Houdini 12 Nodes Surface nodes

Creates a plane.

The plane can be a mesh, Bezier and NURBS surfaces, or multiple lines using open polygons.

Placing a Grid in the viewer

To...Do this
Place the grid anywhere in the scene

  1. Click the Grid tool on the Create tab.

  2. Move the cursor into the scene view.

    Note

    You can hold Alt to detach the grid from the construction plane.

  3. Click LMB to place the grid anywhere in the scene view.

    If you press Enter without clicking, Houdini places the grid at the origin.

Place the grid at the origin

Press Ctrl + LMB on the Grid tool on the shelf.

Note

The grid can be moved once it is placed by either dragging it in the scene view or changing the values in the parameter editor.

Grid Handles

There are special handles available at the geometry level for the grid object that allow you to stretch and squash it.

  1. Move to the geometry level by double clicking LMB the grid node in the network editor or by clicking the Jump to Operator button on the operation controls toolbar.

  2. Drag the handles to squash or stretch the grid.

Parameters

Primitive Type

Type of Geometry to create. In the case of Points, no geometry is created. Instead, free floating points are created in the same positions as they would be in a surface.

Connectivity

Applies to Polygons and Meshes only.

Rows

Creates horizontal lines, which are open polygons.

Columns

Creates vertical lines, which are open polygons.

Rows & Cols

Both Rows and Columns. All polygons are open.

Triangles

Build the grid with Triangles.

Quads

Default grid connection is four-sided quadrilaterals.

Alternating Triangles

Build the grid with alternating triangles. Each four sided quadrilateral is divided in half making two back to back triangles, with the dividing lines alternating in direction.

Reverse Triangles

Build the grid with reverse triangles. Each four sided quadrilateral is divided in half making two back to back triangles, with the dividing lines all facing the same direction.

Orientation

Orientation plane of grid.

Size

Width and Height of the grid.

Center

Position of the center of the grid.

Rows

Number of rows in the grid or hull.

Columns

Number of columns in the grid or hull.

U Order

The order of NURBS or Bezier surface in the U direction.

V Order

The order of NURBS or Bezier surface in the V direction.

End-point interpolate in U

Extends the surface to touch the end points in the U direction.

End-point interpolate in V

Extends the surface to touch the end points in the V direction.

Examples

GridBasic Load | Launch

.../examples/nodes/sop/grid/GridBasic.otl

The Grid SOP is a very commonly used primitive, especially as a particle source. It is very versatile and has many surface parameterization options.

In this example, there is a series of grids with alternative Primitive Types and Connectivity.