I'm new to Houdini so apologies if this query is based on wrong assumptions and lack of knowledge!

I want to be able to add a node(or nodes) downstream of either a ROP or a SOP or SUBNETWORK where I can speficy overrides of particular properties/attributes.

For example, if I have a ROP and I want to create a few variations that inherit all the properties of this ROP but have certain attributes overridden; eg object or light inclusions, sampling, etc. I would want to add a null (or nulls) after the parent node and then add interface items to override the attributes of items up the node-graph.

Am I right in saying that the Houdini way of doing this would be to use Takes?

I just noticed that there is the “Copy as reference” action which would pretty much achieve what I am asking, in which case, I guess the question is : what are people's thoughts on “best practice” when it comes to creating variations “in shot” of assets that are shared over multiple shots in a readable and robust way. I'm sure the approach depends on many things such as whether the node is a ROP, SOP, or subnet/primitive.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
Cheers
Patrick

creating variations “in shot” of assets that are shared over multiple shots

can you give an example of what you're trying to do - that will make a difference…

yep to vary stuff per render set the parameters you want to change per take, create a ROP per take, set their ‘render with take’ parameters, select them all & hit render.

Taking the ROP for example I would write some simple python for a shelf tool , that way you can define settings ie low res and hi res mantra rops and roll that shelf tool out to everyone on a show

Rob

I use takes all the time and they work great, but depending on what you want to do the wedgeRop can work well

http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/nodes/out/wedge [sidefx.com]