3D Hierarchy

This tab gives access to the complete structure of the current scene and enables you to re-organize it.

The structure is in the form of a tree where each node can contain instances, cameras, projectors, other nodes, etc.

Each node has its own positioning properties in space : Position, Rotation, Scale along all three axes X/Y/Z.

You can modify and reorder the structure of this tree freely by drag and dropping the different elements from one node to another.

Child nodes inherit the positioning properties of their parent nodes.

At the bottom of this panel there is a toolbar that allows you to manage 3D objects:

Button	Description
	Add 3D objects
	Delete 3D objects
	More actions : expand/collapse all or selected 3D objects
	Search 3D objects

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Add objects

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By pressing the add button on the toolbar, a menu gives access to a list of objects that can be added to your scene: prefabs, cameras, projectors, lights or import a 3D file.

*Tip: You can also access to this menu with a right click in the 3D viewer panel.

Option	Description
Import	Import 3D files
Merge animation *	Re-import an animation track from a 3D file
Import from Kinetic file	Import only the projectors from another existing Kinetic project
Import projector from csv	Import projectors from csv file
Node	Add an empty node
Prefab	Add prefabricated 3D objects
Light	Add 3D lights
Camera	Add 3D cameras
Projector	Add projectors
Optitrack camera	Add optitrack camera
Modifiers	Add modifiers: Cloner and symmetry
Trigger	Add a 3D trigger area volume

*Note: The Merge animation option can be used either if the animation track was deleted by mistake from the 3D scene or if the animation track has been changed but the rest of the hierarchy is the same in two different versions of a 3D exchange file.

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Import

You can import a wide variety of 3D file formats (glTF, dae, fbx, obj, 3ds, etc.) directly into Kinetic with the import option.

Once you have selected your file, you can choose which elements you want to be added to your scene.

Element	Description
Meshes	Imports the different geometries/objects from the file
Materials	Imports the available materials/textures from the file
Auto	Select from the dropdown how materials should be imported. You can force Unlit or PBR materials here
Skeletons	Imports the skeleton of objects if they have one
Cameras	Imports the available cameras
Lights	Imports the available lights
Animations	Imports the available animations
Bake animation	Pre-calculates the animations in a separate file (if imported). More information.
Vertex color	In some cases, it is possible that each vertex of the object has its own color, so it is necessary to activate this parameter
Optimize file	Specific to glTF format. Simplifies file structure wherever possible
Remove unused nodes	Specific to glTF format. If optimization leaves some nodes empty they will be removed
Force dae rename	Specific to dae format. Forces the names into the nodes when importing Collada format

Once the file is imported, Kinetic will create a node in the 3D scene with the basename of the file that was imported.

By default this node is locked because it may contain transformation information related to the way the scene was exported.

It is possible to unlock it to modify its values, but we do not recommend it. It is preferable to add a node directly child to the imported node and use it to modify the entire imported elements.

*Note: To import animated skeletons, use the glTF format.

As of version 6, Modulo Kinetic does not support importing meshes rigged on animated skeletons in FBX format.

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_bin folder

When importing a 3D file, Kinetic will create a folder in the same folder of the 3D file on the hard drive and will name it: <3d-file-name>_bin

This folder contains all the texture, animations and mesh data related to the 3D file that was imported and should not be deleted from the drive so long as the import exists in your project.

If you remove a previously imported element from your 3D scene and properly purge the scene of all related material, mesh, animation and skeleton data, the _bin folder can be safely deleted from the drive.

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Node

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As in most 3D software, the scene is organized in nested nodes.

These nodes are used to position elements in 3D space (position, rotation, scale).

Each transformation of a node affects its child nodes.

Parameter	Description
Visible	Toggle the display of the node and all of its children
Force triggerable	Forces the node to trigger the Trigger Area Scene 3D graph node even if it is invisible
Tag	Tag in relation to the Instantiate 3D graph node
Layer	Layer ID in relation to the Trigger Area Scene 3D graph node
Position	Position of the node relative to its parent node
Rotation	Rotations around the X/Y/Z axes of the node relative to its parent node
Scale	Scale factor on the X/Y/Z axes of the node

*Note: As these transformations are cumulative, it’s possible that after certain rotations the axes of rotation become confused (gimbal lock).

To remedy this, a parent node should be created to separate the rotations.

These values can be animated in several ways :

• In an animation track: By drag and dropping them into the animation editor.
• In a compute graph: By drag and dropping either the entire node or an individual property to read/write its value.
• In a timeline: By drag and dropping it into a timeline to create a layer and keyframe animate its values.

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Modifiers

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In the modifier menu you can add a Cloner or a Symmetry modifier to your 3D Scene.

Once it has been added, you can drag and drop the element you wish to modify into the modifier node.

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Cloner

The Cloner allows you to repeat your object either in a grid (X/Y/Z) or in a radial manner.

Parameter	Description
Visible	Toggle to render the cloner in the 3D Viewer
Position	Cloner position in the 3 axes
Rotation	Cloner rotation in the 3 axes
Scale	Cloner scale in the 3 axes
Type	Select the cloner type: Grid or Radial
	Grid		Radial
Grid x	Number of clones on x-axis	Axis	Select the axis around which to turn
Grid y	Number of clones on y-axis	Count	Number of clones
Grid z	Number of clones on z-axis	Angle	Angle between each clone
Grid spacing x	Space between each clone on x-axis
Grid spacing y	Space between each clone on y-axis
Grid spacing z	Space between each clone on z-axis

*Note: Be careful when setting up a cloner grid to increment the settings lightly, and preferably by directly typing in the numbers in the fields as high values may demand a lot of ressources on the Designer.

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Symmetry

This modifier allows you to make a symmetry along 1 axis.

Parameter	Description
Visible	Toggle to render the symmetry 3D Viewer
Position	Symmetry position in the 3 axes
Rotation	Symmetry rotation in the 3 axes
Scale	Symmetry scale in the 3 axes
Axis	Select the symmetry axis

*Note: Symmetry modifiers can be nested in each other to develop symmetry along several axes.

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Baking modifiers

Once your modifier has been configured correctly you can right-click on the modifier and select the Bake option.

This will create all the necessary nodes and instances in your 3D Hierarchy for each element created by the modifier.

After baking, the modifier will disappear and changing its parameters is no longer possible.

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Area triggers

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You can add areas in your scene that can trigger tasks when designated enter or leave these areas.

To enable area triggers in your 3D scene you must activate the corresponding parameter in the 3D Scene settings

First add an Area Trigger from the Add menu and configure its parameters in the Editor panel.

Then drag and drop it into the trigger field of a task.

Once done, you can decide which instance is going to trigger and when, by entering or leaving the zone.

*Note: You must enter the exact name of the instance that will trigger the action.

You can create more complex shapes by adding several zones that overlap with the same group id.

Note that the instance must be entirely contained inside the Trigger Area’s zone for it to triggered “On entered” and that it must be entirely outside the zone after being inside for it to triggered “On exited”.

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