Houdini 20.0 Nodes Object nodes

Viewport Isolator object node

A Python Script HDA providing per viewport isolation controls from selection.

Since 16.0

The Viewport Isolator builds a Visible Objects list and applies it to the current viewport’s Optimize > Visible Objects display option.

The best way to use the Viewport Isolator is to create a single instance in /obj and popup it’s parameter interface as a top level window by clicking RMB in the network editor and selecting Parameters and Channels > Parameters…

You can then select the objects in the viewport or in the node editor and click the Isolate button. Isolating an object will only affect its visibility in the current viewport. You can continue to refine the isolation by redoing the Isolate operation.

Tip

You can append an object that wasn’t part of the original isolation if you go in the network editor, select it, and press the Append button.

Tip

You can also hide an object within the current isolation by selecting it and clicking on the Exclude button.

Each operation adds an Isolation Filter that you can edit or mute individually by turning on the More… checkbox. At any point, clicking the Clear button gets you out of the Isolation mode.

Note

The Viewport Isolator is similar to the viewport’s View Mode display option that lets you ghost or hide other objects, but it doesn’t restrict you by the OBJ hierarchy.

Parameters

Buttons

Isolate

Isolates the selected objects in the active viewport by adding an entry to the list of Isolation Filters.

Append

Appends the selected objects in the active viewport by adding an entry to the list of Isolation Filters.

Exclude

Excludes the selected objects in the active viewport by adding an entry to the list of Isolation Filters.

Clear

Clears all the Isolation Filters and resets the state Visible Object to show all the objects.

Save History

Saves the current values to a History Entry using the History Label. A saved history can be recalled by using the Load History dropdown menu. Click the Load buttons next to the history multi-instance parameter.

Load History

Load History is a dropdown menu that lists the available saved histories on the node. Loading an item overwrites the current parameter values and reapplies the viewport isolation. This is a quick way to go between different isolations.

More…

A checkbox that will display advanced options when enabled. If this checkbox is off, only the buttons and the Visible Objects parameter are visible. This mode is typically preferred for quick viewport work, where you isolate and clear a lot and don’t care about building reusable Isolation Filters. If this checkbox is on, all the Isolation Filters and History parameters are visible. This mode is useful if you want to debug isolation filters, or to tweak filters manually.

Viewport Isolator

Enable Visible Objects

If this checkbox is on, the Isolation Filters are applied to build the Visible Objects string. If it’s off, no isolation is performed. This checkbox provides a way to disable the Isolation Filters without clearing them.

Visible Objects

A disabled parameter showing the result of the viewport isolator. This parameter is also copied on the viewport’s Optimize > Visible Objects display option.

Viewports

The viewports on which the Visible Objects will be copied. It is recomputed every time a button is pressed.

History Label

The name to use when saving a history entry. The name is also updated when loading an entry, and is displayed in the Load History dropdown menu.

Filters

Isolation Filters

A list of isolation filters. An isolation filter is created every time one of the Isolate/Append/Exclude buttons are pressed. The list is used to generate the Visible Objects string. Filters are executed from filter1 to the last filter. The Visible Objects string always start as a * string.

Isolation Filter/Enable

Enables the isolation filter multi parameter instance.

Isolation Filter/Mode

Defines the type of isolation filter. An Isolate filter completely overrides the current string with the filter string. An Append filter appends the filter string to the current string. An Exclude filter appends the filter string to the current string but prefixes every string with the caret character (^).

Isolation Filter/Filter

Defines the isolation filter string. It accepts bundle names, wildcards, and the caret character (^) for exclusion. The caret character isn’t needed when the mode is set to Exclude, since it’s added by the script.

History

History

A list of history and corresponding load buttons. Each string represents a saved entry and is simply a list of ; separated values. You can change the history label of each entry by changing the first token of the string.

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