Instance
The Instance node is a way of creating controlled duplicates of geometry, whether mesh or fibres, connected to Input 1 at every point or element in Input 0.
Inputs
| Input | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Data Flow | Fibres, Particles and Meshes |
| 1 | Data Flow | Fibres, Particles and Meshes |
Parameters
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Instance To | Elements tells the node to instance on a per element ( fibre ) basis where as Points will instance to all the incoming points. |
| Alignment | Either a variable or static expression used to align the instance. |
| Alignment Variation | Means of introducing random variation into the resulting alignment. |
| Offset | Per instance offset, a possible value may be “$N * 0.1” to shift all of the instances 0.1 units away from the surface. |
| Scale | Per instance scale, this could be an expression, eg. “noise($id * 10)” |
| Scale Variation | Used to randomize the resulting scale. |
| Twist | Twists the new instance around the resulting axis. |
| Twist Variation | Varies each instances twist value. |
| Up Vector | An up vector in determining the instances orientation. |
| Axis Of Alignment | Defines what axis in the input object will be aligned to the Alignment vector. |
Objects
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Source Objects | In the case where Input1 has multiple input objects you may limit it to just the first, or all of them. |
| Object Expression | If Input1 contains multiple objects this is an expression used to determine which object to use for the current instance. For multiple objects a cycle expression can be used to cycle through the multiple inputs, eg. “cycle($id, 0, 5 )” |
| Inherit Attributes | Defines a list of attributes, each separated by a space, that will be inherited from the geometry the instances are assigned too. |
| Deform | Controls if instances will deform to the shape of the fibres being instanced too, this requires input fibres, and the mode set to Elements. |
| Generate As | As Input will reuse as much data to create a completely new geometric representation of the object ( original method ), As Instance will try and use the rendering engines instancing implementation. |
Selection
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Point Selection | Allows the user to write a boolean based selection to define which points are instanced too in an element. |
| Element Point Index | Used to define which point in an element is used for an instance. |
Local Variables
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| instanceNum | The instance index. |
| InstanceCount | The number of instances. |
| vertexNum | The vertex index for the current instance in the element. |
| vertexCount | Number of vertices in an element. |