Houdini 20.5 Nodes VOP nodes

Point Cloud Write VOP node

This function writes data for the current shading point out to a point cloud file.

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This VOP uses the name of the output point cloud file and up to 2 label/value pairs to write the data into a point cloud file. Point cloud files are useful for calculating subsurface scattering, ambient occlusion and indirect diffuse.

You can add a channel labeled interpolate and put a value of 1 in the matching data input. An interpolated point is written representing the four corners of a micropolygon. This prevents writing out overlapping values.

Note

interpolate cannot be used as the name of any data channel.

Inputs

filename

The name of the file to write the point cloud into. These should use a .pc extension.

ch1

This string labels the attribute to save in filename.pc, such as P, N, v, area, u, etc.

d1

This is the data (float, integer, vector, color, point, normal, whatever) to put in the channel, named above, of the point cloud, filename.pc.

ch2

This string labels the next attribute to save in filename.pc,. This string is the name for the next channel.

d2

This is the data (float, integer, vector, color, point, normal, whatever) to put in the channel, named above, of the point cloud, filename.pc.

mkdir

Create intermediate directories.

Outputs

success

This is an integer, 0 for failed and 1 for success.

Examples

PointCloudWrite Example for Point Cloud Write VOP node

This example shows how the pcwrite vop can be used to write out points to a point cloud file. Render the mantra1 ROP to generate the point cloud, then view the point cloud with gplay. The distribution of points will depend on where mantra shaders are executed - in this case, the mantra ROP is configured to shade hidden surfaces allowing the back faces of the sphere to generate points.

See also

VOP nodes