Getting Started With Naiad

Exotic Matter AB November 20, 2011

Contents

1 Licensing And Installation 1.1 1.2 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Licensing Naiad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2.1 1.2.2 1.2.3 1.3 Naiad Editions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Obtaining Licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Installing Licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7 7 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 11 11 13 15 15 16 16 17 18 18 18 20 20 21 21 21 22

Installing Naiad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.1 1.3.2 Installing Naiad on Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Installing Naiad on Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.4

Running Naiad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4.1 1.4.2 Launching Exotic Matters License Server Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Launching Naiad Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2 Naiad Studio Interface 2.1 2.2 Understanding the Workow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Naiad Studio Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.3 2.4 Panes and Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tabbed Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using the Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using the Graph Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.1 2.4.2 2.4.3 2.4.4 2.4.5 2.4.6 2.4.7 Operator Anatomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Global Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Body Anatomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selecting Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selecting Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selecting Feeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CONTENTS 2.4.8 2.4.9

CONTENTS Renaming Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graph Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 23 23 23 24 25 25 25 25 25 26 26 27 27 27 27 29 30 30 31 32 32 34 35 35 35 36 37 38 39 39

2.4.10 Deleting Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.11 Disabling Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.12 Connecting Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.13 Moving Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.14 Changing Operator State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.15 Changing Plug Signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.16 Operator Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.17 Navigating Inside the Graph Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 Using the Value Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5.1 2.5.2 2.5.3 2.5.4 2.5.5 2.5.6 2.6 2.7 Naiad Expression Language (NEL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Expression Versus Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Expression Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Body Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Channel Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Path and File Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Using the Help View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using the Time Tool Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7.1 2.7.2 Stepping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scrubbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.8

Using the 3D View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.8.1 2.8.2 2.8.3 2.8.4 2.8.5 2.8.6 Scopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Camera Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Framing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Manipulators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Playblasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.9

Using the History Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9.1 Undoing and Redoing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.10 Using the Message Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 1 Licensing And Installation

We know youd rather be working on your Giant Tsunami Wipes Out Dublin shot than spending time with mundane tasks like installation and licensing, so in this chapter well try to quickly and painlessly get you to the point of having Naiad Studio open in front of you.

1.1

System Requirements

Before you install it, you should check that your computer can in fact run Naiad:

Windows and Linux 64-bit Intel or AMD processor (4 or more cores strongly recommended) 2 GB RAM (8 GB or more strongly recommended) 64-bit Windows 7, or 64-bit Linux (Ubuntu 10.04, or any distribution released in 2010 or later is very likely to work) Workstation class graphics card (e.g. NVIDIA Quadro, ATI FireGL), with drivers supporting OpenGL 3.1 or later. Graphics display capable of displaying a minimum resolution of 1024x768. Two button mouse

. .............................................................................................................. . NOTE: To avoid graphics related problems (such as particles or meshes not being displayed in the 3D viewport) please ensure you are using the latest graphics drivers for your video card. This is especially important on Linux, where most Linux distributions come pre-loaded with compatibility drivers and often not even the hardware vendors proprietary drivers. To download the latest graphics drivers, please visit www.nvidia.com or www.ati.com, depending on your card. . .............................................................................................................. .

1.2. LICENSING NAIAD

CHAPTER 1. LICENSING AND INSTALLATION

1.2
1.2.1

Licensing Naiad
Naiad Editions

Naiad is available in various editions, some that require a license le, and some that do not. So the rst step is to determine which edition of Naiad you need:

Trial Edition If want to give Naiad a free test drive before purchasing, you can download the trial edition o our website. You do not need a license le for the trial edition - however, the trial edition will only run for 30 days. To continue using Naiad after the 30 days, you will need a license le. Other than the 30-day time limit, the trial edition is idenitical to the commercial edition. . .............................................................................................................. . NOTE: If you want to use any data output from a trial edition for commercial purposes, you will need to obtain a commercial license beforehand. . .............................................................................................................. .

Non-Commercial Edition If you just want to learn how to use Naiad and youre not planning on using Naiad for any commercial work at all - you should use the Non-Commercial (NC) edition of Naiad. The NC edition does not require a license le, and is not time limited. The NC edition includes all of the features of the full commercial edition, except it will not load user-operators (plugins) nor export data to third-party applications. The NC edition outputs all data using the special EMPNC le format, which only NC editions can read. . .............................................................................................................. . NOTE: The NC edition will become available late in 2011 or early 2012. . .............................................................................................................. .

Commercial Edition To run the full commercial edition of Naiad, you need a valid commercial license le. Without it, commercial edition of Naiad will fail to run.

1.2.2

Obtaining Licenses

You can obtain licenses by requesting them from Exotic Matter (or an authorized reseller) via email. To locate the reseller closest to you, please visit our website at www.exoticmatter.com. To request the license directly from Exotic Matter, please email us at [email protected], otherwise contact your local reseller. In the email, you will need to provide the ethernet hostid of the computer you wish to run Naiad on (or use as license server - this can be the same machine). An ethernet hostid is a string of digits and letters that uniquely identies your computer; they look like this: 72DE60F0B2A1. 6

CHAPTER 1. LICENSING AND INSTALLATION Exotic Matter License Tools

1.2. LICENSING NAIAD

You will need the Exotic Matter license tools to display the hostid on your workstation or license server machine. If you already have Naiad installed on your system, the necessary tools will already be available. But if you do not, you may download the Exotic Matter license tools free of charge from our website at the following address: http://www.exoticmatter.com/download-lic-tools.

Displaying the Hostid On Windows On Windows, the easiest way to nd the hostid is to run the LMX Conguration Tool and locating the ethernet hostid in the output window:

Figure 1.1: LMX Conguration Tool displaying the Ethernet hostid

If you already have Naiad installed on your system, you can launch the LMX Conguation Tool in one of three ways: Double-clicking on the LMX Conguration Tool icon on your desktop, or Selecting LMX Conguration Tool from Start > All Programs > Exotic Matter > Naiad, or Using a command prompt, navigate to the Naiad Studio application directory (by default \Program Files\Exotic Matter\Naiad-0.6\Server\LMX) and enter lmxconfigtool. If you do not have Naiad installed on your system, simply download the LMX Conguration Tool from our website as described in the previous section called Exotic Matter License Tools. Once you have downloaded the LMX Conguration Tool, you should be able to launch it simply by double-clicking on it.

Displaying the Hostid On Linux On Linux, just open a shell and run lmxendutil -hostid 7

1.3. INSTALLING NAIAD A page of network data will appear: LM-X End-user Utility v4.1 Copyright (C) 2002-2011 X-Formation. ETHERNET: eth0 Hostid: 72DE60F0B2A1 ETHERNET: eth1 Hostid: E1CE8F126FD8 HOSTNAME: graviton Hostid: graviton ...

CHAPTER 1. LICENSING AND INSTALLATION

All rights reserved.

If multiple ethernet hostids are given (such as in the case above), just pick one of them, such as eth0s hostid, which is 72DE60F0B2A1 in the above example.

1.2.3

Installing Licenses

Once you have provided us (or the reseller) with your computers ethernet hostid, we will be able to generate a valid license le containing all the licenses you need. You will receive the license le via email (or receive a link to download it). The license le is a regular text le, and is typically called exoticmatter.lic. Once you have the license le, simply place it anywhere you like, just remember where you put it, since you will need to provide the path to it when running the license server application!

1.3

Installing Naiad

At this point, you should have a Naiad license and be ready to install and launch Naiad. The procedure for installing varies slightly depending on which OS you are using. Please follow the instructions pertaining to your particular OS below:

1.3.1

Installing Naiad on Windows

To install Naiad on Windows, do the following: 1. Download the correct installation le from our FTP or website. The installation le is called Naiad VERSION Setup.exe, where VERSION is the latest Naiad version. For example, Naiad 0.6.40 Setup.exe. 2. Double-click on the downloaded setup le to install Naiad. 3. Follow the on-screen instructions. By default, Naiad is installed to DRIVE:\Program Files\Exotic Matter\Naiad-0.6. 4. Proceed to the Launching Naiad section.

1.3.2

Installing Naiad on Linux

Installation on Linux needs to be done manually, and there is no installation program like on Windows. However, it is still very simple to install Naiad on Linux - just follow the steps below: 8

CHAPTER 1. LICENSING AND INSTALLATION

1.4. RUNNING NAIAD

1. Download the correct installer le from our FTP or website. The le will be called: naiad-VERSION.LINUX.x86_64.tgz, where VERSION means the latest Naiad version. For the sake of simplicitly, lets assume that the version is always 0.6.0.40, in which case the installer le would be called naiad-0.6.0.40.LINUX.x86_64.tgz. 2. Open up a terminal shell and extract the installer le using the following command: tar xvfz naiad-0.6.0.40.LINUX.x86_64.tgz. Remember to substitute 0.6.0.40 with the actual number of the Naiad version you downloaded. 3. A new folder will be created as a result of the extration command. The new folder has the name: naiad-0.6.0.40-x86_64. Simply move this folder to wherever youd like to keep the Naiad installation. 4. Now you need to congure the Naiad setup script (which sets up the Naiad environment). If you look inside the Naiad installation folder you just extracted (and possibly moved), you will nd two les: naiadVars.bash and naiadVars.csh. If you are using a bash shell, you will need to edit the naiadVars.bash script, otherwise edit the naiadVars.csh script. If you are uncertain as to which shell you are using, you can nd out by simply entering echo $SHELL in the terminal. Now open the relevant setup script using any text editor (gedit to name one), and replace the rst line in the le with the absolute path to the Naiad installation folder. For example, if you moved it to /usr/exoticmatter, then the absolute path would be /usr/exoticmatter/naiad-0.6.0.40-x86_64. Doing this will set the all-important $NAIAD_PATH environment variable to point to the Naiad installation you want to use. If you have multiple Naiad versions installed, you can easily change the Naiad version to use by pointing this variable at the desired Naiad install folder. 5. Ensure the setup script is sourced at startup. For example, if you are using a bash shell, you can add the following line to either your .bashrc or .profile script: source /usr/exoticmatter/naiad-0.6.0.40-x86_64/naiadVars.bash If using tcsh or csh, you would instead add source /usr/exoticmatter/naiad-0.6.0.40-x86_64/naiadVars.csh to your .cshrc le. (Obviously these examples assume you moved the Naiad install folder to /usr/exoticmatter). 6. Finally, quit all terminal shells. Then open a new terminal shell and type: naiad If the installation is correct, then the output should begin with: Exotic Matters Naiad Dynamics Server (0.6) Running. Listening to the Naiad Interface (Ni) Revision 1. The Naiad Interface is Copyright 2009-2011 Exotic Matter AB. ...

1.4

Running Naiad

With the installation and licensing out of the way, only one task now remains before you can achieve Naiad dynamics domination: launching the Exotic Matter license server application!

1.4.1

Launching Exotic Matters License Server Application

Before you can launch Naiad Studio (or any of the other Naiad clients), you need to make sure the Exotic Matter license server is running, ready to serve up your Naiad license(s). This section briey describes the process of launching the license server application, which is called lmx-serv-exotic.

On Windows If you are running Windows, the recommended way of launching lmx-serv-exotic is by setting it up as a Windows service. This is easily done using the LMX Conguration Tool which you already used to display the 9

1.4. RUNNING NAIAD hostid in the previous section.

CHAPTER 1. LICENSING AND INSTALLATION

As before, launch the LMX Conguration Tool in one of the following ways: Double-clicking on the LMX Conguration Tool icon on your desktop, or Selecting LMX Conguration Tool from Start > All Programs > Exotic Matter > Naiad, or Using a command prompt, navigate to the Naiad Studio application directory (by default \Program Files\Exotic Matter\Naiad-0.6\Server\LMX) and enter lmxconfigtool. Once the conguration tool is running, do the following: 1. Click on the License Server Conguation tab. 2. Click on the button labeled "New Server". 3. Fill out the Path To License Server (by default Program Files\Exotic Matter\Naiad-0.6\server\LMX\lmxserv-exotic.exe). 4. Fill out the Path to Cong File (same path as above, except lename ends in .cfg). 5. Fill out the Path To License File (should be wherever you put your license le). 6. Optionally also ll out the Path to logle (so you can read the errors or any other output) Then, just click on the button labeled "Start Server". You should see a message in "Service Status" that reads: "Service Is Running!". You may also view the logle to check everythings OK. Congrats, youre done with the boring stu.

Figure 1.2: Exotic Matter License Server Congured And Running On Windows

10

CHAPTER 1. LICENSING AND INSTALLATION On Linux On Linux, open a terminal shell and enter: lmx-serv-exotic -l exoticmatter.lic

1.4. RUNNING NAIAD

where exoticmatter.lic is the name of the license le you have received. The license le can be located anywhere as long as you specify its full path. The license server should now start up with a long text message. However, you should see "Serving the following features:" among the output text, and the feature "NAIAD" appearing.

Ensuring the License Server Is Reachable From Client Computer Whatever computer you wish to run Naiad on, you should check that it can reach the license server application. You may do so by opening another terminal window and running the following command: lmxendutil -licstat If this computer can reach the license server, you will see text output telling you so, including the total Naiad license count. If the computer is unable to automatically connect to the license server, the most likely reason is that the communication is blocked by rewall rules. To resolve this, open port number 6200 (TCP and UDP) in the rewall, both on the server and the clients, and possibly (but less likely) on any router or hardware rewall in between them.

1.4.2

Launching Naiad Studio

Naiad Studio is Exotic Matters open-source application that provides a user-friendly 3D graphical user interface to the powerful Naiad dynamics server. You can use Naiad Studio to create, edit, and visualize the Naiad graphs and the simulations they dene. To launch Naiad Studio, do one of the following:

On Windows Double-click on the Naiad Studio icon on the Desktop. Select Naiad from Start > All Programs > Exotic Matter > Naiad Using a command prompt, navigate to the Naiad Studio application directory (by default \Program Files\Exotic Matter\Naiad-0.6\Clients\Naiad Studio\bin) and enter nstudio.

On Linux Open a terminal shell and enter nstudio

11

1.4. RUNNING NAIAD

CHAPTER 1. LICENSING AND INSTALLATION

12

Chapter 2 Naiad Studio Interface

In this chapter we will explore how to use the Naiad Studio client application, focusing on the workow.

2.1

Understanding the Workow

Naiad uses a node-based workow, where you connect nodes into a pipeline to read, process, and output simulation data. The simulation data is contained in objects called bodies. Each node is an operator, or op for short, that creates, modies, or destroys bodies. The bodies are passed from operator to operator via connections called feeds, as shown in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1: Conceptually a Naiad graph consists of a network of connected operators. Graphs are saved in .ni les. If you open a .ni le in a text editor you will see a list of sequential commands to build the graph. You can edit the contents of .ni les in any text editor, which may be useful if the .ni le has become corrupt and wont load. Figure 2.2 shows a real-world example of the graph in Figure 2.1. The yellow origin op (upper-left) creates an empty particle body (the double-ringed blue dot). The body is fed to a purple liquid emit op, which adds liquid particles to the body (in the shape of a sphere, dened by the sphere eld, upper-right). Next the body is fed to an orange 13

2.2. THE NAIAD STUDIO WINDOW

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

acceleration op that adds gravity. Finally, the body, including all its particles, is output to disk, stored in an EMP le.

Figure 2.2: A simple Naiad graph. Operators which create bodies are origins, and operators that destroy bodies are terminals. (When a body reaches a point in the graph where there is nowhere to go, it is destroyed). An important dierence is that in Naiad, the operators do not themselves contain any data - they only dene the action taken on the data. The data is stored in the bodies, which are fed to the operators. The only exception to this rule are eld operators, which do not work on bodies at all and are specically designed to work only on 3D eld data. Field operators are closely related to the kinds of nodes you would nd in a node-based compositing package, such as the Foundrys Nuke. We will have a lot more to say about these eld operators later. However, you already encountered one in Figure 2.2.

2.2

The Naiad Studio Window

The Naiad Studio window is composed of various panes and views, many of which are dockable, movable and resizable. The white graph workspace lies underneath it all.

2.2.1

Panes and Views

Naiad Studios main window is divided into ve areas: The Graph Workspace. The Time Toolbar. The 3D View pane. The Help View pane. 14

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE The Value Editor pane. The Message View pane.

2.2. THE NAIAD STUDIO WINDOW

Panes can be resized, moved around, tabbed, docked, and even detached into separate windows. The default pane layout is shown in Figure 2.3.

Figure 2.3: Naiad Studio window at startup. The Graph Workspace is where you build your graph by adding operators and connecting them. When you create an operator its parameters will be shown in the Value Editor (on the right, by default). Using the Value Editor, you can adjust the parameters on the operator to achieve the eect you want (Figure 2.4).

Figure 2.4: Operator parameters are shown in the Value Editor.

2.2.2

Tabbed Panels

Panes are divided into tabbed panels at the bottom of the pane. To go to a dierent tab simply click on the tab name (Figure 2.5).

Figure 2.5: Tabbed panels inside a pane. 15

2.3. USING THE MENU BAR

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

2.3

Using the Menu Bar

The Naiad Studio menu bar is located at the top of the window (Figure 2.6). The menu bar contains the following drop-down menus: File Functions for opening and saving les. Edit Functions for editing the current graph. 3D View Functions related to the 3D View. Graph Functions related to the Graph Workspace. Time Functions for controlling simulation. Window Functions for customizing the window layout. Help Functions for showing general information about Naiad Studio.

Figure 2.6: The Naiad Studio menu bar. After using Naiad Studio on a daily basis for a while you will realize that some of the menu actions are more commonly used than others. Learning the keyboard short-cuts for your favorite actions will save you a lot of time. When there is a keyboard short-cut available it is shown beside the name in the menu. Remember to check here if you ever forget a short-cut. Hovering over functions in the menus will also show a very brief description of what the function does at the bottom of the window.

2.4

Using the Graph Workspace

To set up your mind-bogglingly amazing simulations you must create suitable operators and hook them up. The Graph Workspace is where you add, remove, and connect operators in your graph. When you start simulating you will also be able to see bodies being passed between operators. This section describes how to use the Graph Workspace to build Naiad graphs.

2.4.1

Operator Anatomy

Before we explain how to create a Naiad graph we need to describe how operators are represented in the Graph Workspace. This will help us better understand the rest of the material in this section. 16

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

2.4. USING THE GRAPH WORKSPACE

Figure 2.7: The dierent parts of an operator. Top: A Body operator. Bottom: A Field operator. Operator Families There are two dierent families of operators in Naiad: Body operators and Field operators. Body operators have round shapes, while Field operators have rectangular shapes. Exactly what the dierence is between body and eld operators will be explained further on. In addition to belonging to a certain family, each operator belongs to one or more categories. The primary category of an operator dictates the color used to ll the shape. As you become used to working with Naiad graphs the category colors will help you to quickly get a feel for what a graph does.

Plugs The idea behind the Naiad graph is that operators communicate with each other to perform a sequence of operations. Because operators can have several inputs and outputs we have to distinguish which ones to use when connecting operators. Operator inputs and outputs are referred to as plugs (Figure 2.7). Input plugs are shown at the top of the operator, while output plugs are shown at the bottom. Each plug has a unique name that is shown just inside the operator. Input plug names consist of a single alphabetical character, while output plug names consist of a single number. There are two types of plugs: body plugs and eld plugs. Body plugs have circular shapes, while eld plugs have rectangular shapes. The symbol inside each plug is referred to as the signature. Signatures work like lters, telling us what type of data the plug expects as input or produces as output. Additionally, signatures on body plugs have one of two dierent modes: single or group (Figure 2.8). Body plugs with group signatures handle multiple bodies, while single signatures indicate that the body plugs handles only a single body. Group signatures are drawn as outlines and single signatures are drawn as solid shapes.

Figure 2.8: Left: Single plug. Right: Group plug.

17

2.4. USING THE GRAPH WORKSPACE State

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

Most operators have state describing whether they participate in the simulation or not. In the Graph Workspace operator state is shown as a circle to the left of the operator (Figure 2.9). Operators can be in one of three states: Active Active operators take part in the simulation. The color for active state is dark green, as shown on the Join operator in Figure 2.9. Sub-active Sub-active operators would be inactive, except that one of their outputs is connected to an active (or sub-active) operator. The color for sub-active state is light green. An example of a sub-active operator is the Dynamics operator in Figure 2.9. Note that if the Join operator were to become inactive, so would the Dynamics operator. Inactive Inactive operators will not take part in Naiad simulations. The color for inactive state is grey. Examples of this are the Join-1 and Dynamics-1 operators on the right in Figure 2.9.

Figure 2.9: An operator has one of the three state: Active, Sub-active, or Inactive.

Name Every operator has a unique name that is shown beside the operator. It is possible to change this name, as will be explained in Section 2.4.8.

2.4.2

The Global Operator

The Naiad graph is very general in the sense that you can create many types of operators and connect them in numerous ways to produce extremely complex simulations. However, there is one operator that must exist in your graph (you are not even allowed to remove it!). This is the Global operator, which contains general information about your graph. The global operator appears in the Graph Workspace as shown in Figure 2.10. Naiad Studio will automatically create a global operator for you when you start a new graph.

Figure 2.10: The global operator.

2.4.3
TODO

Body Anatomy

18

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

2.4. USING THE GRAPH WORKSPACE

2.4.4

Adding Operators

Operators are added to the graph using the Tab menu (Figure 2.11). To bring up the Tab menu click anywhere in the Graph Workspace and press <Tab>. Start typing the name of the operator you want to create and watch the name completion happen as you type. As soon as the completion matches the operator you wish to create just press <Enter> and the operator will be created. If you instead wish to browse the available operators, use the menus below the input eld and click on the type you want to create.

Figure 2.11: Operators are created using the Tab menu.

2.4.5

Selecting Operators

Selecting an operator allows you to edit its parameters in the Value Editor, as well as perform many other useful tasks. To select a single operator simply left-click once on it. Selected operators are drawn with a yellow outline, as shown in Figure 2.12. Multiple operators can be selected by left-dragging on the workspace to form a marquee. All operators within the marquee will be selected. Pressing <Ctrl+A> selects all operators in the graph. Alternatively, all operators can be selected/unselected using the menu bar: Edit > Select All Operators or Edit > Unselect All Operators. Clicking on the workspace also clears all selection.

Figure 2.12: The yellow outline on the rightmost operator (Dynamics-1) indicates that it is selected. Additionally, you can use the keyboard to gain more control over selection behaviour: Pressing <Ctrl> toggles selection. Pressing <Shift> adds to the current selection.

2.4.6

Selecting Bodies

Selecting a body allows you to view its properties in the Value Editor. To select a single body simply left-click on it. Selected bodies are drawn with a yellow outline, as shown in Figure 2.13. Multiple bodies can be selected by left-dragging on the workspace to form a marquee. All bodies within the marquee will be selected. To select or unselect all bodies using the menu bar choose Edit > Select All Bodies or Edit > Unselect All Bodies, 19

2.4. USING THE GRAPH WORKSPACE

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

respectively. As for operator selection, use <Ctrl> and <Shift> to toggle or add to the current selection. Clicking on the workspace clears all selection.

Figure 2.13: The yellow outline on the upper body indicates that it is selected.

2.4.7

Selecting Feeds

Feeds can be selected in much the same way as operators and bodies. To select a feed you can either left-click directly on it or left-drag to form a marquee including the feed. Selected feeds are drawn with a yellow outline, as shown in Figure 2.14. To select or unselect all feeds using the menu bar choose Edit > Select All Feeds or Edit > Unselect All Feeds, respectively. As for operator or body selection selection, use <Ctrl> and <Shift> to toggle or add to the current selection. Clicking on the workspace clears all selection.

Figure 2.14: The yellow outline on the right feed indicates that it is selected.

2.4.8

Renaming Operators

Giving operators meaningful names often makes it easier to understand what a graph does. Whenever you can, make sure to give your operators meaningful names. It will be much appreciated by anyone studying your graphs. To change the name of an operator, select it and edit the name in the Value Editor (Figure 2.15). 20

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

2.4. USING THE GRAPH WORKSPACE

Figure 2.15: Operator names can be changed in the Value Editor.

2.4.9

Graph Editing

The Graph Workspace supports common editing operations such as copy (Edit > Copy or <Ctrl+C>), cut (Edit > Cut or <Ctrl+X>), and paste (Edit > Paste or <Ctrl+V>). Note that these operations only work on operators since they dont make any sense for feeds and bodies.

Copy Copies the selected operators and any feeds connecting these operators to the clipboard. Feeds connecting to unselected operators will not be copied.

Cut Cutting is equivalent to copying and then deleting the selection.

Paste Inserts the operators and feeds from the clipboard into the graph. Note that the pasted operators will have unique names to avoiding name clashes with their originals (in case the originals still exist). The pasted operator positions will be centered around the current mouse position. Note that you can copy and paste between separate Naiad Studio windows.

2.4.10

Deleting Operators

Weve all done it. Created an operator we dont need that is. Luckily there is an easy x for this. Simply select the operators you want to get rid of and press <Delete> or <Backspace> to delete them. Note that any feeds connected to the deleted operators will also be deleted.

2.4.11

Disabling Operators

In some cases it is useful to disable operators, giving them a pass-through behaviour having no eect on the simulation. To disable an operator select it and set its Enabled parameter to zero in the Value Editor (Figure 2.16). 21

2.4. USING THE GRAPH WORKSPACE Disabled operators are distinguished by their grey interiors.

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

Figure 2.16: Operators can be disabled in the Value Editor and are then drawn with a grey interior.

2.4.12

Connecting Operators

Operators do not work well alone. To produce interesting results we must connect our operators. Such connections are referred to as feeds. Feeds represent connections between operator inputs and outputs. To create a feed between two plugs start by left-clicking on one of them in the Graph Workspace. This initiates a pending feed, shown as a line extending from the plug you clicked on to the mouse position (Figure 2.17). Hover the mouse over the plug you wish to connect to. If the two plugs are compatible the line will turn green. Left-click on the second plug to establish the feed. However, if the two plugs are not compatible the line will turn red and you will not be able to establish the feed. To abort a pending feed click anywhere on the workspace. You can also delete one or more existing feeds by selecting them and pressing <Delete> or <Backspace>. Plug signatures will give you an idea of which plugs are compatible. However, compatible signature are not necessarily identical, which complicates the matter somewhat. When in doubt, look for the green line.

Figure 2.17: Left: Click on a plug to initiate a pending feed. Middle: When hovering over a compatible plug the pending feed turns green. Left-click on the second plug to create the feed. Right: When hovering over an incompatible plug the pending feed turns red.

22

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

2.4. USING THE GRAPH WORKSPACE

2.4.13

Moving Operators

Once you start creating and connecting operators you will notice that it is useful to be able to move your operators around in the Graph Workspace to improve the graph layout. Left-clicking and dragging a selected operator will make it move with the mouse. You can also select a group of operators and move them all at once using this technique. Since inputs are on top and outputs at the bottom, most graphs ow from the top down. You should adhere to this rule when placing your operators.

2.4.14

Changing Operator State

To change the state of an operator left-click on the state indicator. If the operator was previously inactive or subactive it will now become active. However, if the operator was active, it will become either inactive or sub-active depending on its connections to other operators.

2.4.15

Changing Plug Signature

Naiad Studio allows you to switch the signatures of body plugs from being group to singel and vice versa. This is done by right-clicking on a body plug. As you do so you will see the signature being drawn according to its new mode. Unocially such plug manipulation is referred to as slapping. Note that slapping is only available on body plugs. It is also an error to try to slap an input body plug while there is a feed connected to it.

2.4.16

Operator Condition

By default the interior colors of operators correspond to the operators category. When you start stepping the graph to crank out your simulations you will notice that operator interiors turn blue, before reverting back to the category color. This shows you the progress of the current time-step. At the beginning of each time-step all operator interiors turn blue. When an operator completes its task for the time-step it reverts back to its category color. This allows you to track the progress of the current time-step. By studying the graph while stepping you will also be able to identify hot-spots, i.e. operators that take a long time to complete. There are many ways to optimize graphs to remove hot-spots, several of which will be covered in the tutorials in the next part. In addition to stepping, operator interiors turn yellow or red when a warning or error related to the operator is reported. A common scenario is trying to read or write to les that dont exist.

2.4.17

Navigating Inside the Graph Workspace

As you start creating large graphs with many operators you will need to navigate to a particular part of the graph quickly. This section explains how this is done in the Graph Workspace.

Panning To pan the view of the Graph Workspace press the middle mouse button while pressing <Alt> and drag the mouse pointer across the screen.

Zooming Zooming in the Graph Workspace can be done using the keyboard or the mouse. To zoom in either press <Ctrl++> or right-click and drag the mouse right or up while pressing <Alt>. Similarly, to zoom out either press <Ctrl+-> or right-click and drag the mouse left or down while pressing <Alt>. 23

2.5. USING THE VALUE EDITOR Framing

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

If you ever get lost in a large graph you can t the entire graph on screen by pressing <A>. Alternatively you can t only selected operators on screen by pressing <F>. If no operators are selected the entire graph will be t. For framing to work make sure the Graph Workspace has focus by clicking somewhere inside it.

2.5

Using the Value Editor

The Value Editor is where you change the parameter values of your operators and inspect the properties of your bodies. When you select an operator in the Graph Workspace its parameters will be shown in the Value Editor (Figure 2.18). Similarly, when you select a body its properties are shown in the Value Editor. Parameters and properties are divided into sections, which can be minimized by clicking on the arrow beside the section name. Parameters and properties have dierent types, governing how you interact with these values. For instance, toggle values are shown as check boxes. Other values have certain ranges and these values can be changed using the provided sliders or by typing in the text eld. When you are nished typing in a text eld simply press <Enter> to set the value. Alternatively, you can press <Tab> to set the value and move on to the next value.

Figure 2.18: The Value Editor panel.

2.5.1

Naiad Expression Language (NEL)

At rst glance it may seem that values simply consist of numbers and strings. Although values can be used in this way, there is a far more powerful way to work with parameter values in Naiad. Naiad provides a scripting language 24

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

2.5. USING THE VALUE EDITOR

that lets you specify values as expressions using the Naiad Expression Language or NEL for short.

2.5.2

Expression Versus Evaluation

Writing expressions is fun, but its what these expressions evaluate to that really matters. To see what an expression evaluates to right-click on a text eld and choose Evaluate (Figure 2.19). The text eld now shows what the expression evaluates to. The text eld background color changes to indicate this. Naturally, the text eld also becomes read-only. By default parameter text elds show expressions and body properties show evaluated expressions. Body property text elds can be made to show expressions, but these will remain read-only. If you want to set body properties you should take a look at the origin operators, where bodies are created.

Figure 2.19: Value Editor text elds can show either expressions or what these expression evaluate to.

2.5.3

The Expression Editor

Sooner or later you will nd yourself wanting to use a complex expression for one of your parameters. However, even Naiad pros require more space for such tasks than is provided in the Value Editor text elds. To remedy this lack of space Naiad Studio provides an Expression Editor. Right-click on a value in the Value Editor to open an Expression Editor dialog. This will provide you with enough space to write seriously powerful expressions. When you are done use the Done button to set the value and close the Expression Editor. If you wish to keep the Expression Editor open use the Apply button instead. This can be very useful when you have set your text eld to show the evaluated expression, since it allows you to view both the expression and its evaluation at the same time. Note that you can open Expression Editors for parameters that are not shown as text elds, such as check boxes and combo boxes. This is in fact the only way to provide expressions for such parameters. The Expression Editor is not available for body properties since these are read-only. However, the parameters of the origin operators that create bodies follow the normal rules.

2.5.4

Body Names

Some operators have a parameter used to lter which incoming bodies will be processed. The values of such parameters are a list of body names accepted by the lter. For large graphs it can be dicult to keep track of all body names. Naiad Studio helps you with this task by providing a list of relevant bodies. The context menu for body name parameters provides a list of body names from which you can choose the one you want (Figure 2.21). Choosing the asterisk (*) tells the operator to process all incoming bodies.

2.5.5

Channel Names

Similar to body names, some operators process certain channels on incoming bodies. Again, it can be dicult to keep track of the available channels in complicated graphs. The context menu for channel name parameters provides you with a list of available channels to help you select the one you want (Figure 2.22). 25

2.5. USING THE VALUE EDITOR

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

Figure 2.20: The Expression Editor dialog.

Figure 2.21: The body names context menu.

26

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

2.5. USING THE VALUE EDITOR

Figure 2.22: The channel name context menu.

2.5.6

Path and File Names

An important part of the Naiad workow is the ability to import and export data. It is common to use geometry modeled and animated in a modeling package (e.g. Maya or Houdini) in Naiad simulations. Similarly, it is common to export simulation data from Naiad in the form of points or meshes for rendering. The details on how to do this are covered further on. In order to perform import and export tasks certain operators in the Naiad graph need to read and write les on disk. Parameters referring to le or path names can be specied using the Browse button appearing on the same line as the text eld (Figure 2.23).

Figure 2.23: File and path name parameters can be specied using the Browse button (red circle). The path in the image is relative to the global Project Path since it doesnt start with a /.

Relative Paths Path or le names that do not begin with a / are relative to the Project Path parameter on the Global operator. This is convenient because it means that if you store all les related to a project in a single folder it saves you a lot of typing when specifying paths. Also, if the project is moved to a dierent folder you just have to change the Project Path and not have to worry about any other parameters. It is strongly recommended that you use this approach whenever possible.

Absolute Paths Absolute paths begin with a / and are not relative to the Project Path. This means that they must contain the full path to the resource pointed to on disk. While this is sometimes useful or even necessary, it is not recommended to use this approach in general, as it makes it very dicult to open the graph in dierent machines. 27

2.6. USING THE HELP VIEW

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

2.6

Using the Help View

By default the Help View panel is located to the left of the Graph Workspace. When no operators are selected the Help View shows general information related to the Naiad system. To view detailed information about a specic operator just select it in the Graph Workspace. This brings up a list of the operators parameters and plugs in the Help View, providing detailed information on how these parameters aect simulations. This is a powerful resource since there are many dierent types of operators in Naiad, some of which have fairly large sets of parameters. As shown in Figure 2.24, the Help View provides browser-like navigation features (located at the top of the panel), allowing you to move between dierent pages without changing your selection.

Figure 2.24: The Help View shows detailed information about selected operators.

2.7

Using the Time Tool Bar

The Time tool bar is where you control the time aspects of your simulation. This is where you start and stop stepping of your graph, but it is also where you control which frame you are viewing in Naiad Studio. The Time tool bar is located at the bottom of the Naiad Studio window (Figure 2.25). In the middle of the Time tool bar is a slider where each tick corresponds to a single frame. The text elds on either side of the slider show the visible frame range. To change this range simply type in dierent values in the text elds. The orange area on the slider shows the simulation range. This range corresponds to the First Frame and Last Frame parameters on the Global operator, as encircled in red in the image. When a graph is passed to the dynamics server simulation will be carried out for the frames in this range. The most recent frame to be simulated is called the live frame and is shown as a green bar. Note that before any simulation has taken place there is no live frame and no green bar is shown. When you position the slider on a frame Naiad Studio tries to load data from previously saved les of that frame into memory and show that data in the 3D View. This means that Naiad Studio can be used to play back simulations stored on disk, as explained below. Additionally, NEL expressions based on the current visible frame will be evaluated, letting you inspect the results this may have on your graph. 28

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

2.7. USING THE TIME TOOL BAR

Figure 2.25: The Naiad Studio Time tool bar, located at the bottom of the window.

2.7.1

Stepping

Submitting a graph to a dynamics server for simulation is referred to as stepping the graph. The tools to the right of the slider are used to step the graph shown in the Graph Workspace. An isolated view of the stepping tools is shown in Figure 2.26. Let us rst consider the tools on the right, the ones with keyboard short-cuts printed out in red (from left to right): Reset stepping (<F2>) Removes the live frame and ensures that subsequent stepping will start on the First Frame parameter of the Global operator. Step to last frame (<F6>) Steps from the current live frame to the Last Frame parameter of the Global operator. To stop stepping press <Esc>. Step a single frame (<F3>) Increments the live frame by one. Restep live frame (<F4>) This allows you to see the results of changing parameters without moving in time. Step visible frame (<F5>) Steps the frame you are currently viewing regardless of the live frame. This powerful feature allows you to step the graph at any point in time without stepping the previous frames. This is extremely useful when meshing uid particles, allowing mesh quality to be inspected at various times without having to mesh every single frame.

Figure 2.26: Stepping tools with keyboard short-cuts shown in red text. The stepping tools mentioned up to this point have all targeted the dynamics server built into Naiad Studio. Using this server has the advantage that we can monitor simulation progress in Naiad Studio. However, this can sometimes 29

2.8. USING THE 3D VIEW

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

slow simulations down, especially for large graphs. A faster alternative is to save your graph and run it through the Naiad command-line client. The left-most tool in Figure 2.26 does exactly this. The current graph is provided to a Naiad command-line client started outside Naiad Studio. This avoids the overhead of GUI updates, resulting in faster simulation times. A console window showing the output of the command-line client will be opened for you. To abort the command-line client simply close the console window. When using this tool make sure that your graph writes data to disk. If your graph is set up to write simulation results to disk (it should be if you intend to run it on the command-line) you will still be able to watch the progress of your simulation by manually changing the visible frame in Naiad Studio to a frame stepped by the command-line client, since Naiad Studio will then read in the cached results from disk.

2.7.2

Scrubbing

Changing the current visible frame in Naiad Studio is referred to as scrubbing. It is important to distinguish between what frame you are viewing in Naiad Studio and what frame the solver is on. Changing the visible frame in Naiad Studio has no eects whatsoever on your simulation. Think of it as simply changing the point in time (i.e. which frame) you wish to look at. As the current visible frame changes Naiad Studio will load in data for the current frame and display it in the 3D View. Also, parameter expressions will be evaluated, which may aect the operators in your graph, depending on your expressions. Scrubbing is an eective way of inspecting your simulations to see if the results match your intent. There are several ways to scrub in Naiad Studio. Using the mouse, you can drag the slider across the visible frame range, or you can left-click somewhere on the slider to jump straight to that frame. Alternatively, you can use the tools on the left to perform the following actions (in order of appearance from left to right): Seek to the rst visible frame (<Ctrl+Down>). Seek to the previous visible frame (<Left>). Play the visible range backwards (<Down>). Jump to the frame you type in the text eld. Play the visible range forwards (<Up>). Seek to the next visible frame (<Right>). Seek to the last visible frame (<Ctrl+Up>). Enable/disable looping. In playback mode there will be a 1/FPS second delay between each frame change, where FPS is the Fps (Frames per second) parameter on the Global operator. This allows you to control the playback speed as you inspect the results of your simulation. By default FPS is set to 24.

2.8

Using the 3D View

So far we have covered how to create Naiad graphs in the Graph Workspace, how to customize operators in the Value Editor, and how to use the Help View to get detailed information about operators. You just built the most amazing graph ever, drowning an evil re-breathing dragon in a lake of acid. Naiad was let loose for a few hours on your graph, possibly while you managed to get some much needed sleep. Did you manage to slay the erce beast? To nd out you need to inspect the data produced by your simulation, which happens to be exactly what the 3D View is for. Figure 2.27 shows an annotated image of the 3D View in Naiad Studio. The Heads Up Display (HUD) in the top left corner shows general information about what is being drawn, such as which camera we are looking from and what we are looking at. Together with the axes, the grid shown in the middle of the image can be useful for 30

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

2.8. USING THE 3D VIEW

Figure 2.27: The 3D View panel.

31

2.8. USING THE 3D VIEW

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

orientating the camera in the scene. In this example a body containing particles is visualized, the name of the body appearing on top of the particles. The yellow box shows the region in which particles are drawn. We will return to the details of this in coming sections. As shown in the 3D View menu it is possible to customize the 3D View panel to suit your needs.

2.8.1

Scopes

We have previously talked about families of operators that perform some computational task: body operators and eld operators. In this section we introduce a new family of operators: Scopes. The dierence between scopes and computational operators is that scopes are used to visualize data rather than perform computations on it. Rather than send bodies on to the next operator, scopes draw incoming bodies in the 3D View. Dierent types of scopes oer dierent types of visualization. Scopes are created just like other operators using the Tab menu in the Graph Workspace.

Figure 2.28: Scopes look slightly dierent than other operators in that their only input plug is located on the left and the state indicator is located on the right. Figure 2.28 shows how one type of scope is represented in the Graph Workspace. Note that the scope input plug is located on the left side and that there are no output plugs. Also, the state indicator is placed on the right. This particular scope is used to visualize meshes, as the name suggests. There are several other types of scopes, but they all follow this design. Scopes are connected to the graph in the same way as other operators, with the exception that scope plugs can be connected to both input and output plugs on regular operators.

Camera Scopes The rst scope you are likely to encounter is a camera-scope. Camera-scopes are used to set up the view in the 3D View, much like a regular camera is positioned for a shot. In order to use the 3D View you must have at least one active camera-scope in your scene. Since the 3D View can only visualize your data from one vantage point at a time it is only possible for one camera-scope to be active at any one time. If you activate a camera-scope (by left-clicking on its state indicator [Section 2.4.14]) all other camera-scopes will automatically become inactivate.

Clip Boxes Most scopes provide clip boxes, allowing you to clip away regions that you are not interested in. Scopes that have clip boxes will only draw content inside the volume specied by the clip box. This is useful for examining details of large data sets, where clipping enables you to discard all but the particular detail you are studying. There are two ways to change a scope clip box in Naiad Studio. The easiest and most common way is to make sure the clip box is visible in the 3D View by enabling the Visible in 3D parameter (Figure 2.29). This allows you to adjust the clip box using manipulators, as explained below. Alternatively you can specify the clip box transformation directly in the Value Editor by providing values for the Translate, Rotate, and Scale parameters. Another useful option is Frame Bodies, which causes the clip box to automatically resize itself based on the bodies that the scope draws. Note that you will not be able to manually resize the clip box in any way while this option is enabled. 32

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

2.8. USING THE 3D VIEW

Figure 2.29: Scope clip boxes are used to specify the volumes in which scopes draw.

2.8.2

Camera Controls

The camera controls in Naiad Studio are similar to many of the most common modeling packages. There are three basic ways to move the camera: Tumble Press <Alt> + left-drag. Dolly Press <Alt> + right-drag. Track Press <Alt> + middle-drag. For orthographics cameras the controls are slightly dierent: Dolly Press <Alt> + left-drag. Zoom Press <Alt> + right-drag. Track Press <Alt> + middle-drag.

Camera Bodies Besides moving the camera around interactively, Naiad Studio also supports exported camera paths. To attach a camera path to one of your cameras you must provide a camera body to the camera-scopes input. Instead of being interactive the camera will now follow the path provided by the body. Note that you will not be able to freely move the camera will it has an incoming body.

2.8.3

Framing

While working in the 3D View press <F> to center the bodies being drawn on the screen. This feature can be extremely useful for working with large scenes, allowing you to quickly get an overview of the bodies in a scene.

2.8.4

Selection

The 3D View provides a selection mechanism very similar to that of the Graph Workspace. Selection is done by left-dragging the mouse in the 3D View panel. As shown in Figure 2.30, this creates a rectangular area wherein operator items will be selected. To clear selection simply left-click an empty area. Note that selecting an operator item in the 3D View will simultaneously select the operator in the Graph Workspace. Similarly, selecting an 33

2.8. USING THE 3D VIEW

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

operator in the Graph Workspace will select corresponding operator items in the 3D View. Selected operator items are drawn using yellow lines, whereas unselected operator items are drawn using white lines.

Figure 2.30: 3D View selection.

2.8.5

Manipulators

Certain operator parameters, such as transforms and planes, have well-dened geometric interpretations and are shown in the 3D View. Besides viewing such parameters, the 3D View also oers a set of tools called manipulators that allow you to modify the parameter values directly in the 3D View. In many cases, such as specifying the orientation of a plane or the size of a box, using manipulators is much more intuitive than providing values through the Value Editor. Manipulators operate on all selected items. To start manipulating your operator parameters rst select the ones you wish to work on. Naiad Studio provides three dierent types of manipulators, discussed separately below. Depending on how you want to manipulate your parameters press <W> for translation, <E> for rotation, or <R> for scaling. To disable manipulation press <Q>.

Translate The translate manipulator (Figure 2.31) enables you to move an object along each of the three axes independently. As you left-drag on one of the arrows on the manipulator you will see the corresponding component of the Translate parameter being updated in the Value Editor. This is useful for placing objects in your scene. Additionally you can move your object by left-draging on the white cube where the arrows connect. This will translate the object in the camera view plane.

Figure 2.31: The translate manipulator enables you move objects around in your scene. 34

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE Rotate

2.8. USING THE 3D VIEW

The rotate manipulator (Figure 2.32) enables you to change the rotation of an object around each of the three axes independently. Left-click and drag on one of the rings to change the Rotate parameter. Additionally, you can left-click and drag anywhere within the white ring to freely rotate the object.

Figure 2.32: The rotate manipulator enables you to rotate objects in your scene.

Scale The scale manipulator (Figure 2.33) enables you to change the scale of an object. Left-click and drag on the cubes to update the Scale parameter of an operator. The axis cubes update the scale components independently, while the white cube updates all three components uniformly.

Figure 2.33: The scale manipulator enables you to change the sizes of objects in your scene.

2.8.6

Playblasting

Lets say youve just nished a long simulations and you want to get an idea of what the results look like before proceeding to the next stage of your pipeline. The playblast feature in Naiad Studio enables you to export a simulation as an image sequence. This is particularly useful for rapidly show-casing the results of a simulation. Essentially, playblasting is a way to export what you see in the 3D View in Naiad Studio as an image sequence. A playblast is initiated by selecting 3D View > Playblast. The playblast dialog (Figure 2.34) provides a number of options for the exported image sequence. The path option lets you specify which folder the exported images are saved in. You can also specify a le name prex, which is useful when creating several playblasts of the same simulation. Thereafter you specify the frame range, followed by pixel dimensions. By default, pixel dimensions are set to the size of the 3D View. Finally, choose the image format you wish to use (some of which require a quality value). 35

2.9. USING THE HISTORY PANEL

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

Figure 2.34: The playblast dialog provides many useful options for exporting a simulation to an image sequence. For large simulations, outputting large amounts of data to disk, playblasting can be slow because Naiad Studio has to read all that data in order to draw it in the 3D View. Luckily, there is a way to avoid data having to be read back into memory from disk. If you enable the 3D View > Playblast Stepping option, Naiad Studio will save an image after each step in your simulation. This option is perfect for over-night simulations. The next morning you will not only have large data les of simulation data, you will also have an image sequence to give you an idea of what the simulation looks like. Did the dragon make it?

2.9

Using the History Panel

As you work with Naiad Studio you will be performing various editing operations on your graph, such as moving operators around in the Graph Workspace or changing parameter values in the Value Editor. Naiad Studio records your actions and shows them in chronological order (most recent at the top) in the History panel. By default the History panel is located beneath the Graph Workspace (Figure 2.35).

Figure 2.35: The History panel shows a chronological list of actions, by default located beneath the Graph Workspace. 36

CHAPTER 2. NAIAD STUDIO INTERFACE

2.10. USING THE MESSAGE PANEL

2.9.1

Undoing and Redoing

To undo the most recent action press <Ctrl+Z> or select Edit > Undo. Similarly, to redo an action press <Ctrl+Shift+Z> or select Edit > Redo. It is also possible to traverse the history using the History panel. Simply click on the desired point in history that you wish to go back (or forward) to. Michael J. Fox made it back to the future and so can you!

2.10

Using the Message Panel

Messages are displayed in the Message panel, by default located beneath the Graph Workspace (Figure 2.36). There are three types of messages: information, warnings, and errors. Warning and error messages are preceeded with a small icon to be easily distinguishable from information. When a error occurs the oending operator will become selected. To select a message simply left-click on it and note how it becomes high-lighted. Use <Ctrl> or <Shift> to select multiple message. A context menu is available by right-clicking inside the Message panel.

Figure 2.36: Messages are shown in the Message panel, by default located beneath the Graph Workspace. To help report errors or seek help it is possible to copy one or more selected messages to the clipboard using either the context menu or by pressing <Ctrl+C>. For a message relating to a certain operator you can select the operator in question using the select action. To clear the contents of the message panel use the clear action. Finally, it is possible to customize the Message panel to only show messages of certain types. Only message types that are checked in the context menu will be shown in the Message panel.

37