hi all..

I'm sure there is an easier way to go about doing this, but currently i have several objects which can be rendered via copy (typically for preview) or point instancing. Each object has a switch statement on it to control LOD (bounding box/polyreduce/untouched).

Is there a good way to set the LOD centrally such that the switches can read it (assuming the switch approach is best)? I would prefer that the settings be specifc to the project rather than global to Houdini. Perhaps it is possible to extend the Houdini GUI somehow using a Python HDA.. an icon for each LOD level would be nice 8) .

thanks!

You could either set up a take that sets your switches and then in the ROPs use that take; or, in the ROP's prerender script enter:
set -g RENDERPASS = 2
and in the switch SOP have $RENDERPASS.

Thanks Anthony.. regrettably i don't have any ROPs at present, but will keep it in mind. For this particular project a top-level HDA is used to hold the parameters. So far it works ok.