In Houdini, you can use TOP nodes (task operators) to generate work items (tasks) to do work for you or store information. With a TOP node network, you can create a scalable recipe for generating work items, running them locally or on a farm, establishing the network of dependencies between all the work items, and figuring out how to do it all as efficiently as possible. This recipe is called a PDG (Procedural Dependency Graph).

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a linear TOP network that chains together geometry with renders and compositing, and then collects all the final frames into an MP4. And to keep things simple, you will not need to use script nodes or perform any complicated network branching. This tutorial is a good foundation for learning all the fundamental concepts of PDG before moving on to more complicated set-ups.

In the first step of this tutorial you will use a Wedge TOP node to set-up a series of variations for the downstream pyro simulation (smoke) by defining the set of attributes to create variations of and the number of variations to create.

This will allow you generate and compare variations of your smoke later on in the tutorial.

1. Run Houdini and open the fxtutorial.hip tutorial scene file.

2. In the Network Editor, navigate to the Tasks context and then dive into the topnet1 network.

3. Create a Wedge node and then rename it to smoke_variations.

   In the TOPs ⇥ Tab menu, you can find Wedge in the Data category.

   The parameters on the Wedge node will build up percentages of attributes to change and define the number of wedges to generate.

   For this tutorial, you will define a set of four different configurations for the pyro sim that will vary the force that is applied to the smoke and the size of the smoke source.

4. Select the smoke_variations node and then configure or wedge out the force and size attributes:

   • Set Wedge Count to 4.

     This determines the number of variations or wedges to generate.

   • Set Wedge Attributes to 2.

     This determines the number of attributes to vary.

   • In the first Wedge Attributes multiparm, do the following:

     • In the Attribute Name parameter field, type force.

       This allows you to vary the force attribute in your wedges.

     • In the Wedge Type parameter drop-down menu, select Value List.

       This allows you to set a specific value for the force attribute for each wedge.

     • In the the Values multiparm field, type 4.

       Four Value fields appear.

     • In each Value field, type one these numbers: 1, 10, 20, and 50.

   • In the second Wedge Attributes multiparm, do the following:

     • In the Attribute Name parameter field, type size.

       This allows you to vary the size attribute in your wedges.

     • In the Wedge Type parameter drop-down menu, select Range.

       This allows you to set a value range for the size attribute for each wedge.

     • In the Start field type 0.5, and in the End field type 2.

       This tells the node to pick random values, between the Start and End field values, for the size attribute.

   • Leave all the other parameters at their default values.

   

5. Generate and cook the work items for the node.

   Before a TOP node can do any work, you first need to create the tasks you want it to execute by generating the node’s work items. And to run those tasks, you need to cook the TOP node.

   • -click on the the smoke_variations node and select Generate Node from the context-sensitive menu that appears.

     In the Network Editor, four dots appear on the smoke_variations node. Each dot represents a work item, and each work item generated by the node is a set of force and size attribute variations or wedges.

     

   • -click on the the smoke_variations node and select Cook Node from the context-sensitive menu that appears.

     In the Network Editor, the smoke_variations node’s work item dots and status icon change color to indicate that they are being worked on, and when they have finished cooking, they change again to indicate that they have been run.

     

     To learn more about the various TOP node UI elements, see PDG node network interface.

     Each of the dots on the node now also represents a wedge.

   Note

   In TOPs, there are two types of nodes: static and dynamic. Static nodes can generate their work items without any inputs as they are not dependent on any upstream data. Dynamic nodes require information from their inputs upstream to generate their work items. That is why dynamic nodes can only generate work items once they are cooking.

   In this tutorial, smoke_variations is one of many static nodes. To learn more about about static and dynamic TOP nodes and their significance in a TOP network, see Static vs. Dynamic.

   Tip

   Cooking a node will also generate any work items on the node that need to be generated.

   
   

6. -click through the work item dots on the smoke_variations node.

   Notice how the wedgeindex, force, and size attributes change from wedge to wedge.

   Tip

   You can use the [ and ] keys to step through work items on a node.

7. Save your tutorial scene.

In this step you will use a ROP Geometry Output TOP node to cache out the pyro simulation’s input or source geometry for each wedge variation. The source geometry is what will emit the smoke in your scene.

This node will cache out the initial smoke point for the pyro sim and decouple the source geometry from the simulation. You want to do this so that when you change the parameter values of your simulation (like with your wedges), you do not also have to recook its source geometry. Instead, the node will just take the source geometry and run the pyro sim.

1. In the Network Editor, create a ROP Geometry Output node, rename it to smoke_src, and then connect its input to the output of the smoke_variations Wedge node.

   In the TOPs ⇥ Tab menu, you can find ROP Geometry Output in the Geometry category.

   The smoke_src TOP node is what points to the smoke_src SOP network. It will generate a number of work items with the attributes you specify to cook (run) that SOP network from frames 1-120 for each wedge variation.

2. Select the smoke_src TOP node and then configure the following parameters:

   • In the Evaluate Using parameter drop-down menu, select Frame Range.

     The default values for the Frame Range parameter are the $FSTART and $FEND variables. These variables are built into Houdini and they correspond to the Global Animation Start Frame and Global Animation End Frame values of the Houdini playbar. So when you change the playbar’s Global Animation Frame values, the Frame Range values on the smoke_src TOP node will update automatically.

     • Change the playbar Global Animation Frame values temporarily to see the values in the Frame Range parameter fields change accordingly.

     • When you have finished experimenting with the playbar’s start and end Global Animation Frame values, return those values to their defaults (1 and 120 respectively).

   • Specify the input path to the smoke_src SOP network.

     • Next to the SOP Path parameter field, click the Open floating operator chooser button.

     • In the Choose Operator pop-up window that appears, select obj ▸ smoke_src ▸ create_density_volume and then click Accept.

       

       The following path appears in the SOP Path parameter field:

       /obj/smoke_src/create_density_volume

     The smoke_src TOP node now knows which geometry to use as the simulation’s source geometry.

   • Specify the output path for the smoke_src TOP node.

     Since you are wedging out four output files for each frame (one for each wedge variation), you need to create a unique file path that includes the wedge number so that the output files do not overwrite each other.

     • In the Output File parameter field, type the following:

       $HIP/geo/$HIPNAME.$OS.`@wedgeindex`.$F.bgeo.sc

       wedgeindex is an attribute that is automatically created by a Wedge node. It identifies each wedge number in the wedge count.

       Note

       If you were using nested wedging, where you have one Wedge node after another, each wedge would have a unique wedge index. The wedge number is the number from the wedge count and it comes from inside the Wedge node. The wedge index on the other hand is the globally unique index of a particular wedge variation. So the wedge number goes up in a 0,1,2,3 and so on sequence, but the wedge index starts at 0 and goes up to the number of work items. The wedge index is guaranteed to be unique.

       For this tutorial, wedge number and wedge index are the same thing since you are not using nested wedging, and you should use the @wedgeindex variable in your output file names so that your file names are always unique.

   • Leave all the other parameters at their default values.

3. Examine the work items that are generated by your smoke_src TOP node.

   • Generate the work items for the node.

     480 dots appear inside the node. Each of these dots represent a source geometry work item for each frame of each wedge (120 frames x 4 wedges).

   • Click on some of the work item dots inside the smoke_src node.

     Notice the lines that appear between the work items on the smoke_variations node and their associated tasks on the smoke_src node. These lines and their corresponding dot highlights indicate the connections between the work items.

     The smoke_variations node generates work items to cook the smoke_src node’s source geometry from frames 1-120 for each wedge variation.

   • In the smoke_variations node, do the following:

     • Temporarily increase the Wedge Count to 5.

     • -click on the smoke_variations node and select Dirty and Cook This Node from the context-sensitive menu that appears.

     • Generate the work items for the smoke_src TOP node.

     This increases the number of wedge variations because the smoke_src node applies its generate frames procedure to each input work item. So instead of generating 480 frames, it now generates 600 frames.

   • Return the Wedge Count to its original value.

     • In the smoke_variations node, decrease the Wedge Count to 4.

     • Dirty and recook the smoke_variations node.

     • Generate the work items for the smoke_src TOP node one last time.

   • View all the work items for the smoke_src TOP node.

     Notice how you cannot see all the dots for all the work items on the node.

     When there are too many work items to display inside a node in the Network Editor, you can either click the bar underneath the dots or open the work item spreadsheet or Task Table Graph window.

     • Open the Task Table Graph for the smoke_src TOP node.

       To open the Task Table Graph window, click the on the two-column icon located in the bottom right-hand corner of the node.

       

       You can use the Task Table Graph to inspect the statuses of all of the work items on the node in an easy-to-navigate and understand table format.

       

4. Enable batching for your smoke_src TOP node.

   • In the smoke_src node, select the ROP Fetch tab.

     Look at the Frames per Batch parameter.

     With its current value, the node will cook and produce the output you want, but it will be inefficient at it because the node will create one process per work item. The node will cook each work item for the source geometry in a unique process done by the local scheduler, and since the network you are cooking is pretty fast to cook, a lot of time will be wasted just spawning processes and managing the scheduling of those processes instead of actually doing the work.

     To speed things up, you need to increase the batch size.

   • Set the Frames per Batch parameter to 10.

     A batch size of 10 means that the node will cook ten work items in each process instead of just one.

     By collecting the work items to cook in this way, the node shares some of the overhead of starting up processes across multiple work items.

5. Cook the smoke_src TOP node.

   You will see the the cook statuses of the various work items on the smoke_src node appear both on the node in the Network Editor as well as in the Task Graph Table window.

   

   The cook statuses for all your work items also appear in the Network Editor’s tasks menu bar.

   To learn more about work item dot colors and status icons, see PDG node network interface.

   Note

   • Each of the dots on the smoke_src node now also represents a frame of animated geometry.

   • Cooking a TOP node will also cook any upstream uncooked nodes in its TOP network. In this case, if the smoke_variations Wedge node was uncooked, then cooking the smoke_src TOP node would also cook the smoke_variations node as it is an input.

6. Enable the By Batch task collapse option.

   Currently, all the work items on the smoke_src TOP node are shown as individual dots even though they are batched work items.

   To reduce the number of work items you see on the node, you can turn on the By Batch task display mode.

   • In the Network Editor, select Tasks menu ▸ Task Graph Display Options.

   • In the Task Graph Display Options pop-up window, select By Batch from the Task Collapse Mode drop-down menu.

     All the work item dots on the node now appear as batch work item rings. And since Frames per Batch is set to 10, each ring represents a batch of ten work items. Visualizing the work items in this way makes managing and debugging what is going on with your node’s work items a lot easier.

   • Normally you would keep this display option turned on. However, so that you can see the connections between your tasks during this tutorial, turn on Collapse ▸ Off. This will disable By Batch.

7. Explore the @ attribute referencing in your network.

   • Switch to the Object context.

   • In the Smoke Sourcing and Simulation network box, dive into the smoke_src SOP network.

   • Select the sphere1 node and look at the value of its Uniform Scale parameter.

     Notice that the sphere is referencing the size PDG attribute using an @ variable.

     

     Since the @size variable is an attribute on your smoke_variations Wedge node work items, this means that the smoke_src SOP network the Wedge node is pointing to has a reference to the size PDG attribute you created, and the SOP network also knows how to use that wedge variable.

     This @ attribute referencing gives you a way to interactively preview what your wedge properties will look like. If you display the smoke_src SOP network in the viewport, then you will be able to preview your output geometry wedge variations by clicking through your wedges. Also, every time the @size variable changes, Houdini will refresh the sphere1 node and display the new evaluation of it with respect to the wedge attribute’s new value.

     Note

     Using @ attribute referencing to create these kinds of relationships is called pull-style wedging. To learn more about the different kinds of TOPs wedging techniques, see Pull vs. push.

   • Turn on the Display flag for the sphere1 node.

   • Return to the top-level Object context.

   • Turn on the Display flag for the smoke_src SOP network.

   • Return to the Topnet context.

   • Click through the smoke_variations wedges to preview your wedged geometry in the viewport.

   
   

8. Save your tutorial scene.

In this step you will use a ROP Geometry Output TOP node to import and run the pyro simulation’s (smoke) output for each wedge variation.

1. In the Network Editor, create a ROP Geometry Output node, rename it to smoke_sim, and then connect its input to the output of the smoke_src TOP node.

   In the TOPs ⇥ Tab menu, you can find ROP Geometry Output in the Geometry category.

   The smoke_sim TOP node is what points to the smoke_import SOP network. It will generate a number of work items with the attributes you specify to cook that SOP network from frames 1-120 for each wedge variation.

2. Select the smoke_sim TOP node and then configure the following parameters:

   • In the ROP Geometry tab, leave the Evaluate Using parameter set to its default value, Single Frame.

     You do not have to configure this parameter. Since the smoke_sim node is wired into the input smoke_src TOP node, and that node already has work items, smoke_sim will automatically generate one sim work item for each sim source work item on the input.

   • Specify the SOP Path to the smoke_import SOP network.

     The smoke_sim node needs to point to the actual pyro simulation output and not just the sim source. The smoke_sim TOP node will take the output from the simulation’s DOP network and pull it into the geometry.

     • Next to the SOP Path parameter field, click the Open floating operator chooser button.

     • In the Choose Operator pop-up window that appears, select obj ▸ smoke_import ▸ import_pyrofields and then click Accept.

     

     The following path appears in the SOP Path parameter field:

     /obj/smoke_import/import_pyrofields

     The smoke_sim TOP node now knows which simulation output to use for the smoke.

   • Specify the output path for the smoke_sim TOP node.

     Just like with the smoke_src TOP node, you need to create a unique file path that includes the wedge number so that the output files do not overwrite each other. @wedgeindex will allow you to create output files with unique file names.

     In the Output File parameter field, type the following:

     $HIP/geo/$OS.`@wedgeindex`.$F4.bgeo.sc

3. Set up caching for your simulation.

   • In the ROP Fetch tab, select Write Files from the Cache Mode parameter drop-down menu.

     This writes out the cooked simulation frames so that you can playback your wedged simulation frames in the viewport more quickly.

4. Examine the work items that are generated by your smoke_sim TOP node.

   • Generate the work items for the node.

     480 dots appear inside the node. Each of these dots represent a pyro sim work item for each frame of each wedge (120 frames x 4 wedges).

   • Click on some of the work item dots inside the smoke_sim node.

     Notice the lines that appear between the pyro sim tasks on the smoke_sim node, their associated source geometry frames on the smoke_src node, and their associated wedges on the smoke_variations node. These lines and their corresponding dot highlights indicates the dependencies between the node work items.

     Tip

     PDG stores all of its file paths in a generic special format that allows it to access files stored on different platforms (Windows, Linux, and so on) on a farm. This special format uses special PDG tokens in the file paths.

     • Double-click a work item dot on the smoke_sim TOP node.

     • In the Task Info pop-up window that appears, look at the paths for the Command, Input, and Output.

       By default, these paths appear in a human-readable format.

     • Click the folder icon at the top of the Task Info pop-up window.

       The paths now appear in their raw tokenized formats. This is how the paths are stored inside their respective attributes on the work item.

5. Cook all the smoke_sim TOP node’s work items in one batch.

   Since smoke_sim is importing and running a simulation, and there are dependences between simulation frames (the second frame depends on the first frame and so on), you need to cook all the node’s work items in a single process or job. You can do this with the All Frames in One Batch parameter.

   • In the ROP Fetch tab, turn on All Frames in One Batch to enable batching for your smoke_sim node.

     Warning

     Anytime you are running a simulation, you always want to enable All Frames in One Batch. Otherwise, you run into problems with your simulation because you cannot run a simulation in multiple processes.

   • Cook the smoke_sim node.

     You will see the the cook statuses of the various work items on the smoke_sim node appear on the node in the Network Editor, in the Task Table Graph window, and in the Network Editor’s tasks menu bar.

     

     Each of the dots on the node also now represents a frame of simulation.

6. Explore the @ attribute referencing in your network.

   • Switch to the Object context.

   • In the Smoke Sourcing and Simulation box, dive into the smoke_sim DOP network.

   • Select the uniformforce1 node and look at the value of its Force parameter.

     Notice that the uniform force is referencing the force PDG attribute using the @force wedge variable you created. That is how the simulation is pulling in the force attribute from the wedges and making use of it.

     

     Just like with the smoke_src TOP node, this @ attribute referencing gives you a way to interactively preview what your wedge properties will look like for the simulation. If you display the smoke_sim DOP network in the viewport, then you will be able to preview your simulation wedge variations by clicking through your wedges. Also, every time the @force variable changes, Houdini will refresh the uniformforce1 node and display the new evaluation of it with respect to the wedge attribute’s new value.

   • Turn on the Output flag for the uniformforce1 node.

   • Return to the top-level Object context.

   • Turn on the Display flag for the smoke_sim DOP network.

   • Return to the Topnet context.

   • Playback your simulation and click through the smoke_variations wedges to preview your wedged simulations in the viewport.

7. Save your tutorial scene.

In this step you will use a Filter by Range TOP node to filter out the first few frames of your simulation.

The pyro sim output that the smoke_sim TOP node imports is not very noticeable until around frame 25. Filtering out the frames that appear almost empty will trim the upstream frame range so that downstream nodes (like the render nodes) will only have to work on a subset of the input frame range. This way the pyro sim will have a large volume of smoke right from the beginning of its simulation, and the downstream renderers will get to start with some actual smoke in the scene.

1. In the Network Editor, create a Filter by Range node, rename it to render_range, and then connect its input to the output of the smoke_sim TOP node.

   In the TOPs ⇥ Tab menu, you can find Filter by Range in the Data category.

2. Select the render_range node and then configure the following parameters:

   • In the first Filter Range parameter field, type 25.

     This sets frame 25 as the first frame of the simulation frame range.

   • In the last Filter Range parameter field, type the $FEND variable.

     This sets the current Global Animation Frame Range value as the last frame of the simulation frame range.

3. Generate the render_range node.

   Notice how the number of work items items on the node is 384. This is because the first 25 frames of each wedge variation have been excluded by the render_range node (96 frames x 4 wedges).

4. Click on the first work item dot in the smoke_sim TOP node.

   Notice how a dependency line does not appear between the work item dot you clicked on and any of the render_range node work items. That is because the frame you clicked on was trimmed by the render_range node, and consequently a work item was not generated for it. If you select an item dot further in the node you see a dependency line.

5. Cook the render_range node.

6. -click through the work item dots on the render_range node.

   Notice how the range attribute has changed to 25.0, 120.0, 1.0 to reflect the new range of frames for the output.

   

   Tip

   You can use the [ and ] keys to step through work items on a node.

7. Save your tutorial scene.

In this step you will use two ROP Fetch TOP nodes, one high-quality and the other low-quality, to render out your pyro simulation (smoke) frames for each wedge variation using GPU openGL.

Since Houdini does not have openGL TOP render nodes, these nodes will point to two already established openGL ROP networks. Also, since openGL can only work in a local graphical session of Houdini, you will only be rendering locally (not on the farm) for this tutorial.

1. In the Network Editor, create a ROP Fetch node, rename it to gl_render, and then connect its input to the output of the render_range node.

   In the TOPs ⇥ Tab menu, you can find ROP Fetch in the Render category.

   This will be your high-quality openGL render node.

2. Select the gl_render node and then configure the following parameters:

   • Specify the input path to the high-quality openGL ROP network.

     • Next to the ROP Path parameter field, click the Open floating operator chooser button.

     • In the Choose Operator pop-up window that appears, select tasks ▸ topnet1 ▸ opengl_render ▸ opengl and then click Accept.

     

     The following path appears in the ROP Path parameter field:

     /tasks/topnet1/opengl_render/opengl

     The gl_render node now knows which ROP network to use to render the frames of your pyro sim (smoke).

     Note

     • You do not need to specify an output folder for your openGL rendered frames as this is already defined in the opengl ROP network.

     • OpenGL will use your system’s graphics card (GPU) to render your frames.

   • In the Frames and Batching tab, set the Frames per Batch parameter to 40.

     For render nodes, you always want to run some level of batching so that you are not spending a lot of time waiting for processes to start or frames to render.

     Outside this tutorial, the batch size you choose should depend on your hardware and the nature of the job you are cooking. If you set the batch size too large, then your cook will not be very efficient because you are only starting a couple of processes and it will take a long time to do a lot of work. If you set the batch size too small, then you will pay too much cost based on process overhead.

     Tip

     A good rule for choosing a batch size is as follows: set your batch size to the # of work items divided by the # of cores on your render machine. For example, if you have 24 cores, then ideally you would want 24 processes (one process per core).

3. Select the gl_render node, press ⌃ Ctrl + c, and then press ⌃ Ctrl + v.

   A new duplicate render node named gl_render1 appears in the Network Editor, and its input is already connected to the output of the render_range node.

   • Select the gl_render1 node and rename it to gl_render_preview.

   

   This will be your low-quality openGL render node.

4. Select the gl_render_preview node and then configure the following parameters:

   • Specify the input path to the low-quality OpenGL ROP network.

     • Next to the ROP Path parameter field, click the Open floating operator chooser button.

     • In the Choose Operator pop-up window that appears, select obj ▸ topnet1 ▸ opengl_render ▸ opengl_preview and then click Accept.

     

     The following path appears in the ROP Path parameter field:

     /obj/topnet1/opengl_render/opengl_preview

     The gl_render_preview TOP node now knows which ROP network to use to render the frames of your pyro sim (smoke).

     Note

     You do not need to specify an output folder for your openGL rendered frames as this is already defined in the opengl_preview ROP network.

   • In the Frames and Batching tab, set the Frames per Batch parameter to 20.

5. Cook the gl_render and gl_render_preview nodes one at a time.

   Dots appear inside each of the nodes. Each of these dots represent render work items for each filtered frame of each wedge (96 frames x 4 wedges).

   Note

   Cooking a node will also generate any work items on the node that need to be generated.

   The preview openGL renderer will cook your work items fairly quickly, but the higher quality openGL renderer will take a little more time to cook.

   You will see the the cook statuses of the various work items on the gl_render and gl_render_preview nodes appear on the nodes in the Network Editor, in the Task Table Graph window, and in the Network Editor’s tasks menu bar.

   Once your render nodes are cooked, you will have your final rendered frames.

   

6. Look at your rendered frames.

   • View the node info for the gl_render node and then select the Output .exr link.

     The opengl.exr video appears in MPlay.

   • View the node info for the gl_render_preview node and then select the Output .exr link.

     The opengl_preview.exr video appears in MPlay.

   • Playback both the .exr videos and compare the render results.

     Notice how the opengl.exr video is higher quality than the opengl_preview.exr.

7. Save your tutorial scene.

In this step you will use a Switch TOP node to set up a toggle that will allow you to choose which input renderer, gl_render (high-quality) or gl_render_preview (low-quality), to use in your TOP network.

1. In the Network Editor, create a Switch TOP node, rename it to select_render, and then connect its input to the outputs of the gl_render and gl_render_preview nodes.

   In the TOPs ⇥ Tab menu, you can find Switch in the Utility category.

   The select_render node now determines which renderer to use and which branch to cook for your TOP network.

   Connecting the select_render node to the render nodes removed the work items from one of your render nodes.

   • Recook the render node that no longer has work items.

2. Select the select_render node and look at its parameters.

   The node’s inputs appear as selectable input operators in its parameter settings.

   Each input is assigned a Select Input number based on their order in the Input Operators list. For your select_render node, gl_render is input 0 and gl_render_preview is input 1.

3. With the Select Input slider, switch back and forth between the gl_render and the gl_render_preview inputs and watch what happens in the Network Editor.

   Notice how the line that connects the select_render node to the openGL render nodes appears solid when a renderer is selected and dotted when a renderer is not selected. The current active render node in your TOP network is the node connected to the select_render node with a solid line.

   Note

   • When you switch between renderers, you will need to recook the downstream nodes for the renderer branch you switched to if those nodes have not been previously cooked.

   • Switching renderers does not dirty the upstream nodes if those nodes have been previously cooked.

4. Set the select_render node’s input operator to the gl_render_preview node.

   For the rest of this tutorial, you will be working with the gl_render_preview node’s rendered frames.

5. Save your tutorial scene.

In this step you will use a special preconfigured ROP Composite Output TOP node named Overlay Text to layer caption text on top of your rendered frames. This text will provide important wedge variation information about each frame like their frame numbers, Force values, and Size values.

This kind of overlay is a helpful visual reference when you are reviewing and comparing your wedge variations (for example, like frame 50 from four different wedge variations). It will help you quickly identify the settings that were used to produce a frame you like and it is also very useful information to have on hand when you are debugging your FX.

1. In the Network Editor, create an Overlay Text node, rename it to wedge_overlay, and then connect its input to the output of the select_render node.

   In the TOPs ⇥ Tab menu, you can find Overlay Text in the Images category.

2. Select the wedge_overlay node and then configure the following parameters:

   • In the Overlay tab, type the following expression into the Text field:

     Frame: $F3
     Size: `@size`
     Force: `@force`
     

     $F3 is the frame number up to 3 digits, @size (using the @ operator you have seen before) is referencing the size wedge work item attribute, and @force is referencing the force wedge work item attribute.

     This expression is evaluated for each work item. It takes in an input render frame, evaluates the attributes on that frame’s work item, and then figures out what text to layer on top of the render frame.

   • In the ROP Composite tab, type the following into the Output Picture parameter field:

     $HIP/comp/$HIPNAME.$OS.`@wedgeindex`.$F4.exr

   • In the ROP Fetch tab, turn on All Frames in One Batch.

     This node usually benefits from batching. But in this tutorial, since this COP node will cook at almost interactive speeds, you do not need to use Frames per Batch.

3. Cook the wedge_overlay node.

   Dots appear inside the node. Each dot represents an overlay image work item for each rendered frame of each wedge (96 frames x 4 wedges).

   Once the wedge_overlay node is cooked, you will have your composited overlay images.

4. Look at your overlay frames.

   • View the node info for the wedge_overlay node and then select the Output .exr link.

     The fxtutorial.wedge_overlay.exr video appears in MPlay.

   • Playback the fxtutorial.wedge_overlay.exr video.

     Notice the text captions in the video.

5. Save your tutorial scene.

In this step you will use a Partition by Frame TOP node to collect and organize the input overlay images into buckets or partitions.

Your overlay images need to be organized by frame number before you can pass them on to the mosaic node you will be creating in Step 9.

1. In the Network Editor, create a Partition by Frame node, rename it to collect_frames, and then connect its input to the output of the wedge_overlay node.

   In the TOPs ⇥ Tab menu, you can find Partition by Frame in the Partitioner category.

2. Leave the collect_frames node’s parameters as their default values.

   You do not need to change any of the parameter settings on this node.

3. Cook the collect_frames node.

   The collect_frames node generates its work items for all the overlay images and puts them into partitions based on frame number. Each partition has four work items, one from each of the wedge variations.

   96 small rectangles also appear in the node (384 overlay images / 4 wedges).

   

   The collect_frames gathers the overlay images into its partitions.

   Each collect_frames work item only finishes cooking when all four of its like-numbered wedge_overlay images complete cooking.

4. -click through the work item dots on the collect_frames node.

   Look at the Output of each work item. Notice how the node has grouped 4 frames—the same frame from each of the wedges—in each partition.

   

   Tip

   You can use the [ and ] keys to step through work items on a node.

5. Save your tutorial scene.

In this step you will use a ROP Composite Output TOP node to assemble or composite all four wedge variations of an overlay image for each frame number into 2×2 grids or mosaics.

These mosaics will allow you to compare each of your frames for each of your wedges. For example, the mosaic will let you compare each frame 50 from all four of your wedges.

1. In the Network Editor, create a ROP Composite Output node, rename it to wedge_mosaic, and then connect its input to the output of the collect_frames node .

   In the TOPs ⇥ Tab menu, you can find ROP Composite Output in the Render category.

2. Select the wedge_mosaic node and then configure the following parameters:

   • In the ROP Composite tab, turn on the Use External COP parameter in the Composite tab.

   • Next to the COP Path parameter field, click the Open floating operator chooser button.

     • In the Choose Operator pop-up window that appears, select tasks ▸ topnet1 ▸ mosaic ▸ mosaic1 and then click Accept.

     

     The following path appears in the COP Path parameter field:

     /tasks/topnet1/mosaic/mosaic1

     The wedge_mosaic node now knows which COP network to use to load in and composite the overlay images.

   • Leave the Output Picture parameter value at its default value.

     Since this node is going to take all four variations of the overlay image and then turn them into a single image, you no longer need to use the @wedgeindex variable in the output path for your node.

   • In the ROP Fetch tab, set the Frames per Batch parameter to 5 in the Frames and Batching tab.

     The wedge_mosaic node will benefit from a little bit of batching as it is more expensive than the other COP-type node (wedge_overlay) in your network.

3. Cook the wedge_mosaic node.

   96 dots appear inside the node. Each dot represents a mosaic image work item (384 overlay images / 4 wedges).

   

   The wedge_mosaic node takes the overlay images from each partition and stitches them together into single composite 2×2 grid images.

4. Look at your mosaic images.

   • View the node info for the wedge_mosaic node and then select the Output .exr link.

     A video of your output mosaic images appears in MPlay.

   • Playback the fxtutorial.wedge_mosaic.exr video.

     Notice that the video contains all your 2×2 mosaic images arranged in sequential order by frame number.

5. Save your tutorial scene.

In this step you will use a Wait for All TOP node to collect all of the input mosaic images in a single partition.

You need to have all the completed composite mosaic images before you can pass them on to the video node you will be creating in step 11.

1. In the Network Editor, create a Wait for All node, keep the default waitforall1 name, and then connect its input to the output of the wedge_mosaic node.

   In the TOPs ⇥ Tab menu, you can find Wait For All in the Dependencies category.

2. Cook the waitforall1 node.

   The node’s single work item appears as a rectangle on the node.

   

   The node collects all the mosaic images into a single partition and the node’s single partition appears as a rectangle on the node.

   The waitforall1 node will wait for all the compositing from the wedge_mosaic node to complete before passing on the mosaic images to the downstream FFmpeg Encode Video node.

   This is important because the video node needs all the composite mosaic images before it can generate and output its movie.

3. Save your tutorial scene.

In this final step you will use an FFmpeg Encode Video TOP node to assemble all the mosaic images being held by the waitforall1 node into a single MP4 video.

1. In the Network Editor, create an FFmpeg Encode Video node, rename it to make_movie, and then connect its input to the output of the waitforall1 node.

   In the TOPs ⇥ Tab menu, you can find FFmpeg Encode Video in the Images category.

2. Leave the make_movie node parameter settings as their defaults.

3. Cook the make_movie node.

   The node’s single work item appears as a dot on the node.

   

   The make_movie node takes all the composite mosaic images in the waitforall1 partition, assembles them into a movie, and then outputs them as an MP4 video file.

4. Take a look at your final MP4 video.

   • View the node info for the make_movie node and then select the Output .mp4 link.

     The make_movie_#.mp4 video containing your network’s final output appears in your local, default video player.

5. Save your tutorial scene.