Objects - Node

The "Node" panel works exactly like the panel from other RealFlow node types, e.g. emitters. Scale, rotation and position changes can be changed exactly with these parameters. You can also animate most of the settings (except “Pivot”, “Parent to” and “Shear”).

Simulation

Makes the selected node active or inactive. Inactive objects are still visible, but not taken into consideration for the simulation: they are invisible to RealFlow’s solvers. Inactive objects can be made active at any time and they are displayed in a dark-reddish colour; in the "Node" window they are greyed out.

A very interesting option is “Cache”, because it allows you to use previously calculated movements within a new simulation. This feature is mostly used with particle-object simulations and RealWaves. “Cache” mode only works with individual "Animation (.sd)” files. The global “ANIMATION (.sd)” and “CACHE (.bdc)” formats do not support caching.

Dynamics

You can choose between “No”, “Active rigid body”, “Passive rigid body” and “Soft body”. The last three options append extra panels to the "Node Params" window. The appropriate settings are discussed separately under "Object - Rigid body" and "Objects - Soft body". Once the "Dynamics" option has been applied, the node changes its behaviour. Objects without dynamics can still interact with fluids, e.g. as steady objects, but they are not seen by other (rigid/soft) bodies. “Active rigid body” and “Passive rigid body” are also related to the “Passive” parameter from the “Rigid body” panel. If you change an object's “Passive” mode to “Yes” or “No”, the “Dynamics” state will also be changed accordingly.

Position

Here you can define the position in 3D space. Each value stands for one coordinate: X, Y and Z. Please remember that the height axis depends on your 3D software and the adjusted preferences. With a wrong setup, imported objects appear flipped – that is of special importance with imported nodes and scripting. "Position" values are measured in metres [m].

Rotation

The mode of operation is equal to “Position”, but the unit is degrees [deg].

Scale

Please have a look at “Position”, because it works exactly the same way and is also measured in metres [m].

Shear

With this tool you can add distortion to your objects to modify their geometry. The unit is metres [m].

Pivot

This is the centre of rotation given in metres. By default it is located in the geometrical centre of an object, but can be displaced to achieve other interesting motions. Again, there are three values for each axis.

Parent to

You can choose any item that is listed under the "Nodes" panel and parent the currently active object to it. If the higher-ranking object (= parent) is moving, the linked item (= child) will follow these motions. Truly a great feature for aligning movements!

Color

This option determines the colour of the unselected object in the viewport. You can choose any predefined or custom RGB value available in your OS.

SD <-> Curve

This little helper is only available with imported SD objects. By default, imported nodes from SD files are locked to protect their initial settings, but with this button they can be made editable. It can be applied individually to all objects from the currently used file. A very nice feature of “SD <-> Curve” is that you can perform different position, rotation or scale changes, and when you click on this button again, all transformations are reset – even animation data. As the name indicates, this option is only available for objects from SD files, including MultiBodies, and has no influence on imported OBJ or LWO nodes.