when to use Pack Geometry in CopySOP

[jim c]

If I have geometry that I'm passing into a CopySop that is changing over time (specifically a basic leaf shape that may have it's shape changed based on stamped values from the copy sop that in turn pull this from attributes on the template points) does it make sense to even use the Packed Geometry option in the CopySOP? IN the sidefx docs I came across this:

" This is important to remember when copy-stamping packed geometry. If every instance of your packed geometry is unique, you get no memory or performance benefits. In fact this will use more memory than "real" geometry would, because each packed primitive has its own overhead. " (https://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/model/packed#how-to)

Since the leaves are different for each template pt, am I sort of defeating the purpose packing them? Or would I use some other workflow? Total number of template points (when the tree is fully grown) is around 110K-150K pts.

[davpe]

when talking about geometry where each copy is stamped to, there is no benefit of packing. you may, however, want to pack the geo after the copy SOP and then bring it back as a packed disk primitive (depends on what are you doing).

Edited October 14, 2016 by davpe