The VolumePos Helper is designed to read in a selected
object's volume (the area it occupies) so that it can be used to place
or direct particles in relation to the volume itself. This can be exceptionally
powerful since you can affect particle behavior with objects even if they
are animated themselves. So getting particles to remain constrained within
the boundaries of a deforming piece of geometry is now possible using
the VolumePos Helper.
ON (Bool) - This input data
stream determines whether the operator is considered 'on' or 'off.' You
can connect other operators to this input channel such as a Bool
Helper to activate/deactivate the whole operator.
Time (Time) - This input data stream is used to define the local
time for the operator when the user wants to override the default system
time.
Node (Node) - This input data stream is used to get the selected
object to pull the volume data from.
Particle (Particle) - This input data stream reads in a selected
particle Group that is to interact or be placed within the volume of the
selected node.
Particle Shape (Particle) - instead of using one single node to
define the volume you may feed into this port a standard particle group
data stream so that each single particle becomes a "volume container".
Position - (Position) This
output data stream passes the particles' positional data from the operator
to other operators and rules.
Normal - (Normal) This output data stream sends the selected Node's
surface normal information for use by other operators and rules.
Alignment - (Alignment) This output data stream provides the alignment
of the particles upon which other operators and rules can interact.
Inside / Outside - Choose the option that defines how you want
the particles tagged. Inside refers to particles within the volume of
the selected node, while Outside tells the helper to tag particles outside
the volume.
Mat. ID - This spinner is used to select the Material ID that
is to be used as a "shell" to define sections of the volume
within which the particles are to be placed.
Sm. Group - This spinner is used to select the Smoothing Group
that is to be used as a "shell" to define sections of the volume
within which the particles are to be placed.
Thickness - The Thickness spinner is used to define a surface
offset that is to be used to define the volume. A value of 0.0 will place
particles within the surface itself, while values above this will offset
the volume for the particles.
Modifier Tracking - If the selected node is animated over time
with object based modifiers like Bend, Taper, etc., turn this checkbox
on, so that the particles will track with changes to the volume.
Position Subsample - check this
option to enhance temporal sample of particle postions. This is usually
needed on fast moving emitters.
Random Seed - This spinner sets the default seed value used to
create the random number.
Use Raster - check this option to order the particles in a regular
Volumetric arranged grid
Raster - sets the raster size for the volume placement of these
particles
Random % - is the amount of position variation allowed for each
particle in the raster
Mask - accepts any 3D-Texture Map to control the placement of
particles in 3D space. A black color will delete particles and a white
color in the map will create a particle.
Threshold - any particle placed in an area that is below the threshold
will be deleted, if above, the particle will be shown.