As RailClone has become not only a procedural modeller - but also a procedural layout tool, the need for more layout related functions arise. I have an idea for one - (aside from the ever returning ForestPro handling of materials).
At the moment I'm am optimizing an quite advanced office layout setup made earlier (I have attached an explained screendump of the RC setup and a render of the setup in action) - and yes, there are things to make differently - but it works quite well, never the less.
My task now is, apart from optimizing the setup and make it more flexible, to add functionality to handle random heights of chairs and tables. Although it is possible to do this with the current functions, the function tree gets much more complicated than it should. There for I miss a function that works a little like compose but doesn't propagate the parts but keep them together at the same spot - a kind of grouping / positioning tool.
Here's an example, take a height adjustable office chair. The model is divided in two parts, the wheel part and the lower part of the center column - and the upper part of the center column and the seat ect. The aim is to position the two parts exactly at the same spot, - with only the Z value of the upper part as a variant. The chair must of course be placed in relation to the table - with the random transform values for X and Y with in the set variance range. So in many aspects it should be considered as one segment, but be able to handle height variation of the upper part. My idea is that have a group operator, that group a bunch of segments, - in this case the upper and lower part of the chair. This would make it possible to put transforms on the input side of the group operator to handle the individual positioning of the parts and on the output side having it looked at as a segment. Comprende?
I can see many setups that could make use of this kind of operator.
I have also attached the new setup, giving more flexibility - it is still in development, and will be as extensive as the old one - and hopefully with the possibility of random heights of tables and chairs, in the end.
Cheers,
Lars