ROP GLTF Character Output geometry node

Export a skinned character with a geometry-based skeleton to a glTF or glb (binary) file.

On this page	Parameters Attributes Inputs
Since	19.0

Note

See the following link for an overview of importing and exporting GLTF files to and from Houdini.

Parameters ¶

Save to Disk

Exports the character with the current parameter settings.

Controls

Opens the Render Control window, which allows you to launch a one-off export with different frame range and dependency settings.

Clip Range

Use clipinfo Detail Attribute

Use the input’s clipinfo detail attribute to obtain the frame range to export.

Render Current Frame

Export only the current frame.

Render Frame Range

Export the frames in the Start/End/Inc frame range, but also allow exporting of frames referenced by in-range frames.

Render Frame Range Only (Strict)

Only export the frames in the Start/End/Inc frame range. Do not allow exporting of other frames, including frames referenced by in-range frames.

Start/End/Inc

Specifies the range of frames to render (start frame, end frame, and increment). All of the values can be floating point values. The range is inclusive.

The Start/End/Inc parameters determine the values of the below local variables for the output driver.

$NRENDER

The number of frames to be rendered by the output driver.

$N

The current frame being rendered (starting at 1 and going to $NRENDER).

For example, if the parameters are set to:

Start	End	Inc
10.5	12	0.5

… there will be 4 frames rendered (10.5, 11, 11.5, and 12), so $NRENDER will have a value of 4.

$N will have the following values at each frame:

Frame	`$N`
10.5	1
11	2
11.5	3
12	4

Render with Take

Uses the settings in a particular take while rendering. Choose Current to use the current take when rendering.

Output File

The path of the file to generate. The extension determines the type of file to generate.

A path with a .glb extension generates a single binary GLB file and stores all resources internally.

A path with a .gltf extension may store some resources externally. Exported resources are stored in the same folder as the file and are referenced relatively.

Export Type

The file format to export.

Detect From Filename

The file format is dependent on the extension in Output File.

glTF

Export as a file with the .gltf format, and store some resources externally.

glb

Export as a single binary file with the .glb format.

Create Intermediate Directories

When turned on, creates intermediate directories for the output file if the specified Output File path contains directories that do not yet exist. For example, if you specify $HIP/output/gltf_output/owl/tropical_screech.gltf as the Output File path, and the /gltf_output and /owl directories do not exist, then the /gltf_output and /owl directories will be created automatically when you export your character.

When turned off, and the Output File path contains directories that do not exist, then the export will silently fail.

Texture Source

Controls the origin of the textures that are included in the exported GLTF file.

Export from Material

New texture images will be exported based on the parameters of the material shader and the parameters on the GLTF output node.

Copy Original Textures

Any supported texture images specified in the material shader will be copied directly to the exported GLTF file, preserving the exact images that were used to build the material.

Texture Format

Controls the file format of the exported material textures.

Original Format or PNG

Textures will be exported in their original formats or as a PNG if a texture’s format is not specified or is unsupported by GLTF.

Original Format or JPEG

Textures will be exported in their original formats or as a JPEG if a texture’s format is not specified or is unsupported by GLTF.

PNG

Textures will be exported as PNGs.

JPEG

Textures will be exported as JPEGs.

Texture Quality

The level of compression to apply to outputted textures. Only applies to lossy image formats (Texture Format is set to Original Format or JPEG or JPEG).

Max Texture Resolution

If any texture is larger than this resolution, then downsize it to this resolution. Useful for quickly reducing the file size.

Rescale Texture as Power of Two

When turned on, rescales exported images so that the final image has dimensions that are powers of two (for example, 512×1024, 2048×2048).

This is required by some low-spec glTF implementations as well as WebGL implementations in older browsers.

Clip Name

The name of the exported animation.

Sets the copyright information in the exported GLTF file.

Flip Normal Map Y

When turned on, inverts the y-coordinate on the normal texture map for each exported mesh. glTF’s orientation expects an upwards facing y-axis.

Export Custom Attributes

When turned on, all public attributes are exported. When turned off, only attributes defined in the glTF standard are exported.

Attributes are exported with their original types whenever possible. However, glTF allows a maximum of 32 bits for floats and integers. Integers are also required to be unsigned. Attempting to export a datatype larger than this will narrow the type and print a warning.

Exported custom attribute names are the original names plus an _ (underscore) prefix.

As glTF only supports point attributes, name collisions will be resolved using the normal attribute resolution order.

Export Materials

When turned on, this option exports Principled Shader materials. Materials are exported as a combination of emissive maps, normal maps, and pbrMetallicRoughness materials. All associated textures and images used by the material are exported alongside the material. Some Principled Shader options such as ambient occlusion and subsurface scattering are not exported.

Materials that do not use the Principled Shader will be ignored.

Export Skin Mesh Name

When turned on, adds a name to the mesh representing the skin of this character. The Mesh Name Source parameter controls the naming of the mesh.

Mesh Name Source

Node Name

The GLTF mesh name will be assigned the name of the SOP node of the exported mesh.

Attribute

The GLTF mesh name will be assigned the name stored in the attribute specified by the Mesh Name Attribute parameter. It can be any type of attribute, but it must have a consistent value.

Mesh Name Attribute

The name of the attribute that contains the mesh name’s value.

Export Joint Names

When turned on, adds names to each node in the glTF scene that represents the joints of the skeleton. The name attribute on the Capture Pose will be used to name each joint node.

Scripts

A script command can be specified for execution at various execution points. The expression language selected for the script parameter determines whether the command is in hscript or python.

Prior to execution, this node is automatically set as the global current node.

To run statements from a file, specify the path to the file with either a .cmd extension (when the language is set to Hscript) or a .py extension (when the language is set to Python). Additional arguments to the script can also be supplied. They will be parsed in a shell-like manner.

Pre-Render Script

Run this script before any rendering.

Pre-Frame Script

Run this script before each frame.

Post-Frame Script

Run this script after each frame.

Post-Render Script

Run this script after all rendering.

Attributes ¶

boneCapture		Point attribute on the skin geometry that defines the skinning weights.
clipinfo		This detail attribute records the current animation range and sample rate, as well as the original animation range and sample rate of the imported animation.
material_override		Primitive attribute on the skin geometry that holds the material property values.
name		Point attribute containing the unique name across all points used for identification.
shop_materialpath		Primitive attribute used to specify the path to a shader node used for rendering.

Inputs ¶

Rest Geometry

The character’s rest geometry. It must have at least a name or path primitive attribute for the shape name to save to the primitives. A boneCapture point attribute is also required for skin deformation.

Capture Pose

The character’s capture pose for skin deformation.

Each joint in the skeleton is represented by a point, where the P and transform (matrix3) attributes contain the joint’s transform. The point’s name attribute contains the joint’s name, and is matched up with the capture paths in the rest geometry’s boneCapture attribute when deforming the skin. The skeleton’s hierarchy is represented by two-point polygons between the points for each child joint and its parent.

Animated Pose

The character’s animated pose, which is represented in the same manner as the Capture Pose.

Parameters ¶

Attributes ¶

Inputs ¶

Geometry nodes