Get Object Vector - Revision history

Redmaw: Added example images for Choice options.

2025-12-25T00:09:28Z

Added example images for Choice options.

Redmaw: Add images for Choice parameter

2025-12-24T23:33:19Z

Add images for Choice parameter

Redmaw: Add overview example image, reword overview to reflect correct parameter name.

2025-12-24T22:44:45Z

Add overview example image, reword overview to reflect correct parameter name.

Redmaw: Clarified overview description and replaced "instances" with "objects".

2025-12-20T01:22:33Z

Clarified overview description and replaced "instances" with "objects".

Redmaw: Added "Get" category to page

2025-12-20T01:13:33Z

Added "Get" category to page

Redmaw: Added "Get" category tree

2025-12-20T01:08:58Z

Added "Get" category tree

Redmaw: Changes to layout of descriptions.

2025-12-19T04:42:03Z

Changes to layout of descriptions.

Redmaw: Added UI images for Get Object Vector node

2025-12-19T04:37:10Z

Added UI images for Get Object Vector node

Redmaw: Initial documentation for Get Object Vector node

2025-12-19T04:25:52Z

Initial documentation for Get Object Vector node

New page

== Overview ==
As an instanced object is being sampled, the Get Object Vector node can return a 3D vector containing the item’s position, size or direction information. This information can be used to modify the instanced object.

For example, the colour of an instanced object could be modified based on its size, by selecting “Size: Scale factor” from the node’s Choice setting and connecting the node’s output to the “Colour function” parameter of a Default shader node.

'''Settings:'''
*'''Name:''' This setting allows you to apply a descriptive name to the node, which can be helpful when using multiple Get Object Vector nodes in a project.
*'''Enable:''' When checked, the node is active, and when unchecked the node is ignored.
*'''Choice:''' This popup has 8 options which allow you to choose the type of data output by the node as a vector. The data is output in world space coordinates and based on the object’s position, size or direction. The first three options are concerned with the object’s position, and each option progresses deeper into the object hierarchy to return more precise positional information.
<ul>
Anchor point (if instanced): The output value is the location in world space at which the populator places an instanced object. This may be a position on the object or terrain to which the instance is anchored, or a point in free-floating space, but always in world space coordinates.<br/n> For non-instanced objects this output is always 0,0,0. Visually speaking an instanced object may appear in a different place from the "Anchor point" if the original mesh was modeled with an offset to the origin, or if the object maker (e.g. OBJ Reader, TGO Reader, Rock etc.) has a non-zero "Translate" parameter. 
 Position: The output value is the location in world space of the object or instance. 
:;If the object is a standalone object (not an instance):
::The output value is the same as "Translate" parameter of the object maker (e.g. OBJ Reader, TGO Reader, Rock etc.).
::Visually speaking an object may appear in a different place from the "Position" if the original mesh was modeled with an offset from the origin.

:;If the object is an instance (instantiated by a populator):
::If the "Translate" parameter of the object maker (e.g. OBJ Reader, TGO Reader, Rock etc.) is 0,0,0 then the "Position" output value will be identical to the "Anchor point". If the object maker's "Translate" parameter is anything other than 0,0,0, then the instance position is a combination of the "Translate" parameter of the object maker node and the instance's anchor point. It is also affected by the instance's scale factor (a random value assigned by the populator) and the instance's rotation (a random rotation assigned by the populator) which may include “Lean to terrain/object normal”.
::Mathematically speaking, the instance position is the instance transform applied to the "Translate" parameter of the object maker (i.e. the object maker's position is modified by the instance transform).
::''See the diagram for a visualization of how this works.'' 

Centre of bounding box: The output value is the location in world space of the centre of the bounding box that surrounds the mesh of the object or instance. 
:;If the object is a standalone object (not an instance):
::The bounding box centre is affected by any translation, rotation, and scale values from the object maker's Transform tab.

:;If the object is an instance (instantiated by a populator)
::The instance's bounding box centre is affected by any translation, rotation, and scale values from the object maker's Transform tab, as well as the instance's transform, which includes the anchor point from the populator, a random scale factor from the populator and a random rotation from the populator which may include “Lean to terrain/object normal”.
::''See the diagram for a visualization of how this works.''

Scale factor (if instanced): The scale factor chosen by the populator when the instance is created. It is based on a random value between the populator’s “Minimum scale” and “Maximum scale” parameter values. 
Size of bounding box: The output vector represents the size of the object’s bounding box in world space in the final render. Each XYZ component of the vector corresponds to the XYZ size of the bounding box. This takes into account the vertices of the mesh object, the object reader’s “Scale” parameter values, and the populator’s random value chosen between its “Minimum Scale” and “Maximum Scale” parameters. 
Direction: X vector (“Right”), normalized: The output vector represents the final direction of the instanced object based on the rotation value chosen by the populator and the “Rotate” value in the object reader’s transform tab. The scale of the instance object does not affect the output value. 
Direction: U vector (“Up”), normalized: Same as above. 
Direction: Z vector (“Forward”), normalized: Same as above. 

</ul>

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 [[File: 08_GetObjectVector_ObjectMaker-1YTransform.png|none|705px|A TGO Reader node assigned to the population's Object Maker input.]]
 <u>Anchor point (if instanced):</u> The output value is the location in world space at which the populator places an instanced object.
 ::This may be a position on the object or terrain to which the instance is anchored, or a point in free-floating space, but always in world space coordinates.<br/n>
 ::For non-instanced objects this output is always 0,0,0.
-::Visually speaking an instanced object may appear in a different place from the "Anchor point" if the original mesh was modeled with an offset to the origin, or if the object maker (e.g. OBJ Reader, TGO Reader, Rock etc.) has a non-zero "Translate" parameter. <br /n>
+::Visually speaking an instanced object may appear in a different place from the "Anchor point" if the original mesh was modeled with an offset to the origin, or if the object maker (e.g. OBJ Reader, TGO Reader, Rock etc.) has a non-zero "Translate" parameter. ''See the diagram above for a visualization of how this works.'' <br /n>
 <u> Position:</u> The output value is the location in world space of the object or instance.<br /n>
 :;If the object is a standalone object (not an instance):
@@ Line 37: / Line 46: @@
 :;If the object is an instance (instantiated by a populator):
 ::If the "Translate" parameter of the object maker (e.g. OBJ Reader, TGO Reader, Rock etc.) is 0,0,0 then the "Position" output value will be identical to the "Anchor point". If the object maker's "Translate" parameter is anything other than 0,0,0, then the instance position is a combination of the "Translate" parameter of the object maker node and the instance's anchor point. It is also affected by the instance's scale factor (a random value assigned by the populator) and the instance's rotation (a random rotation assigned by the populator) which may include “Lean to terrain/object normal”.
-::Mathematically speaking, the instance position is the instance transform applied to the "Translate" parameter of the object maker (i.e. the object maker's position is modified by the instance transform).
+::Mathematically speaking, the instance position is the instance transform applied to the "Translate" parameter of the object maker (i.e. the object maker's position is modified by the instance transform). ''See the diagram above for a visualization of how this works.'' <br /n>
-::''See the diagram for a visualization of how this works.'' <br /n>
+::[[File: 11_GetObjectVector_Stones-Pos.jpg|none|400px|Colour of instanced rocks modified by the Choice: Position]]
 <u>Centre of bounding box:</u> The output value is the location in world space of the centre of the bounding box that surrounds the mesh of the object or instance. <br /n>
@@ Line 45: / Line 55: @@
 :;If the object is an instance (instantiated by a populator)
-::The instance's bounding box centre is affected by any translation, rotation, and scale values from the object maker's Transform tab, as well as the instance's transform, which includes the anchor point from the populator, a random scale factor from the populator and a random rotation from the populator which may include “Lean to terrain/object normal”.
+::The instance's bounding box centre is affected by any translation, rotation, and scale values from the object maker's Transform tab, as well as the instance's transform, which includes the anchor point from the populator, a random scale factor from the populator and a random rotation from the populator which may include “Lean to terrain/object normal”. ''See the diagram above for a visualization of how this works.''<br /n>
-::''See the diagram for a visualization of how this works.''
+::[[File: 12_GetObjectVector_Stones-CntrBBox.jpg|none|400px|Colour of instanced rocks modified by the Choice: Centre of bounding box]]
 <u>Scale factor (if instanced):</u> The scale factor chosen by the populator when the instance is created. It is based on a random value between the populator’s “Minimum scale” and “Maximum scale” parameter values. <br /n>
 <u>Size of bounding box:</u> The output vector represents the size of the object’s bounding box in world space in the final render.  Each XYZ component of the vector corresponds to the XYZ size of the bounding box.  This takes into account the vertices of the mesh object, the object reader’s “Scale” parameter values, and the populator’s random value chosen between its “Minimum Scale” and “Maximum Scale” parameters. <br /n>
 <u>Direction: X vector (“Right”), normalized:</u> The output vector represents the final direction of the instanced object based on the rotation value chosen by the populator and the “Rotate” value in the object reader’s transform tab.  The scale of the instance object does not affect the output value.<br /n>
-<u>Direction: U vector (“Up”), normalized:</u> Same as above. <br /n>
+::[[File: 15_GetObjectVector_Stones-DirX.jpg|none|400px|Colour of instanced rocks modified by the Choice: Direction: X vector ("Right"), normalized]]
 <u>Direction: Z vector (“Forward”), normalized:</u> Same as above. <br /n>
+::[[File: 17_GetObjectVector_Stones-DirZ.jpg|none|400px|Colour of instanced rocks modified by the Choice: Direction: Z vector ("Forward"), normalized]]
 </ul>
 <br /n>
 [[Category: Get]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:33, 24 December 2025
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	[[File: 01_GetObjectVector_Choice.png\|none\|489px\|Options for the Choice parameter]]<br /n>		[[File: 01_GetObjectVector_Choice.png\|none\|489px\|Options for the Choice parameter]]<br /n>

		+	{\|
		+	\|-
		+	\| [[File: 06_GetObjectVector_RockNoTransform.png\|none\|400px\|Instance of rock without transforms via the Object Maker node.]] \|\| [[File: 07_GetObjectVector_RockWTransform.png\|none\|400px\|Instance of rock with -1.0 translation in Y axis of Object Maker node.]]
		+	\|}

		+	[[File: 08_GetObjectVector_ObjectMaker-1YTransform.png\|none\|705px\|A TGO Reader node assigned to the population's Object Maker input.]]

	<u>Anchor point (if instanced):</u> The output value is the location in world space at which the populator places an instanced object.		<u>Anchor point (if instanced):</u> The output value is the location in world space at which the populator places an instanced object.

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 As an object is being sampled, the Get Object Vector node can return a 3D vector containing the item’s position, size or direction information. This information can be used in shaders applied to the object.
-For example, the colour of an instanced object could be modified based on its size, by selecting “Size: Scale factor” from the node’s Choice setting and connecting the node’s output to the “Colour function” parameter of a Default shader node.
+For example, the colour of an instanced object could be modified based on its size, by selecting “Scale factor (if instanced)” from the node’s Choice setting and connecting the node’s output to the “Colour function” parameter of a Default shader node.
 '''Settings:'''
@@ Line 15: / Line 18: @@
 <ul>
 [[File: 01_GetObjectVector_Choice.png|none|489px|Options for the Choice parameter]]<br /n>
 <u>Anchor point (if instanced):</u> The output value is the location in world space at which the populator places an instanced object.

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:13, 20 December 2025
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	</ul>		</ul>
	<br /n>		<br /n>
		+	[[Category: Get]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:08, 20 December 2025
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		+	<div style="float:right; border-style:solid; padding:20px"><categorytree mode=pages hideroot=off>Get</categorytree></div>
		+
	[[File: 00_UI_GetObjectVector.png\|none\|705px\|Get Object Vector UI]]		[[File: 00_UI_GetObjectVector.png\|none\|705px\|Get Object Vector UI]]

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 == Overview ==
-As an instanced object is being sampled, the Get Object Vector node can return a 3D vector containing the item’s position, size or direction information. This information can be used to modify the instanced object.
+As an object is being sampled, the Get Object Vector node can return a 3D vector containing the item’s position, size or direction information. This information can be used in shaders applied to the object.
 For example, the colour of an instanced object could be modified based on its size, by selecting “Size: Scale factor” from the node’s Choice setting and connecting the node’s output to the “Colour function” parameter of a Default shader node.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 == Overview ==
 As an instanced object is being sampled, the Get Object Vector node can return a 3D vector containing the item’s position, size or direction information. This information can be used to modify the instanced object.
@@ Line 9: / Line 12: @@
 *'''Choice:''' This popup has 8 options which allow you to choose the type of data output by the node as a vector.  The data is output in world space coordinates and based on the object’s position, size or direction. The first three options are concerned with the object’s position, and each option progresses deeper into the object hierarchy to return more precise positional information.
 <ul>
 <u>Anchor point (if instanced):</u> The output value is the location in world space at which the populator places an instanced object. This may be a position on the object or terrain to which the instance is anchored, or a point in free-floating space, but always in world space coordinates.<br/n> For non-instanced objects this output is always 0,0,0. Visually speaking an instanced object may appear in a different place from the "Anchor point" if the original mesh was modeled with an offset to the origin, or if the object maker (e.g. OBJ Reader, TGO Reader, Rock etc.) has a non-zero "Translate" parameter. <br /n>
 <u> Position:</u> The output value is the location in world space of the object or instance.<br /n>