Edits points, edges, or faces interactively.
The Edit SOP allows you to transform or sculpt faces/edges/points on a curve/surface interactively.
Unlike most Houdini operators, Edit is cumulative. You can perform multiple edit operations (on multiple selections) in a single Edit node. An Edit node stores the final result of all the edits you perform in that node.
Edit supports two main ways of working: edit (using a manipulator ) and sculpt (using brush tools ).
Note
You cannot animate Edit nodes. To animate transformations, use the Point, Transform, Soft Transform, Peak, or Soft Peak operators, or other types of deformation.
Setup
You can only use Edit interactively in the viewer.
Keep the parameters for the Edit SOP visible in a parameter editor pane as you use the tool in the viewer pane. The parameters contain controls that modify the behavior of the tool in the viewer.
In edit mode, the parameters affect the current selection. When you select new points/faces, the parameters reset. In sculpt mode, the parameters affect future strokes.
Before you try to select points, turn on the Points icon in the viewer pane’s display options toolbar (on the right side of the viewer). (If the display options toolbar is not visible, click the stowbar on the right side of the viewer pane to show it.)
Tasks
| To... | Do this |
|---|---|
| Transform points and/or faces |
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| Move points and faces along their normals |
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| Push, pull, or smooth points by brushing over them |
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Notes
Press
while working in the viewer to get a menu of
tool options. For example, you can assign different functions to
the mouse buttons.
Use the soft radius options to do proportional modification of the surrounding points as you transform.
Edit has an optional second input for reference geometry. When the second input is connected, the Edit node transforms your edits relative to the differences between the geometry to edit and the reference geometry.
You can use the details pane to edit the position of each point or vertex in a piece of geometry.
Only committed edits are affected by reference geometry. Press the Commit Transform/Peak Changes button to commit an edit. The current edit is automatically committed when starting a new edit or performing a sculpt operation.
Parameters
| Group | The group to apply the edits to. If this is blank, the edits apply to all geometry in the first input. You can create a group and use this parameter to mask the edits so they only apply to the points or faces in the group. |
| Group type | The type of geometry to use in the group. If the group has only one type of geometry (for example, points), you can just use “Guess from group” and Houdini will figure out the geometry type from the contents of the group. |
Edit
Transform
See the online help for the Transform SOP for information on the parameters on this tab.
Peak
See the online help for the Peak SOP for information on the parameters on this tab.
| Soft radius | Distance within which other points/faces follow the points/faces you edit directly. | ||||||||
| Soft type | The type of rolloff for soft modifications. This affects how much influence your direct edits have on other points/faces with the soft radius, based on their distance.
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| Tangent angles | Angles of the cubic rolloff function’s tangents. The first value applies to the tangent farthest from the source point, the second applies to the tangent closest to the source point. | ||||||||
| Kernal function | Density function to use when Soft type is “Metaball”. | ||||||||
| Ignore point connectivity | Only soft-modify other points when they are connected to the points you edited directly. |
Sculpt
See the online help for the Sculpt SOP for information on the brush parameters.
| Use Orient Attribute | If set, all edits are applied relative to the orientation described by a quaternion point attribute named “orient”. This is most useful when the orient attribute is animated for use with the Wire Solver DOP. |
| Use Mirror | If set, all operations will be reflected along the plane of symmetry. |
| Axis | This defines the normal of the plane of symmetry for reflection. |
| Origin | This defines the origin of the plane of symmetry for reflection. |
| Distance | This is the distance of the plane of symmetry from the origin of symmetry. |
| Threshold | This is the maximum distance from a points mirrored position to search for the mirrored point. |
| Recompute Point Normals | Recomputes point normals if they exist. |
| Commit Transform/Peak Changes | Saves the current edit and resets the parameters to start a new edit. |
| Reset All Changes | Restores geometry to initial state. |
Inputs
| Geometry to edit | The geometry to apply the edits to. |
| Reference geometry | (Optional) When this input is connected, all edits take place relative to the difference between the geometry to edit and this geometry. |
Examples
| ReferenceGeometry | Load | Launch |
This example creates an animation illustrating how the Edit SOP’s Reference Geometry input can be used to apply an edit on animated geometry. | |
Examples that use this node
| Example for | Example name | |
|---|---|---|
| FLIP Solver | FlipColorMix | Load | Launch |
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| Particle Fluid Solver | FluidGlass | Load | Launch |
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| Pyro Solver | BillowyTurbine | Load | Launch |
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| Material | Down Hill Lava Flow | Load | Launch |
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| Material | Fire Pit example | Load | Launch |
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| Cloth Deform | CaptureDeform | Load | Launch |
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| Convert | PasteConvertVariations | Load | Launch |
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| Edge Divide | EdgeDivideBasic | Load | Launch |
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| Fur | FurTextureMap | Load | Launch |
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| Paste | PasteCones | Load | Launch |
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| Ray | RayWrap | Load | Launch |
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| TimeShift | PlateBreak | Load | Launch |
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