Houdini 20.0 Nodes Geometry nodes

Labs Lightning geometry node

Generate lightning effect around meshes

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Overview

The tool can generate lightning geometry around a given input. By controlling the start and end point, you can guide the effect. This tool is useful for lightning effects in game engines.

Tip

Used in the Sci-Fi Core Tutorial

Parameters

Settings

Setup

Start Point

Start location of the lightning.

End Point

End location of the lightning.

Lightning Arcs

Amount of lightning arcs around an object.

Contact Spread

Start Point

Spread

Increase the area where points can spawn.

Relax Scatter

Relax the scattered point at the start location.

Debug begin spread

Visualize how much the area of the spread is affecting.

End Point

Spread

Increase the area where points can spawn.

Relax Scatter

Relax the scattered point at the end location.

Debug begin spread

Visualize how much the area of the starting spread is affecting.

Debug end spread

Visualize how much the area of the end spread is affecting.

Shape along lines

Ramp to scale the radius of the Lightning arcs.

Beam Thickness

Scale the overall radius of the lightning arcs.

Columns

Controls the number of columns and divisions on the lightning arcs.

Curve Section Length

Resolution of the Ligthning arcs.

Distance from model

Target distance to push the lightning from or to the input model.

Length until end

Lowering thhe value will control how far the ligthning will go.

Push End

Pushing the end points away from other points.

Push Falloff

When pushing the end points this value will control the falloff.

Vertex Colors

Red Channel

Option to control what information is stored in the vertex color.

Green Channel

Option to control what information is stored in the vertex color.

Blue Channel

Option to control what information is stored in the vertex color.

Noise

Add noise

Enables mesh noise on the lightning.

Noise Type

Menu to choose different types of noises.

Height

Controls the height or intensity of the noise.

Element Size

Scaling frequency of the noise.

Roughness

The higher this value the more noise on the lightning.

Scale

Scale the noise is each axis.

Clipping Minimum

Clamp the noise to a minimum value.

Clipping Maximum

Clamp the noise to a maximum value.

Stick To Surface

Start range

Range of how many starting points stick to the surface of the input.

Stick to Surface

Strength to blend points on the surface of the input.

End range

Range of how many end points stick to the surface of the input.

Stick to Surface

Strength to blend points on the surface of the input.

Add Jitter

Enable jitter noise.

Scale

Scale of the jitter.

Axis Scales

Scale the jitter on a per axis basis.

Previews

Show Input

Show the input geometry.

Tint Blue

Color the Lightning blue.

Preview modes

Modes the see the lightning result better.

Export

Save to Disk

Export to model to the given location on disk.

Model name

Name of the model.

Output File

Location to save the output to.

Export in ASCII Format

Enable this to export ASCII Format instead of Binary.

Outputs

Output 1

Outputs the Lightning geometry and vertex colors for the game engine.

Geometry nodes