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Author Topic: Groynes + stacking segments  (Read 1571 times)

Macker

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Groynes + stacking segments
« on: April 05, 2016, 05:25:28 PM »
Hey guys, I'm looking at creating some timber groynes - see picture...



I've got 3 basic plank segments (with variations such as cracks in the timber), and an upright to be used evenly in between sections, as per the picture. Now here comes the hard part...

I want to create a wall of varying heights that can be selected via the spline ID - so ID 1 would be only a single plank high, and ID 2 would be two planks high, and so on; with all the planks materials being randomized.

How can I achieve this? I can't seem to get the individual planks to stack on top of one another.
« Last Edit: April 05, 2016, 05:29:02 PM by Macker »

Paul Roberts

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Re: Groynes + stacking segments
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2016, 10:21:01 AM »
Hi!

You can achieve this using the Conditional Operator by following these steps:

1. Wire the Boards to the False input and an empty segment to the True Input.
2. Select the Conditional operator and turn on Y Counter. Change the Mode to Greater.



3.Right click on the Conditional node and Export Segment Y Counter.
4. Wire this to a new Arithmetic operator. Open the Arithmetic node's properties and change the Operation to Expression.
5. Enter XSplineMatID for the expression. You are now controlling the Segment Y Counter of the Conditional operator using the material ID on the spline!



I've attached an example files which also scales the post heights using the Materials ID by multiplying it by the number of boards.



There are a couple of other notes about this style:

- You'll notice that the posts are wired to a Sequence operator set to Increment on Y In the second input slot is a Null segment and the count value is very high. This is to prevent the style from generating more than one post at a corner.
- The post also has negative top padding so that it's Y size doesn't push the boards apart. It basically means that the boards ignore the height of the posts.
- I've added a height adjustment so you can offset the post heights above the boards.

I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any further questions.

Many thanks,

Paul
Paul Roberts
iToo Software

Macker

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Re: Groynes + stacking segments
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2016, 11:03:45 AM »
Is there anything you can't do?

Genuinely extremely grateful for the assistance, it really does help. I spent far too long scratching my head about how to achieve this.