Use the details pane to show the values of the attributes on particles in a particle system.
Choose Windows > Floating Pane to create a new window, then press Alt + 8.
Alternatively, you can simply change an existing pane into a details pane by pressing Alt + 8.
Navigate to the
POP network.
Make sure the spreadsheet is set to show attributes for Points (use the drop-down menu).
The spreadsheet should show one row for each particle in the system, with columns for each attribute.
Reading the `pstate` attribute
The pstate attribute is actually a “bit field”, storing several different state flags in a single value. Houdini calculates the value of pstate by adding up the following values for each flag that is on:
| Flag | Value |
|---|---|
| Primary | 1 |
| Dying | 2 |
| Stopped | 4 |
| Collided | 8 |
| Stuck | 16 |
| Sliding | 32768 |
In addition, the pstate indicates the state of rule suppression.
| Flag | Value |
|---|---|
| Suppress all | 32512 |
| Suppress position | 256 |
| Suppress velocity | 512 |
| Suppress up | 1024 |
| Suppress age | 2048 |
| Suppress reap | 4096 |
| Suppress rotate | 8192 |
| Suppress angular velocity | 16384 |
One way to check if a certain “bit” is on in the pstate value is to open a Python shell and use the & operator.
>>> # For example, if the pstate is 27 >>> # Dying? >>> bool(27 & 2) True >>> # Stopped? >>> bool(27 & 4) False >>> # Stuck? >>> bool(27 & 16) True
In expressions you would use individual local variables such as $STOPPED instead of reading pstate.