Houdini 21.0 Nodes Geometry nodes

APEX Scene Add Prop geometry node

Adds a prop with a single control to an animation scene.

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Since 20.0

This SOP adds a prop geometry as a packed character to either a new or existing APEX animation scene, and allows you to configure the prop for ragdoll. See animation workflow for an example of how to use this node.

Parameters

Prop Name

The name of the packed character folder that is created on the scene geometry (Character Scene input). The folder contains a prop rig and the source geometry from the Prop Geometry input.

Note

A .char extension is automatically added to the name of the packed character folder if none is provided in Prop Name.

Animation

If the prop has animation, this determines how to treat the animation.

Static

The incoming prop is not animated.

Animated

The incoming geometry are packed primitives with animated transforms. Examples of this are the Crag test geometry or an RBD simulation. The prop will have a control for each packed piece along with a locator for the whole prop.

Note

Animated geometry is set to inactive by default so that it follows the animation in the animate state ragdoll tool. This can be overridden within the ragdoll tool by turning on Character Active in the animate state parameters HUD, Ragdoll ▸ Animation tab.

Deforming

The incoming geometry has animated point positions. The prop will have a single control for the whole shape.

Note

Deforming geometry cannot be used in the animate state ragdoll tool.

Import Prop Collection

When Animation is set to Static, turning this on lets you import multiple props at once. The easiest way to do this is to connect all your props to a Merge Packed SOP, then connect the Merge Packed SOP to the second input of this node.

Control

Add Skin Control

When turned on, adds a skin control for the input geometry.

Visible

When turned on, displays the control that drives the input geometry.

Color

The color of the control that drives the input geometry.

Shape

The shape of the control that drives the input geometry.

Rest Position

Center

The world rest position of the control for the input geometry.

Rotate

The world rest orientation of the control for the input geometry.

Shape Offset

Shape Center

The translate offset of the control shape from the rest position of the control.

Shape Rotate

The orientation offset of the control shape from the rest position of the control.

Shape Uniform Scale

The uniform scale offset of the control shape from the rest position of the control.

Ragdoll

When Ragdoll is turned on, a collision shape is created for the prop to be used in the animate state ragdoll tool. The ragdoll parameters are not available when Animation is set to Deforming.

Active

When turned on, the prop is affected by the ragdoll solver.

Collision Shape

Generates a collision shape using either the Shrinkwrap or Convex Decomposition algorithm.

Max Concavity

When Collision Shape is set to Convex Decomposition, this determines the maximum distance from a point on the geometry to its closest convex hull edge. Reducing this value produces convex hulls that are a closer fit to the input geometry, but the geometry may be split into more segments.

Treat as Solid

When Collision Shape is set to Convex Decomposition, turning this on treats non-manifold geometries as solid when possible. The concavity of the geometry is measured from the outer side, and the segmented geometry is capped if the clipping plane does not go through a boundary. The input geometry boundaries are not capped, so extreme holes will still cause the geometry to be segmented as if it was hollow.

Tip

If the input geometry is open, running it through the PolyCap SOP may give better results than the Treat as Solid option because Treat as Solid only tries to preserve the volume during segmentation but is still affected by holes.

Reduce Polygons

When turned on, uses the PolyReduce SOP to reduce the number of polygons on the input geometry. Lowering the number of polygons improves performance but could cause the collision shapes to be invalid.

Display Collision Shape

When turned on, displays the collision shape that is used by the ragdoll solver.

Color

The color of the collision shape. This has no impact on the simulation and serves mostly as a visual aid if you have multiple ragdoll characters or props.

Inputs

Character Scene

The existing animation scene geometry that the prop character is added to.

Prop Geometry

The source geometry that is packed to a character with a single control.

Outputs

Character Scene

A packed folder hierarchy that represents the animation scene.

See also

Geometry nodes