Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Pierre Schiller
Rob, that´s a nifty-cacheable image-seq for post! Can I compo it? is it
possible to share the scn? :D :D Please?

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 1:04 PM, pete...@skynet.be wrote:

   I hope the image gets through.
 this is what I get with closest location on group of curves, and combining
 the pointtangent as a force, as well as a force pulling towards the closest
 position – in order not to stray too far from the curve.
 particles get emitted from the curves in the center, and you see that here
 they follow the curves more closely, further out it does get more fuzzy –
 but they do follow the curves and they do branch automatically.
 I can see how this might not be precise enough compared to flow along
 curve.


 [image: force_along_group_of_curves]



  *From:* Rob Chapman tekano@gmail.com
 *Sent:* Thursday, March 19, 2015 5:52 PM
 *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 *Subject:* Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

  closest location does not cut it when different curves overlap.  you
 will have to build a system using a unique curve ID and translate along
 each curve ID's using curve u instead.

 at least this way you could gracefully hand over particles between curves
 as it reaches the end of each segment.

 On 19 March 2015 at 16:42, Dave Sisk d...@janimation.com wrote:

 Thanks for the responses guys.

 I've continued with my brute force method for now because it gets the
 job done. It involves several Select Case nodes with 29 cases each
 though, so you can imagine why I was reluctant to string that up. :)

 I've tried the suggested approach, but I usually get a jump to the same
 curve over and over again when they overlap instead of continuing along
 their first curve.


 [image: Inline image 1]

 On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 11:33 AM, Eric Thivierge ethivie...@hybride.com
 wrote:

 Huh... works actually. I remember this not working before...  carry on
 never mind.

 Eric T.


 On 3/19/2015 12:25 PM, Eric Thivierge wrote:

 Closest location doesn't work with curves fed in with a group. It
 always uses the first one.

 Eric T.

 On 3/19/2015 12:23 PM, Grahame Fuller wrote:

 Greg, any details about not getting it to work on curves? As far as I
 know, it should.

 gray

 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
 softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge
 Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 12:02 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

 Your best bet is to create a mesh from those curves and transfer the
 curve's tangent onto the mesh as a vector attribute.

 Emit from the curve but use the geo's attribute to set the direction.
 How Paul Smith's hair grooming stuff works essentially.

 Using a group of curves or even doing one curve at a time won't get a
 nice smooth result I don't think. You'll probably get popping.

 Eric T.
 On 3/19/2015 11:48 AM, Greg Punchatz wrote:
 Dave has got something worked out, but its not ideal.  He cannot get a
 group of curves to work, and is wiring up each one in by hand in the ICE
 tree.

 What he wants to do is emit an objects from one end of a curve and the
 have it follow the curve to the end.. but he wants to do this to a group 
 of
 curves.  He can make it work one curve at a time fine, he can wire the
 bizzilion curves up by hand but its not ideal.

 On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM, pete...@skynet.bemailto:pete
 r...@skynet.be wrote:
 I think you can get the closest point on a group of curves,
 get the point-tangent from there and use that (vector) as a force,
 combine to taste with turbulence, and perhaps a force pulling towards
 the curve (vector from point to closest point) for extra control.

 adding/removing curves to the group is all you’d need to do to add
 them to the simulation.
 hope this helps.



 From: Dave Siskmailto:d...@janimation.com
 Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 3:27 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.
 autodesk.com
 Subject: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

 Hi, I'm trying to create an effect with particles flowing from one
 several ends of branching geometry to another of several ends on the same
 geometry.

 Right now I'm working with Flow Along Curve and a bunch of
 partially-overlapping curves that go from one end to the other, but since
 ICE is pretty limited in what you can plug a geometry port into, I'm
 running into a LOT of duplication that makes adding or removing curves a
 labor intensive process.

 Is there another approach to this I should be trying?

 Thanks,
 Dave Sisk












-- 
Portfolio 2013 http://be.net/3dcinetv
Cinema  TV production
Video Reel https://vimeo.com/3dcinetv/reel2012


Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Rob Chapman
closest location does not cut it when different curves overlap.  you will
have to build a system using a unique curve ID and translate along each
curve ID's using curve u instead.

at least this way you could gracefully hand over particles between curves
as it reaches the end of each segment.

On 19 March 2015 at 16:42, Dave Sisk d...@janimation.com wrote:

 Thanks for the responses guys.

 I've continued with my brute force method for now because it gets the
 job done. It involves several Select Case nodes with 29 cases each
 though, so you can imagine why I was reluctant to string that up. :)

 I've tried the suggested approach, but I usually get a jump to the same
 curve over and over again when they overlap instead of continuing along
 their first curve.


 [image: Inline image 1]

 On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 11:33 AM, Eric Thivierge ethivie...@hybride.com
 wrote:

 Huh... works actually. I remember this not working before...  carry on
 never mind.

 Eric T.


 On 3/19/2015 12:25 PM, Eric Thivierge wrote:

 Closest location doesn't work with curves fed in with a group. It always
 uses the first one.

 Eric T.

 On 3/19/2015 12:23 PM, Grahame Fuller wrote:

 Greg, any details about not getting it to work on curves? As far as I
 know, it should.

 gray

 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
 softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge
 Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 12:02 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

 Your best bet is to create a mesh from those curves and transfer the
 curve's tangent onto the mesh as a vector attribute.

 Emit from the curve but use the geo's attribute to set the direction.
 How Paul Smith's hair grooming stuff works essentially.

 Using a group of curves or even doing one curve at a time won't get a
 nice smooth result I don't think. You'll probably get popping.

 Eric T.
 On 3/19/2015 11:48 AM, Greg Punchatz wrote:
 Dave has got something worked out, but its not ideal.  He cannot get a
 group of curves to work, and is wiring up each one in by hand in the ICE
 tree.

 What he wants to do is emit an objects from one end of a curve and the
 have it follow the curve to the end.. but he wants to do this to a group of
 curves.  He can make it work one curve at a time fine, he can wire the
 bizzilion curves up by hand but its not ideal.

 On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM, pete...@skynet.bemailto:pete
 r...@skynet.be wrote:
 I think you can get the closest point on a group of curves,
 get the point-tangent from there and use that (vector) as a force,
 combine to taste with turbulence, and perhaps a force pulling towards
 the curve (vector from point to closest point) for extra control.

 adding/removing curves to the group is all you’d need to do to add them
 to the simulation.
 hope this helps.



 From: Dave Siskmailto:d...@janimation.com
 Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 3:27 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.
 autodesk.com
 Subject: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

 Hi, I'm trying to create an effect with particles flowing from one
 several ends of branching geometry to another of several ends on the same
 geometry.

 Right now I'm working with Flow Along Curve and a bunch of
 partially-overlapping curves that go from one end to the other, but since
 ICE is pretty limited in what you can plug a geometry port into, I'm
 running into a LOT of duplication that makes adding or removing curves a
 labor intensive process.

 Is there another approach to this I should be trying?

 Thanks,
 Dave Sisk









RE: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Grahame Fuller
I was about to suggest IDs too. If you look in ICE_Kinematics workgroup, there 
are some scripts to handle applying and updating ICE trees that set IDs on all 
objects in a group. You can adapt them, then you’d need to rerun them whenever 
you add or remove curves in the group.

gray

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 1:19 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

Like Rob said, you'll have to go the ID approach. If you know what particles 
should follow which curves its easy. If not, then you'll have to setup some 
logic.

Create a custom param set on each curves named the same thing, like curveData.
Then for each curve set a unique ID starting from 0.
Main branch should be 0. Then the next branches off of that should have higher 
numbers, and so on and so on.
When you emit your particles randomly (or with some logic) set an ID of the 
curve you want them to follow.

You could then get closest location on each curve, and test if the curve ID is 
greater than the one it started on. If so then you could use some state 
machines to switch states. It's going to be a complex tree I think no matter 
what.

Eric T.
On 3/19/2015 1:10 PM, Cristobal Infante wrote:
get closest location  point-tangent. Use this as point velocity,

I did something like this with several curves and it was fine.

On 19 March 2015 at 16:52, Rob Chapman 
tekano@gmail.commailto:tekano@gmail.com wrote:
closest location does not cut it when different curves overlap.  you will have 
to build a system using a unique curve ID and translate along each curve ID's 
using curve u instead.

at least this way you could gracefully hand over particles between curves as it 
reaches the end of each segment.

On 19 March 2015 at 16:42, Dave Sisk 
d...@janimation.commailto:d...@janimation.com wrote:
Thanks for the responses guys.

I've continued with my brute force method for now because it gets the job 
done. It involves several Select Case nodes with 29 cases each though, so you 
can imagine why I was reluctant to string that up. :)

I've tried the suggested approach, but I usually get a jump to the same curve 
over and over again when they overlap instead of continuing along their first 
curve.


[Inline image 1]

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 11:33 AM, Eric Thivierge 
ethivie...@hybride.commailto:ethivie...@hybride.com wrote:
Huh... works actually. I remember this not working before...  carry on never 
mind.

Eric T.


On 3/19/2015 12:25 PM, Eric Thivierge wrote:
Closest location doesn't work with curves fed in with a group. It always uses 
the first one.

Eric T.

On 3/19/2015 12:23 PM, Grahame Fuller wrote:
Greg, any details about not getting it to work on curves? As far as I know, it 
should.

gray

From: 
softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
 On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 12:02 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

Your best bet is to create a mesh from those curves and transfer the curve's 
tangent onto the mesh as a vector attribute.

Emit from the curve but use the geo's attribute to set the direction. How Paul 
Smith's hair grooming stuff works essentially.

Using a group of curves or even doing one curve at a time won't get a nice 
smooth result I don't think. You'll probably get popping.

Eric T.
On 3/19/2015 11:48 AM, Greg Punchatz wrote:
Dave has got something worked out, but its not ideal.  He cannot get a group of 
curves to work, and is wiring up each one in by hand in the ICE tree.

What he wants to do is emit an objects from one end of a curve and the have it 
follow the curve to the end.. but he wants to do this to a group of curves.  He 
can make it work one curve at a time fine, he can wire the bizzilion curves up 
by hand but its not ideal.

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM, 
pete...@skynet.bemailto:pete...@skynet.bemailto:pete...@skynet.bemailto:pete...@skynet.be
 wrote:
I think you can get the closest point on a group of curves,
get the point-tangent from there and use that (vector) as a force,
combine to taste with turbulence, and perhaps a force pulling towards the curve 
(vector from point to closest point) for extra control.

adding/removing curves to the group is all you’d need to do to add them to the 
simulation.
hope this helps.



From: Dave Siskmailto:d...@janimation.commailto:d...@janimation.com
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 3:27 PM
To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

Hi, I'm trying to create

Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Cristobal Infante
merge the curves, job done..

On 19 March 2015 at 17:24, Eric Thivierge ethivie...@hybride.com wrote:

  The main problem with this type of stuff is that you can't get closest
 location on each curve at the same time without building a huge compound.
 You want to get the closest location on every curve, compare, and follow
 the closest one or switch with some logic.

 Eric T.


 On 3/19/2015 1:18 PM, Eric Thivierge wrote:

 Like Rob said, you'll have to go the ID approach. If you know what
 particles should follow which curves its easy. If not, then you'll have to
 setup some logic.

 Create a custom param set on each curves named the same thing, like
 curveData.
 Then for each curve set a unique ID starting from 0.
 Main branch should be 0. Then the next branches off of that should have
 higher numbers, and so on and so on.
 When you emit your particles randomly (or with some logic) set an ID of
 the curve you want them to follow.

 You could then get closest location on each curve, and test if the curve
 ID is greater than the one it started on. If so then you could use some
 state machines to switch states. It's going to be a complex tree I think no
 matter what.

 Eric T.

 On 3/19/2015 1:10 PM, Cristobal Infante wrote:

 get closest location  point-tangent. Use this as point velocity,

  I did something like this with several curves and it was fine.

 On 19 March 2015 at 16:52, Rob Chapman tekano@gmail.com wrote:

 closest location does not cut it when different curves overlap.  you will
 have to build a system using a unique curve ID and translate along each
 curve ID's using curve u instead.

  at least this way you could gracefully hand over particles between
 curves as it reaches the end of each segment.

 On 19 March 2015 at 16:42, Dave Sisk d...@janimation.com wrote:

 Thanks for the responses guys.

  I've continued with my brute force method for now because it gets
 the job done. It involves several Select Case nodes with 29 cases each
 though, so you can imagine why I was reluctant to string that up. :)

  I've tried the suggested approach, but I usually get a jump to the
 same curve over and over again when they overlap instead of continuing
 along their first curve.


  [image: Inline image 1]

 On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 11:33 AM, Eric Thivierge ethivie...@hybride.com
  wrote:

 Huh... works actually. I remember this not working before...  carry on
 never mind.

 Eric T.


 On 3/19/2015 12:25 PM, Eric Thivierge wrote:

 Closest location doesn't work with curves fed in with a group. It
 always uses the first one.

 Eric T.

 On 3/19/2015 12:23 PM, Grahame Fuller wrote:

 Greg, any details about not getting it to work on curves? As far as I
 know, it should.

 gray

 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
 softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge
 Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 12:02 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

 Your best bet is to create a mesh from those curves and transfer the
 curve's tangent onto the mesh as a vector attribute.

 Emit from the curve but use the geo's attribute to set the direction.
 How Paul Smith's hair grooming stuff works essentially.

 Using a group of curves or even doing one curve at a time won't get a
 nice smooth result I don't think. You'll probably get popping.

 Eric T.
 On 3/19/2015 11:48 AM, Greg Punchatz wrote:
 Dave has got something worked out, but its not ideal.  He cannot get
 a group of curves to work, and is wiring up each one in by hand in the 
 ICE
 tree.

 What he wants to do is emit an objects from one end of a curve and
 the have it follow the curve to the end.. but he wants to do this to a
 group of curves.  He can make it work one curve at a time fine, he can 
 wire
 the bizzilion curves up by hand but its not ideal.

 On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM, pete...@skynet.bemailto:
 pete...@skynet.be wrote:
 I think you can get the closest point on a group of curves,
 get the point-tangent from there and use that (vector) as a force,
 combine to taste with turbulence, and perhaps a force pulling towards
 the curve (vector from point to closest point) for extra control.

 adding/removing curves to the group is all you’d need to do to add
 them to the simulation.
 hope this helps.



 From: Dave Siskmailto:d...@janimation.com
 Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 3:27 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:
 softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 Subject: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

 Hi, I'm trying to create an effect with particles flowing from one
 several ends of branching geometry to another of several ends on the same
 geometry.

 Right now I'm working with Flow Along Curve and a bunch of
 partially-overlapping curves that go from one end to the other, but since
 ICE is pretty limited in what you can plug a geometry port into, I'm
 running into a LOT of duplication that makes adding or removing curves a
 labor

Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Eric Thivierge
The main problem with this type of stuff is that you can't get closest 
location on each curve at the same time without building a huge 
compound. You want to get the closest location on every curve, compare, 
and follow the closest one or switch with some logic.


Eric T.

On 3/19/2015 1:18 PM, Eric Thivierge wrote:
Like Rob said, you'll have to go the ID approach. If you know what 
particles should follow which curves its easy. If not, then you'll 
have to setup some logic.


Create a custom param set on each curves named the same thing, like 
curveData.

Then for each curve set a unique ID starting from 0.
Main branch should be 0. Then the next branches off of that should 
have higher numbers, and so on and so on.
When you emit your particles randomly (or with some logic) set an ID 
of the curve you want them to follow.


You could then get closest location on each curve, and test if the 
curve ID is greater than the one it started on. If so then you could 
use some state machines to switch states. It's going to be a complex 
tree I think no matter what.


Eric T.

On 3/19/2015 1:10 PM, Cristobal Infante wrote:

get closest location  point-tangent. Use this as point velocity,

I did something like this with several curves and it was fine.

On 19 March 2015 at 16:52, Rob Chapman tekano@gmail.com 
mailto:tekano@gmail.com wrote:


closest location does not cut it when different curves overlap.
 you will have to build a system using a unique curve ID and
translate along each curve ID's using curve u instead.

at least this way you could gracefully hand over particles
between curves as it reaches the end of each segment.

On 19 March 2015 at 16:42, Dave Sisk d...@janimation.com
mailto:d...@janimation.com wrote:

Thanks for the responses guys.

I've continued with my brute force method for now because
it gets the job done. It involves several Select Case nodes
with 29 cases each though, so you can imagine why I was
reluctant to string that up. :)

I've tried the suggested approach, but I usually get a jump
to the same curve over and over again when they overlap
instead of continuing along their first curve.


Inline image 1

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 11:33 AM, Eric Thivierge
ethivie...@hybride.com mailto:ethivie...@hybride.com wrote:

Huh... works actually. I remember this not working
before...  carry on never mind.

Eric T.


On 3/19/2015 12:25 PM, Eric Thivierge wrote:

Closest location doesn't work with curves fed in with
a group. It always uses the first one.

Eric T.

On 3/19/2015 12:23 PM, Grahame Fuller wrote:

Greg, any details about not getting it to work on
curves? As far as I know, it should.

gray

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 12:02 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow
branching geometry

Your best bet is to create a mesh from those
curves and transfer the curve's tangent onto the
mesh as a vector attribute.

Emit from the curve but use the geo's attribute
to set the direction. How Paul Smith's hair
grooming stuff works essentially.

Using a group of curves or even doing one curve
at a time won't get a nice smooth result I don't
think. You'll probably get popping.

Eric T.
On 3/19/2015 11:48 AM, Greg Punchatz wrote:
Dave has got something worked out, but its not
ideal.  He cannot get a group of curves to work,
and is wiring up each one in by hand in the ICE tree.

What he wants to do is emit an objects from one
end of a curve and the have it follow the curve
to the end.. but he wants to do this to a group
of curves.  He can make it work one curve at a
time fine, he can wire the bizzilion curves up by
hand but its not ideal.

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM,
pete...@skynet.be
mailto:pete...@skynet.bemailto:pete...@skynet.be
mailto:pete

Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Ciaran Moloney
I think you're mixing up software again!

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 5:27 PM, Cristobal Infante cgc...@gmail.com wrote:

 merge the curves, job done..




Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread peter_b
I hope the image gets through.
this is what I get with closest location on group of curves, and combining the 
pointtangent as a force, as well as a force pulling towards the closest 
position – in order not to stray too far from the curve.
particles get emitted from the curves in the center, and you see that here they 
follow the curves more closely, further out it does get more fuzzy – but they 
do follow the curves and they do branch automatically. 
I can see how this might not be precise enough compared to flow along curve.






From: Rob Chapman 
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 5:52 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com 
Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

closest location does not cut it when different curves overlap.  you will have 
to build a system using a unique curve ID and translate along each curve ID's 
using curve u instead. 

at least this way you could gracefully hand over particles between curves as it 
reaches the end of each segment.

On 19 March 2015 at 16:42, Dave Sisk d...@janimation.com wrote:

  Thanks for the responses guys. 

  I've continued with my brute force method for now because it gets the job 
done. It involves several Select Case nodes with 29 cases each though, so you 
can imagine why I was reluctant to string that up. :)

  I've tried the suggested approach, but I usually get a jump to the same curve 
over and over again when they overlap instead of continuing along their first 
curve.




  On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 11:33 AM, Eric Thivierge ethivie...@hybride.com 
wrote:

Huh... works actually. I remember this not working before...  carry on 
never mind.

Eric T. 


On 3/19/2015 12:25 PM, Eric Thivierge wrote:

  Closest location doesn't work with curves fed in with a group. It always 
uses the first one.

  Eric T.

  On 3/19/2015 12:23 PM, Grahame Fuller wrote:

Greg, any details about not getting it to work on curves? As far as I 
know, it should.

gray

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 12:02 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

Your best bet is to create a mesh from those curves and transfer the 
curve's tangent onto the mesh as a vector attribute.

Emit from the curve but use the geo's attribute to set the direction. 
How Paul Smith's hair grooming stuff works essentially.

Using a group of curves or even doing one curve at a time won't get a 
nice smooth result I don't think. You'll probably get popping.

Eric T.
On 3/19/2015 11:48 AM, Greg Punchatz wrote:
Dave has got something worked out, but its not ideal.  He cannot get a 
group of curves to work, and is wiring up each one in by hand in the ICE tree.

What he wants to do is emit an objects from one end of a curve and the 
have it follow the curve to the end.. but he wants to do this to a group of 
curves.  He can make it work one curve at a time fine, he can wire the 
bizzilion curves up by hand but its not ideal.

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM, 
pete...@skynet.bemailto:pete...@skynet.be wrote:
I think you can get the closest point on a group of curves,
get the point-tangent from there and use that (vector) as a force,
combine to taste with turbulence, and perhaps a force pulling towards 
the curve (vector from point to closest point) for extra control.

adding/removing curves to the group is all you’d need to do to add them 
to the simulation.
hope this helps.



From: Dave Siskmailto:d...@janimation.com
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 3:27 PM
To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

Hi, I'm trying to create an effect with particles flowing from one 
several ends of branching geometry to another of several ends on the same 
geometry.

Right now I'm working with Flow Along Curve and a bunch of 
partially-overlapping curves that go from one end to the other, but since ICE 
is pretty limited in what you can plug a geometry port into, I'm running into a 
LOT of duplication that makes adding or removing curves a labor intensive 
process.

Is there another approach to this I should be trying?

Thanks,
Dave Sisk











Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Eric Thivierge

Nope. Doesn't work.

On 3/19/2015 1:27 PM, Cristobal Infante wrote:

merge the curves, job done..





Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Cristobal Infante
get closest location  point-tangent. Use this as point velocity,

I did something like this with several curves and it was fine.

On 19 March 2015 at 16:52, Rob Chapman tekano@gmail.com wrote:

 closest location does not cut it when different curves overlap.  you will
 have to build a system using a unique curve ID and translate along each
 curve ID's using curve u instead.

 at least this way you could gracefully hand over particles between curves
 as it reaches the end of each segment.

 On 19 March 2015 at 16:42, Dave Sisk d...@janimation.com wrote:

 Thanks for the responses guys.

 I've continued with my brute force method for now because it gets the
 job done. It involves several Select Case nodes with 29 cases each
 though, so you can imagine why I was reluctant to string that up. :)

 I've tried the suggested approach, but I usually get a jump to the same
 curve over and over again when they overlap instead of continuing along
 their first curve.


 [image: Inline image 1]

 On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 11:33 AM, Eric Thivierge ethivie...@hybride.com
 wrote:

 Huh... works actually. I remember this not working before...  carry on
 never mind.

 Eric T.


 On 3/19/2015 12:25 PM, Eric Thivierge wrote:

 Closest location doesn't work with curves fed in with a group. It
 always uses the first one.

 Eric T.

 On 3/19/2015 12:23 PM, Grahame Fuller wrote:

 Greg, any details about not getting it to work on curves? As far as I
 know, it should.

 gray

 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
 softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge
 Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 12:02 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

 Your best bet is to create a mesh from those curves and transfer the
 curve's tangent onto the mesh as a vector attribute.

 Emit from the curve but use the geo's attribute to set the direction.
 How Paul Smith's hair grooming stuff works essentially.

 Using a group of curves or even doing one curve at a time won't get a
 nice smooth result I don't think. You'll probably get popping.

 Eric T.
 On 3/19/2015 11:48 AM, Greg Punchatz wrote:
 Dave has got something worked out, but its not ideal.  He cannot get a
 group of curves to work, and is wiring up each one in by hand in the ICE
 tree.

 What he wants to do is emit an objects from one end of a curve and the
 have it follow the curve to the end.. but he wants to do this to a group 
 of
 curves.  He can make it work one curve at a time fine, he can wire the
 bizzilion curves up by hand but its not ideal.

 On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM, pete...@skynet.bemailto:pete
 r...@skynet.be wrote:
 I think you can get the closest point on a group of curves,
 get the point-tangent from there and use that (vector) as a force,
 combine to taste with turbulence, and perhaps a force pulling towards
 the curve (vector from point to closest point) for extra control.

 adding/removing curves to the group is all you’d need to do to add
 them to the simulation.
 hope this helps.



 From: Dave Siskmailto:d...@janimation.com
 Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 3:27 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.
 autodesk.com
 Subject: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

 Hi, I'm trying to create an effect with particles flowing from one
 several ends of branching geometry to another of several ends on the same
 geometry.

 Right now I'm working with Flow Along Curve and a bunch of
 partially-overlapping curves that go from one end to the other, but since
 ICE is pretty limited in what you can plug a geometry port into, I'm
 running into a LOT of duplication that makes adding or removing curves a
 labor intensive process.

 Is there another approach to this I should be trying?

 Thanks,
 Dave Sisk










Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Eric Thivierge
Like Rob said, you'll have to go the ID approach. If you know what 
particles should follow which curves its easy. If not, then you'll have 
to setup some logic.


Create a custom param set on each curves named the same thing, like 
curveData.

Then for each curve set a unique ID starting from 0.
Main branch should be 0. Then the next branches off of that should have 
higher numbers, and so on and so on.
When you emit your particles randomly (or with some logic) set an ID of 
the curve you want them to follow.


You could then get closest location on each curve, and test if the curve 
ID is greater than the one it started on. If so then you could use some 
state machines to switch states. It's going to be a complex tree I think 
no matter what.


Eric T.

On 3/19/2015 1:10 PM, Cristobal Infante wrote:

get closest location  point-tangent. Use this as point velocity,

I did something like this with several curves and it was fine.

On 19 March 2015 at 16:52, Rob Chapman tekano@gmail.com 
mailto:tekano@gmail.com wrote:


closest location does not cut it when different curves overlap.
 you will have to build a system using a unique curve ID and
translate along each curve ID's using curve u instead.

at least this way you could gracefully hand over particles between
curves as it reaches the end of each segment.

On 19 March 2015 at 16:42, Dave Sisk d...@janimation.com
mailto:d...@janimation.com wrote:

Thanks for the responses guys.

I've continued with my brute force method for now because it
gets the job done. It involves several Select Case nodes
with 29 cases each though, so you can imagine why I was
reluctant to string that up. :)

I've tried the suggested approach, but I usually get a jump to
the same curve over and over again when they overlap instead
of continuing along their first curve.


Inline image 1

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 11:33 AM, Eric Thivierge
ethivie...@hybride.com mailto:ethivie...@hybride.com wrote:

Huh... works actually. I remember this not working
before...  carry on never mind.

Eric T.


On 3/19/2015 12:25 PM, Eric Thivierge wrote:

Closest location doesn't work with curves fed in with
a group. It always uses the first one.

Eric T.

On 3/19/2015 12:23 PM, Grahame Fuller wrote:

Greg, any details about not getting it to work on
curves? As far as I know, it should.

gray

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com]
On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 12:02 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow
branching geometry

Your best bet is to create a mesh from those
curves and transfer the curve's tangent onto the
mesh as a vector attribute.

Emit from the curve but use the geo's attribute to
set the direction. How Paul Smith's hair grooming
stuff works essentially.

Using a group of curves or even doing one curve at
a time won't get a nice smooth result I don't
think. You'll probably get popping.

Eric T.
On 3/19/2015 11:48 AM, Greg Punchatz wrote:
Dave has got something worked out, but its not
ideal.  He cannot get a group of curves to work,
and is wiring up each one in by hand in the ICE tree.

What he wants to do is emit an objects from one
end of a curve and the have it follow the curve to
the end.. but he wants to do this to a group of
curves.  He can make it work one curve at a time
fine, he can wire the bizzilion curves up by hand
but its not ideal.

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM,
pete...@skynet.be
mailto:pete...@skynet.bemailto:pete...@skynet.be 
mailto:pete...@skynet.be
wrote:
I think you can get the closest point on a group
of curves,
get the point-tangent from there and use that
(vector) as a force,
combine to taste with turbulence, and perhaps a
force

ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Dave Sisk
Hi, I'm trying to create an effect with particles flowing from one several
ends of branching geometry to another of several ends on the same geometry.

Right now I'm working with Flow Along Curve and a bunch of
partially-overlapping curves that go from one end to the other, but since
ICE is pretty limited in what you can plug a geometry port into, I'm
running into a LOT of duplication that makes adding or removing curves a
labor intensive process.

Is there another approach to this I should be trying?

Thanks,
Dave Sisk


RE: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Grahame Fuller
Greg, any details about not getting it to work on curves? As far as I know, it 
should.

gray

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 12:02 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

Your best bet is to create a mesh from those curves and transfer the curve's 
tangent onto the mesh as a vector attribute.

Emit from the curve but use the geo's attribute to set the direction. How Paul 
Smith's hair grooming stuff works essentially.

Using a group of curves or even doing one curve at a time won't get a nice 
smooth result I don't think. You'll probably get popping.

Eric T.
On 3/19/2015 11:48 AM, Greg Punchatz wrote:
Dave has got something worked out, but its not ideal.  He cannot get a group of 
curves to work, and is wiring up each one in by hand in the ICE tree.

What he wants to do is emit an objects from one end of a curve and the have it 
follow the curve to the end.. but he wants to do this to a group of curves.  He 
can make it work one curve at a time fine, he can wire the bizzilion curves up 
by hand but its not ideal.

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM, pete...@skynet.bemailto:pete...@skynet.be 
wrote:
I think you can get the closest point on a group of curves,
get the point-tangent from there and use that (vector) as a force,
combine to taste with turbulence, and perhaps a force pulling towards the curve 
(vector from point to closest point) for extra control.

adding/removing curves to the group is all you’d need to do to add them to the 
simulation.
hope this helps.



From: Dave Siskmailto:d...@janimation.com
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 3:27 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

Hi, I'm trying to create an effect with particles flowing from one several ends 
of branching geometry to another of several ends on the same geometry.

Right now I'm working with Flow Along Curve and a bunch of 
partially-overlapping curves that go from one end to the other, but since ICE 
is pretty limited in what you can plug a geometry port into, I'm running into a 
LOT of duplication that makes adding or removing curves a labor intensive 
process.

Is there another approach to this I should be trying?

Thanks,
Dave Sisk


attachment: winmail.dat

Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Eric Thivierge
Closest location doesn't work with curves fed in with a group. It always 
uses the first one.


Eric T.

On 3/19/2015 12:23 PM, Grahame Fuller wrote:

Greg, any details about not getting it to work on curves? As far as I know, it 
should.

gray

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 12:02 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

Your best bet is to create a mesh from those curves and transfer the curve's 
tangent onto the mesh as a vector attribute.

Emit from the curve but use the geo's attribute to set the direction. How Paul 
Smith's hair grooming stuff works essentially.

Using a group of curves or even doing one curve at a time won't get a nice 
smooth result I don't think. You'll probably get popping.

Eric T.
On 3/19/2015 11:48 AM, Greg Punchatz wrote:
Dave has got something worked out, but its not ideal.  He cannot get a group of 
curves to work, and is wiring up each one in by hand in the ICE tree.

What he wants to do is emit an objects from one end of a curve and the have it 
follow the curve to the end.. but he wants to do this to a group of curves.  He 
can make it work one curve at a time fine, he can wire the bizzilion curves up 
by hand but its not ideal.

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM, pete...@skynet.bemailto:pete...@skynet.be 
wrote:
I think you can get the closest point on a group of curves,
get the point-tangent from there and use that (vector) as a force,
combine to taste with turbulence, and perhaps a force pulling towards the curve 
(vector from point to closest point) for extra control.

adding/removing curves to the group is all you’d need to do to add them to the 
simulation.
hope this helps.



From: Dave Siskmailto:d...@janimation.com
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 3:27 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

Hi, I'm trying to create an effect with particles flowing from one several ends 
of branching geometry to another of several ends on the same geometry.

Right now I'm working with Flow Along Curve and a bunch of 
partially-overlapping curves that go from one end to the other, but since ICE 
is pretty limited in what you can plug a geometry port into, I'm running into a 
LOT of duplication that makes adding or removing curves a labor intensive 
process.

Is there another approach to this I should be trying?

Thanks,
Dave Sisk







Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Eric Thivierge
Your best bet is to create a mesh from those curves and transfer the 
curve's tangent onto the mesh as a vector attribute.


Emit from the curve but use the geo's attribute to set the direction. 
How Paul Smith's hair grooming stuff works essentially.


Using a group of curves or even doing one curve at a time won't get a 
nice smooth result I don't think. You'll probably get popping.


Eric T.

On 3/19/2015 11:48 AM, Greg Punchatz wrote:
Dave has got something worked out, but its not ideal.  He cannot get a 
group of curves to work, and is wiring up each one in by hand in the 
ICE tree.


What he wants to do is emit an objects from one end of a curve and the 
have it follow the curve to the end.. but he wants to do this to a 
group of curves.  He can make it work one curve at a time fine, he can 
wire the bizzilion curves up by hand but its not ideal.


On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM, pete...@skynet.be 
mailto:pete...@skynet.be wrote:


I think you can get the closest point on a group of curves,
get the point-tangent from there and use that (vector) as a force,
combine to taste with turbulence, and perhaps a force pulling
towards the curve (vector from point to closest point) for extra
control.
adding/removing curves to the group is all you’d need to do to add
them to the simulation.
hope this helps.
*From:* Dave Sisk mailto:d...@janimation.com
*Sent:* Thursday, March 19, 2015 3:27 PM
*To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
*Subject:* ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry
Hi, I'm trying to create an effect with particles flowing from one
several ends of branching geometry to another of several ends on
the same geometry.
Right now I'm working with Flow Along Curve and a bunch of
partially-overlapping curves that go from one end to the other,
but since ICE is pretty limited in what you can plug a geometry
port into, I'm running into a LOT of duplication that makes adding
or removing curves a labor intensive process.
Is there another approach to this I should be trying?
Thanks,
Dave Sisk






Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Greg Punchatz
Dave has got something worked out, but its not ideal.  He cannot get a
group of curves to work, and is wiring up each one in by hand in the ICE
tree.

What he wants to do is emit an objects from one end of a curve and the have
it follow the curve to the end.. but he wants to do this to a group of
curves.  He can make it work one curve at a time fine, he can wire the
bizzilion curves up by hand but its not ideal.

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM, pete...@skynet.be wrote:

   I think you can get the closest point on a group of curves,
 get the point-tangent from there and use that (vector) as a force,
 combine to taste with turbulence, and perhaps a force pulling towards the
 curve (vector from point to closest point) for extra control.

 adding/removing curves to the group is all you’d need to do to add them to
 the simulation.
 hope this helps.



  *From:* Dave Sisk d...@janimation.com
 *Sent:* Thursday, March 19, 2015 3:27 PM
 *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 *Subject:* ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

  Hi, I'm trying to create an effect with particles flowing from one
 several ends of branching geometry to another of several ends on the same
 geometry.

 Right now I'm working with Flow Along Curve and a bunch of
 partially-overlapping curves that go from one end to the other, but since
 ICE is pretty limited in what you can plug a geometry port into, I'm
 running into a LOT of duplication that makes adding or removing curves a
 labor intensive process.

 Is there another approach to this I should be trying?

 Thanks,
 Dave Sisk



Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Eric Thivierge
Huh... works actually. I remember this not working before...  carry on 
never mind.


Eric T.

On 3/19/2015 12:25 PM, Eric Thivierge wrote:
Closest location doesn't work with curves fed in with a group. It 
always uses the first one.


Eric T.

On 3/19/2015 12:23 PM, Grahame Fuller wrote:
Greg, any details about not getting it to work on curves? As far as I 
know, it should.


gray

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric 
Thivierge

Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 12:02 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

Your best bet is to create a mesh from those curves and transfer the 
curve's tangent onto the mesh as a vector attribute.


Emit from the curve but use the geo's attribute to set the direction. 
How Paul Smith's hair grooming stuff works essentially.


Using a group of curves or even doing one curve at a time won't get a 
nice smooth result I don't think. You'll probably get popping.


Eric T.
On 3/19/2015 11:48 AM, Greg Punchatz wrote:
Dave has got something worked out, but its not ideal.  He cannot get 
a group of curves to work, and is wiring up each one in by hand in 
the ICE tree.


What he wants to do is emit an objects from one end of a curve and 
the have it follow the curve to the end.. but he wants to do this to 
a group of curves.  He can make it work one curve at a time fine, he 
can wire the bizzilion curves up by hand but its not ideal.


On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM, 
pete...@skynet.bemailto:pete...@skynet.be wrote:

I think you can get the closest point on a group of curves,
get the point-tangent from there and use that (vector) as a force,
combine to taste with turbulence, and perhaps a force pulling towards 
the curve (vector from point to closest point) for extra control.


adding/removing curves to the group is all you’d need to do to add 
them to the simulation.

hope this helps.



From: Dave Siskmailto:d...@janimation.com
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 3:27 PM
To: 
softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com

Subject: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

Hi, I'm trying to create an effect with particles flowing from one 
several ends of branching geometry to another of several ends on the 
same geometry.


Right now I'm working with Flow Along Curve and a bunch of 
partially-overlapping curves that go from one end to the other, but 
since ICE is pretty limited in what you can plug a geometry port 
into, I'm running into a LOT of duplication that makes adding or 
removing curves a labor intensive process.


Is there another approach to this I should be trying?

Thanks,
Dave Sisk









Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

2015-03-19 Thread Dave Sisk
Thanks for the responses guys.

I've continued with my brute force method for now because it gets the job
done. It involves several Select Case nodes with 29 cases each though, so
you can imagine why I was reluctant to string that up. :)

I've tried the suggested approach, but I usually get a jump to the same
curve over and over again when they overlap instead of continuing along
their first curve.


[image: Inline image 1]

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 11:33 AM, Eric Thivierge ethivie...@hybride.com
wrote:

 Huh... works actually. I remember this not working before...  carry on
 never mind.

 Eric T.


 On 3/19/2015 12:25 PM, Eric Thivierge wrote:

 Closest location doesn't work with curves fed in with a group. It always
 uses the first one.

 Eric T.

 On 3/19/2015 12:23 PM, Grahame Fuller wrote:

 Greg, any details about not getting it to work on curves? As far as I
 know, it should.

 gray

 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-bounces@
 listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Eric Thivierge
 Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 12:02 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 Subject: Re: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

 Your best bet is to create a mesh from those curves and transfer the
 curve's tangent onto the mesh as a vector attribute.

 Emit from the curve but use the geo's attribute to set the direction.
 How Paul Smith's hair grooming stuff works essentially.

 Using a group of curves or even doing one curve at a time won't get a
 nice smooth result I don't think. You'll probably get popping.

 Eric T.
 On 3/19/2015 11:48 AM, Greg Punchatz wrote:
 Dave has got something worked out, but its not ideal.  He cannot get a
 group of curves to work, and is wiring up each one in by hand in the ICE
 tree.

 What he wants to do is emit an objects from one end of a curve and the
 have it follow the curve to the end.. but he wants to do this to a group of
 curves.  He can make it work one curve at a time fine, he can wire the
 bizzilion curves up by hand but its not ideal.

 On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 9:50 AM, pete...@skynet.bemailto:pete
 r...@skynet.be wrote:
 I think you can get the closest point on a group of curves,
 get the point-tangent from there and use that (vector) as a force,
 combine to taste with turbulence, and perhaps a force pulling towards
 the curve (vector from point to closest point) for extra control.

 adding/removing curves to the group is all you’d need to do to add them
 to the simulation.
 hope this helps.



 From: Dave Siskmailto:d...@janimation.com
 Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 3:27 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.commailto:softimage@listproc.
 autodesk.com
 Subject: ICE emit particles and follow branching geometry

 Hi, I'm trying to create an effect with particles flowing from one
 several ends of branching geometry to another of several ends on the same
 geometry.

 Right now I'm working with Flow Along Curve and a bunch of
 partially-overlapping curves that go from one end to the other, but since
 ICE is pretty limited in what you can plug a geometry port into, I'm
 running into a LOT of duplication that makes adding or removing curves a
 labor intensive process.

 Is there another approach to this I should be trying?

 Thanks,
 Dave Sisk