We do this in our Alembic plugin -- export a ICE point cloud to *.abc and then reimport it and have a look at how Helge implemented it. It isn't pretty but it works.
The latest release is here: http://exocortex.com/releases/ExocortexCrateSuite1.0.79.zip (Windows only release) -ben On Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 8:15 AM, Mihnea Balta <mihnea.ba...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hello, > > Say I want to create some strands with a custom ICE node. I can make a > generator output port which will produce the root positions for the strands > and plug this into an Add Point node. I would then need to have another > output port which produces the strand positions (an array of vectors per > particle) and plug this into a Set Data node. However, since my node has a > generator port, it cannot have a per-particle port too. My options are: > > 1. Make the output position port also a per-particle port, but then I don't > know how to spawn the particles from it. I've tried adding a singleton port > which outputs the number of particles, plugging this into a Build Array From > Constant node, passing that to Add Point, then setting the point positions > and strand positions with Set Data. For some reason that didn't work. The > ICE tree looked something like this, maybe my mistake is obvious to someone: > > http://i.imgur.com/oOBcS.png > > 2. Make both ports generator ports. If I do this, I can't plug the strand > positions port into a Set Data node, because that requires a per-particle > input. Is there a way to set data from a generator port? > > 3. Make two nodes, one with a generator port which produces the particle > positions, another with a per-particle port which produces strand positions. > However, I'd really like to avoid this, because the strands are computed in > one place, and I'd have to somehow share the data between the nodes > internally to avoid recomputing it, and the nodes would have a hidden > dependency and so on. > > Any hints? > -- Best regards, Ben Houston Voice: 613-762-4113 Skype: ben.exocortex Twitter: @exocortexcom http://Exocortex.com - Passionate CG Software Professionals.
