working on first prototype.