GPU Multi

Description

The effects in this category all have an Array input and are primarily meant to be used with sensors that detect one or multiple inputs, whether from a single user or many.

Although these effects were designed with user input in mind, they don’t necessarily have to be connected to sensor data. Any array built with the correct properties and connected to the input will also work.

In the following manual pages and for most of the examples we will be using data input from a Leap Motion Controller by Ultraleap.

*Note : Retrieving data input from sensors inside your Render Graphs is not a simple matter of drag&dropping them from the Devices panel into your graph.
This is voluntary : render graphs are designed to be autonomous units that can be designed by graphists offline, with no need for access to the final setup or the venue.
The data from the sensors won’t be directly available in the render graphs, instead, every instance of the render graph that you create in your timeline can be linked to any sensor data you have connected to your setup.
This requires a bit of explanation to grasp how to set up correctly, and you will find a guide for that below.

Effects preview

Spray Paint	Basic Shape	Flower Pulse	Magnify
Maskblob	Metaball	Pixelize	Poly Star
RGB Prism Waves	Rosae	Spherize	Sprite to Point
Twirl	Wave	XPulse	Fluid 2D
Debug Circle	Custom Shape

Setting up sensor data into Render Graph

Video tutorial

Instructions

First, create the sensor in the Devices panel.

Then, drag & drop the device in a Compute Graph, and choose the data you would like to retrieve from that particular sensor in the window that pops up.

If required, remap the data and use a Calibration 2D node to convert the sensor’s data into pixel coordinates.

In the Variables panel, create an Array variable that will hold your data.

Drag & drop the Array variable into your Compute Graph and choose Write to.

Next create a Render Graph and select it. In the Editor panel, in the Inputs tab, click on the + in the bottom left corner and add an Array input.

You can rename it if you want to, then drag & drop it into the Render Graph.
This will create a node that can output whatever data is sent to this input on the Render Graph’s design. For the moment it is not linked to anything.

*It is important to understand that linking data to render graphs is not made directly on its design in the Graph Editor.

Data is linked to instances of a render graph present as media in your timeline.

To create an instance, simply drag & drop the render graph from the Graph Editor into the timeline.

Next, select the instance in your timeline and in the Editor panel, in the Inputs tab, you will find the input created earlier on the Render Graph’s design.

This input can be selected, and the dropdown menu offers three choices : Fixed, Animated or Linked

If you choose Linked you can then drag & drop the Variable you created that holds your sensor’s data.

Now your sensor data is linked to that particular instance of Render Graph and you can see the data in your Graph Editor.

*Note : To preview what is happening in the instance of the render graph you must have the graph open and have the proper instance selected in the timeline.

Editor and Input interaction : Replace, Add, Multiply

The nodes in this category have two sets of properties in the Editor panel : the Inputs properties and the Global properties.

Global properties are always present as inputs on the node and do not interact with properties present in the array used as data input.

On the other hand, Inputs properties represent properties that can be included in the input array as dynamic data with the possibility to have them interact with static values either set in the Editor panel or as input if the property is toggled on using the icon.

With these properties there are three different ways data from the input array can interact with data in the Editor panel, and a drop-down menu next to each property allows you to choose between : Add, Multiply or Replace.

Replace

This is the default option.

Data in the Editor panel will be completely ignored and replaced by data from the input array if and only if that property is present in the array.

For example, most arrays will contain the x and y properties as coordinates to draw the effect at a given location. Since they are present in the array any value set in the Editor panel or sent by another node as an input will be ignored if the Mode is set to Replace.

On the other hand, if for instance a Radius property is available in the Inputs section, but it is not present in the input array, then values set in the Editor panel or sent by nodes as an input will be used.

Add

This option will simply add any value from the input array to the one set either directly in the Editor panel or sent by other nodes as an input.

Multiply

This option is a little trickier as it does not produce the same results if the property is contained in the input array or not.

If the property is contained in the input array then it is simply multiplied by either the value set in the Editor panel or the value sent by other nodes as an input.

If the property is not contained in the input array then whatever value is sent either in the Editor panel or as an input will be multiplied by itself.

Lifetime property

Some nodes have a Lifetime property available in the Inputs section. This property is often used in conjunction with various Speed properties.

Most sensors will create a Lifetime property in their arrays with a value in milliseconds that increments and keeps track of how long it has been since the item was created.

Note that effects that contain Lifetime properties should be animated using Sensors that create that property in their arrays.