Objects - Right-Click Menu Nodes

Owned by thomas (Unlicensed)
Last updated: 04 Aug, 2014
5 min read

The right-click menu for objects in the "Nodes" panel provides the following entries:


Entries without Submenus

Rename

This function simply makes the activated node’s name editable for changes. When a node is in renaming mode it also provides a right-click menu showing basic entries for undo/redo and copy/paste actions.

Remove

You can use "Remove" to delete an object from the current scene. With imported objects from SD files it is a bit different, because it is not possible to remove individual items. In this case, RealFlow will delete all elements from the SD files, but you will receive a warning before.

Open Curves

This is a link to RealFlow's “Curve Editor” and shows all of a node's animated parameters. You can then select the desired curve(s) and edit it/them.

Group

"Group" is needed when you want to create a group of objects from a selection. A selection is made with LMB click on the first object of the following group and then Shift + LMB click on the last object. The result is a list of highlighted nodes, which can be grouped with RMB + Group. It is also possible to create a selection of individual items with Ctrl + LMB click (Windows/Linux) or Cmd + LMB click (OS X) on the desired objects. Groups can be renamed and carry a little “+” symbol. By clicking on this symbol, the group is either expanded or collapsed. It is also possible to create nested groups.

Replace

With this option you are able to choose another external object from your hard disk. Position values are inherited from the old object.

Expand All / Collapse All

If you want to display/hide the entries of a group you can use these entires.

Copy name

You can take the name of an activated node to transfer it to another object. The target object has to be made editable with “Rename”. With Ctrl + V (Windows/Linux) and Cmd + V (OS X) the copied string is then inserted. This function is actually meant to transfer parts of a name, since it is not possible to assign identical names within a scene.

"Simulation" Submenu

 

 

Active

This and the following two icons influence the node selection's "Simulation" parameter in the "Node Params" "Node" panel. This is the first button and activates the node selection.

Cache

This button sets the node selection to "Cache" mode. When a node is in cache mode, RealFlow reads the previously simulated and stored data from disk and displays them in the viewport. The distinctive feature is that cached elements can still influence fluid, objects and RealWave nodes which are not cached, but they cannot be influenced themselves. Cached elements are very often used with RealFlow's grid fluid technology (“Hybrido”), because there the common workflow is subdivided into passes and each new simulation requires the cached data from the previous calculation cycle.

Inactive

This button sets the node selection to "Inactive". From this moment, the node no longer contributes to the simulation.

"Visibility" Submenu

 

 

Visible/Hidden

Change a node's or node group's visibility.

Set Selected Render with Maxwell Render

Each node can be made visible to Maxwell Render individually with this button. Please bear in mind that the “Set Selected Visible” and “Set Selected Invisible” settings have no influence on whether a node is rendered or not. If you want to consider the node's viewport visibility, please change its state to “Same as viewport” in the “Renderable” option of the “Maxwell” panel. For a large amount of nodes we recommend using the "Layers" tool. 

Set Selected Hidden from Maxwell Render

This is the counterpart to the option above is used to hide a node from the Maxwell Render engine.

"Shading" Submenu

RealFlow provides four different shading modes and you can toggle between them easily.

 

"Export" Submenu

The entries of this submenu provide a very fast and convenient method to manage a node's export resources. It also gives you an overview of which resources are currently enabled or disabled. This compilation is dynamically created and different for each node, because it depends on the available file formats. In the image below you can see the export resources of a SPH particle emitter.

 

 

Enable data export

With this function, all standard export resources will be activated

Disable data export

When this option is used, none of the available data resource will be enabled. Please bear in mind that this will also disable playback and rendering, because RealFlow does not write any cache files.

Reload data

When you choose this option, only the cache data for the currently selected node will be updated.

Export now

You can write a cache file at the current frame with this menu entry. Before the node's resources are exported you are asked for confirmation, because with this option you might overwrite important simulation data by accident.

Available Export Formats

This menu is different for each node and dynamically created. Active resources are checked. Instead of using “Export Central”, the node's export formats can be changed here as well.

"Tree" Submenu

 

 

Expand All / Collapse All

If you want to display/hide the entries of a group you can use these entires.

Show All / Hide all

Both functions are used to manage the visibility of all entries in the "Nodes" window.

Show ...

You can hide or show a complete node class by unchecking/checking the appropriate entry.