Transmits geometry data between two instances of Houdini over a network connection.
This node sends all points, primitives, and attributes through a network connection. This allows geometry to be sent from a local Houdini session to a remote Houdini session.
The transmitting Network operation sends the data whenever it is cooked, whether or not the geometry has changed. The receiving Network operation receives data whenever it is cooked (it is also time dependent, so changing the time will check if data is received). Only the most recent full transmission is received; geometry does not stack up at the receiving end.
By default, the transmitting Network operation creates a socket at the port specified, and the receiving Network attempts to connect to that socket. You may reverse this, so the receiving Network creates the socket, by turning off the parameter “Default Client/Server Setup”. Both the transmitting and receiving Network operations must use the same client/server setup (both on or both off). Normally you will not need to modify this parameter.
A network address is specified as a regular domain name (“mycomputer”, “mycomputer.mycompany.com”). The port number is any port between 5000 and 10000. The port numbers at the transmitting and receiving ends must match.
Parameters
| Mode | Sets the Network communications mode to Transmit or Receive. |
| Default Client/Server Setup | If on, a socket is created at the transmitting Network operation (see above). |
| Address | Which remote address to connect to. If receiving and the default client/server setup is used, this must be the host address of the remote machine. If you are not using the default setup, the transmitting end must specify the remote address. If the address is omitted, the local host is assumed. |
| Port | The port to use as the server port, or the port to connect to. |
| Active | Data is only transmitted or received when active is on. When receiving, transmitted data is lost if active is off. |