This is something I ended up with when I was thinking about accumulating point positions. First, I accumulated them all in an array, and then I tried my hand at adding points at each frame, so that I had a series of points along the path (trajectory) of the emitted particle.
Add Point didn’t want to work, and it’s always in Object context mode anyway, so I ended up using Clone Points.
Effective 1 February 2013, Autodesk will simplify its upgrade pricing model. Starting next month, all upgrades will cost 70% of the current price for a new license.
The “Upgrade from Previous Releases” option will have an Autodesk SRP of approximately seventy percent (70%) of the current new License Autodesk SRP*, regardless of which of the six previous releases is being upgraded. Autodesk product releases more than six releases prior to the current release will no longer be eligible for upgrade.
For Softimage, I imagine the “six previous releases” covers only the Autodesk releases: 2012, 2011, 2010, 7.5, and maybe 7.01. I doubt it will cover 6.5, but you should check with your reseller to make sure.
And oh yeah, since it’s Wednesday, here’s a word cloud. I cheated a bit added more “70”s so it would stand out.
Custom properties and the PPG object provide shortcuts for direct access to parameters.
For custom properties, that means you can type the shortcut oProp.SomeParam instead of oProp.Parameters(“SomeParam”). Note that that in this case, the default property is Name: if you print oProp.SomeParam, you get the name of the parameter.
from win32com.client import constants as C
si = Application
p = si.ActiveProject.ActiveScene.Root.AddCustomProperty( "Test" )
x = p.AddParameter2("X",C.siString,"a;b;c;d",None,None,None,None,C.siClassifUnknown,C.siPersistable)
print p.X
print p.X.IsEqualTo( p.Parameters("X") )
print x.IsEqualTo( p.X )
# Test.X
# True
# True
For the PPG object, the shortcut is even more of a convenience. To access a parameter named “Param”, you can type PPG.Param instead of PPG.Inspected(0).Param. And when you use the PPG.Param shortcut, the default property is Value.
So you can do this:
PPG.Param = 'hello;world'
There’s no need to type “PPG.Param.Value”, unless you’re doing something like this:
list = PPG.Param.Value.split(';')
hat tip to tekano bob who did all the work; I’m just pointing out some things about his ICE tree 🙂
First, he’s using the Element Index in case the ID was not cached (if you cache with the Cache Manager, then by default the ID attribute is not cached).
When I saw that, I thought maybe I could use First Valid to use either the ID, if available, or the Element Index:
But that gives wacky results, because Delete Point automagically restores IDs to all the points in the cached simulation. So you have no choice but to use the Element Index.
Another interesting thing I’d like to point out is how you can use modulo to delete two-thirds of all points (instead of just deleting every third point). Now, modulo by 3 has three possible results: 0, 1, and 2. If you test for modulo != 0 or modulo > 0, then you’ll be deleting two-thirds of all points:
If you test for modulo = 0, then you’ll delete every third point:
Finite subdivision rule, or not…
by Sue Sauer
Place specular highlights
by Julian Johnson
Resource dump
by Various Artists
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The power of exponent -1
Particle’s opacity fade out
by Adam Kesher
Getting the Renderer options for the current pass is just a one-liner:
Application.GetValue( "Passes.Current.RendererOptions" )
“Tools to break the rules” branding from back in the mid-1990s (the image file was dated August 1995). Ah, the good old Microsoft days when the money was flowing freely and we took taxis to cross the street…
Let’s take a look at a question that was posted recently on the Softimage mailing list:
From: softimage-bounces@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-bounces@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Adam Sale
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2013 3:40 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Force ppg to open on script launchI’m a little confused as to why the following does not work:
– Get a sphere
– Run Deform > Smooth
– PPG appears and all is good.Now, take the generated command and run it through the script editor
ApplyOp(“Smooth”, “torus”, 3, siPersistentOperation, null, 0);
This time, no PPG appears.
Any idea why? And is there a way to force a ppg launch when I tun the command from a button or from the script editor?
Thanks 🙂
Adam
Matt Lind explained why on the list, but I’ll take a little more detailed look into how commands like Smooth work.
Deforms like Smooth (and Relax and Push and Bend and others) are commands that are mapped to a special handler function in $XSI_HOME\Application\DSScripts\operators.vbs.
The ApplyOpProc provides special-case handling for applying operators, and also takes care of popping up a PPG after the operator is applied.
Don’t try to run “Smooth”; you’ll just get an error. It’s scripting name is actually ApplyOp.
ApplyOp is also implemented by a VBScript handler in operator.vbs. This time, it’s ApplyOpFunc, and ApplyOpFunc does not inspect the created operators.
If you want to apply a Smooth operator from your script, and pop up the PPG after, here’s one way to do it:
si = Application
si.AutoInspect( si.ApplyOp("Smooth", si.Selection, 3, "siPersistentOperation", "", 0) )
Another Wednesday, another word cloud. This time, for the Autodesk NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) that all attendees must sign if they want to attend the next Softimage Creatives user group, where Autodesk Softimage Product Manager Cory Mogk will be presenting.
In this document of 1983 words, the top words are:
In other words, these are the top words and phrases: “autodesk”, “receiving party”, “confidential information”, and “agreement”. Nothing surprising there.
A couple of weeks ago rray posted this tip about If nodes, where instead of iterating over an array, he plugs an array into the If node.
This particular example (if array element < 12, set it to the array minimum) could be done without using either a Repeat or an If (although the If is more elegant). If you've got a minute or two, work your way through it; if not, click through the link below to see how.
