Hi All!

Playing around with making my first large HDA, which is a fence generator for UE4. However, I keep tripping over the same thing constantly - the parameters I want on my HDA through ‘type properties’ are the same as the top level parameter interface while I am developing my HDA.
When I go to copy these across as I create them, I keep getting the warning about spare parameters, and if I try to consolidate changes it either wipes my parameter interface, or alternatively the parameters get referenced by something that I cant trace ( they go green, but I cant find what they are referencing)
My structure is
- Top level Sub network (This is what got turned into a HDA and also has my parameter interface on it)
- Generator that takes in components
- Other small HDAs I created + usual stuff
- Component A (Post etc)
- Component B
- etc..

My questions are:
Whats the reason that the parameter interface on my top level subnetwork just be the same as whats on my HDA?
Is there something I am doing wrong in either my structure or how I am using Houdini that is causing me to have this problem?

Thanks in advance!

It sounds complicated to have two top level controls like that. I would just use the ones on the HDA. I would make the fence tool inside a geometry object, then select all of the sop nodes and shift+c them to put them in a subnet. Then right click that and convert to digital asset. Then put all of your parameters in the “type properties” and it should work. That's just me, maybe there's a better way.

once you convert your subnet into HDA it's spare parameters will become HDA's parameters and appear in Type Properties…
from this point on if you want to modify HDA interface use only Type Properties… dialog and not Edit PArameter Interface as that allows you to edit only spare parameters on the node type instance and not the actual HDA interface

Thanks decksounds and Tamte,

Sounds like I was using it slightly wrong. Makes sense. I thought that type properties was for external application access and parameter interface was what to use while developing. Shifting mindset here solves the problem.

Thanks both of you for your help!