COMP Instance Page

Parameters - Instance Page

The Instance parameter page provides the ability to create hardware instances of geometry. Each instance has an instance ID which can be passed into a MAT shader via a uniform value. The instance ID can be retrieved by the Render Pick CHOP. Any code in a vertex shader can customize the instance based on the instance ID.

Instance's attributes can be individually driven by the data from any type of OP. When the instance data is supplied by a TOP, the TOP's RGBA channels are assigned to instance attributes, when data is supplied by a CHOP, the CHOP's channels are assigned to instance attributes, when from a SOP then the SOP's attributes are assigned to instance attributes, and when a DAT is used then a column is assigned to the instances attributes. The mapping of operator data to instance attributes is setup on the parameters below and on the Instance 2 and Instance 3 parameter pages.

Instancing instancing - Turns on instancing for the Geometry Component.

Instance Count Mode instancecountmode - ⊞ - Two modes to determine how many instances will be created.

• Manual manual - Use the Num Instances parameter below to set the number of instances.

• Instance OP(s) Length oplength - The number of CHOP samples/DAT rows in the Instance CHOP/DAT determines the number of instances.

Num Instances numinstances - When using the Manual mode for Instance Count, this parameter set the number of instances.

Default Instance OP instanceop - Specify a path to a CHOP or DAT used to transform the instances. Number of samples/rows in this CHOP or DAT determines the number of instances when using the CHOP Length/DAT Num Rows mode for Instance Count.

First Row is instancefirstrow - ⊞ - What to do with the first row of a table DAT when using DAT rows for Instance Count.

• Ignored ignored - The first row is ignored and it's values won't be used as part of an instance. Indices must be used to select the columns to use for instance attributes.

• Names names - The first row contains column names which can be used to select which columns to use from the table.

• Values values - The first row is considered to contain values for the first instance. Indices must be used to select the columns to use for instance attributes.

Transform Order instxord - ⊞ - Controls the order the transform operations will be applied to each instance. Refer to the documentation for the Xform page for more details.

• Scale Rotate Translate srt -

• Scale Translate Rotate str -

• Rotate Scale Translate rst -

• Rotate Translate Scale rts -

• Translate Scale Rotate tsr -

• Translate Rotate Scale trs -

Rotate Order instrord - ⊞ - The rotational matrix presented when you click on this option allows you to set the transform order for the Component's rotations. As with transform order (above), changing the order in which the Component's rotations take place will alter the Component's final position.

• Rx Ry Rz xyz -

• Rx Rz Ry xzy -

• Ry Rx Rz yxz -

• Ry Rz Rx yzx -

• Rz Rx Ry zxy -

• Rz Ry Rx zyx -

Translate OP instancetop - Select a specific operator to get data from for the Translate instance attributes below. If not specified, the the operator specified in the 'Default Instance OP' on the Instance parameter page can be used.

Active instanceactive - Select the data channel that will be used to control which instances are rendered. Only instances with a non-zero value in this channel will be rendered; instances with a zero active channel value will be skipped. If no data is assigned to this channel then all instances are rendered. Use the drop-down menu on the right to easily select from the available options.

Translate X instancetx - Select what data to use to translate instances, use the drop-down menu on the right to easily select from the available options.

Translate Y instancety - Select what data to use to translate instances, use the drop-down menu on the right to easily select from the available options.

Translate Z instancetz - Select what data to use to translate instances, use the drop-down menu on the right to easily select from the available options.

Rotate OP instancerop - Select a specific operator to get data from for the Rotate instance attributes below. If not specified, the the operator specified in the 'Default Instance OP' on the Instance parameter page can be used.

Rotate X instancerx - Select what data to use to rotate instances, use the drop-down menu on the right to easily select from the available options.

Rotate Y instancery - Select what data to use to rotate instances, use the drop-down menu on the right to easily select from the available options.

Rotate Z instancerz - Select what data to use to rotate instances, use the drop-down menu on the right to easily select from the available options.

Scale OP instancesop - Select a specific operator to get data from for the Scale instance attributes below. If not specified, the the operator specified in the 'Default Instance OP' on the Instance parameter page can be used.

Scale X instancesx - Select what data to use to scale instances, use the drop-down menu on the right to easily select from the available options.

Scale Y instancesy - Select what data to use to scale instances, use the drop-down menu on the right to easily select from the available options.

Scale Z instancesz - Select what data to use to scale instances, use the drop-down menu on the right to easily select from the available options.

Pivot OP instancepop - Select a specific operator to get data from for the Pivot instance attributes below. If not specified, the the operator specified in the 'Default Instance OP' on the Instance parameter page can be used.

Pivot X instancepx - Select what data to use for the pivot of the instances, use the drop-down menu on the right to easily select from the available options.

Pivot Y instancepy - Select what data to use for the pivot of the instances, use the drop-down menu on the right to easily select from the available options.

Pivot Z instancepz - Select what data to use for the pivot of the instances, use the drop-down menu on the right to easily select from the available options.

(1) A Geometry Component can instance and render its SOP geometry many times: once for each sample in a CHOP, row of a DAT table, pixel in a TOP, or point of a SOP, (2) An instance is an OP that doesn't actually have its own data, but rather just refers to an OP (or has an input) whose data it uses. This includes Null OPs, Switch OPs and in some cases Select OPs.

Any of the procedural data operators. OPs do all the work in TouchDesigner. They "cook" and output data to other OPs, which ultimately result in new images, data and audio being generated. See Node.

An Operator Family that creates, composites and modifies images, and reads/writes images and movies to/from files and the network. TOPs run on the graphics card's GPU.

An Operator Family which operate on Channels (a sequence of numbers (Samples)) which are used for animation, audio, mathematics, simulation, logic, UI construction, and data streamed from/to devices and protocols.

A Operator Family that reads, creates and modifies 3D points, polygons, lines, particles, surfaces, spheres and meatballs. Particles and point clouds are now done primarily on the GPU using TOPs.

An Operator Family that manipulates text strings: multi-line text or tables. Multi-line text is often a python Script or GLSL Shader, but can be any multi-line text. Tables are rows and columns of cells, each containing a text string.

An Operator Family that contains its own Network. There are sixteen 3D Object Component and ten 2D Panel Component types. See also Network Path.