the 'AGE' or birthframe attempt ... ( Py )

[zarti]

hi ,

after reading few threads about storing the age of an 'event' over the geometry and getting no real solution ( esp for me , an Escapist , not a Master ); i decided to try with Python .

.. so in other words storing birth .. frames in an attribute called 'birthday' , is the main goal here .

my idea is this:

1. > to get and write out files for each frame pressing the Play button in timeline ( kind of 'simulation' ).

2. > to process the written files and generate a unique one which practically has the ID-s and the BirthFrames .

3. > create an attribute to the geometry with the recorded values ( for points not in Records assign a value of 0 , since Hou scenes start in frame 1 )

oc , in order to speed up things , during the first 2 procedure points :

1-only the points involved are written and 2-files with no data ( 0Kb in size ) are ignored .

on another note , my idea is to use folders of RadioButtons type as wizard-kind of setup . but , the main reason i chose those is that those act like separators for the whole process , and once the file which feeds the 'birthday' attrib column is build there is no more need to 'simulate' . the node is active , you can move the timeline while birthframes are stored =).

the 1st screen shows its parameter pane and the 2nd is a screenshot of a simple test : the Tube SOP is animated . the "catcher" group is used as a "bounding object" for the points of the Grid . the"group1" node now has all the 'records' and a new point-attrib is created storing their birth..frame ..

seems promising .

i'll keep posting here its progress and usage examples ..

while critiques, suggestions from everyone are welcomed , as always .

.. esp from Python Gurus =)

.cheers

[edward]

Instead of saving out geometry files, you can probably use a Cache SOP to record cooked geometry. They can be retrieved in turn in your Python SOP by getting your input geometry at different times.

[static]

Here's my take, no python or cache nodes needed.

birthday.hipnc

Edit: Ah, nevermind, you aren't using particles. Jumped the gun

Edited June 11, 2011 by static

[zarti]

Instead of saving out geometry files, you can probably use a Cache SOP to record cooked geometry. They can be retrieved in turn in your Python SOP by getting your input geometry at different times.

oops , my mistake .. i didn't described my self correctly .

i'm not writing all the geometry files . the otl creates ( if there is none ) a dedicated folder where it simply puts *.txt files with the data i'm interested . so, it writes empty files if no 'event' happens to any point or point IDs and frames if it happens. basically a sequence of *.txt files for every frame scrubbed while the "record" tab is active ( record mode ).

the "process" state ( section of the script ), deals only with the recorded txt files, not the scene. it creates another unique *.txt file for latter to be used by the "attri" tab . this ignores totally the timeline.

saving out geo could be an additional feature just to deal with different scenarios .. not thought about it yet .

.cheers

[zarti]

two videos ; 1st - a pretty simple test / example . 2nd - node's usage in that example .

the mesh has almost 27,000 points and skipping the 'print option' should go faster theoretically ..

by the way , is there a option or 'a way' i can save data from a Print VOP node to a text file ??

.cheers

[Div]

You may also want to have a look at the feedback sop, which you have to install manually, search the forum for "proto install".

The feedback sop is basically a sop solver in sops (= iterative sops).

Hope that helps

[zarti]

thanks Div for the suggestion ,

searched , found and installed the 'feedback' node . nothing more than that .

the 'feedback CHOP' portion in docs seem to be not enough for me without an example .

so , can anyone explain to me in few words how that node is supposed to be set up usually ?

a simple example wd be enough ..

!thanks

[petz]

thanks Div for the suggestion ,

searched , found and installed the 'feedback' node . nothing more than that .

the 'feedback CHOP' portion in docs seem to be not enough for me without an example .

so , can anyone explain to me in few words how that node is supposed to be set up usually ?

a simple example wd be enough ..

!thanks

at the very bottom of this post there is an example using the feedback-sop

petz

[Div]

Yep, no doc for the feedback sop, sorry.

Here is a simple example to understand.

//edit: Oops didn't see petz post...

feedback.hip

Edited June 15, 2011 by Div

[zarti]

thank you to both of you ; petz and Div ! i appreciate that ..

im going to do some tests in terms of performance and workflow ..

maybe i can cook something with both 'ways', but im not very optimistic since it is a hidden and unsupported feature .

.cheers

p.s.: a suggestion to Hou-Makers :

put the petz's example file inside the docs . it is really useful to users like me in the future ..

or , at least , something similar in CHOPs context ..