You can open the Variation Manager using the shelf button or via the Atoms Menu: Atoms > Variations > Agents Variation Manager
The Variation Manager
The variation manager is the tool for building the association table for your variations.
From the "File" menu, you can save/load your variations to/from a file. You can also reload the content of the table from the scene (Reload from Atoms) or save your changes to the scene (Register to Atoms).
Once you "Register to Atoms" all the data will be stored as a json string in the tcAtomsNode of your scene.
As first thing a user should add a new agent type and give it a name. This should be exactly as your agent type name. You can do this by pressing the "Add agent type" button.
Geometry Tab
You can then add new geometries (.geos files) in the Geometry tab and materials in the Material tab.
To add new entries just right click on the list and press on "Add Entry".
You should give unique names for each entry. Environment variables in your file paths are allowed.
Since multiple geos can be contained in a single .geos object. Use the filter entry to select some geos. Use the * character as a wildcard and ! character as exclusion symbol. Use the comma to separate multiple entries. (i.e. _head,robot1_legs,!robot2_*)
Material Tab
In the Material tab, you can create a new material for your variations.
Right click on the viewport and click on "Add Entry" to create a new one.
Each material requires a material file depending on which renderer you will be using: .ass (Arnold), .rib (Renderman), .vrscene (vray).
The Preview section is useful for setting up the preview data which will be used later by Atoms to display your variations in openGL.
In case no diffuse file is specified, the diffuse color will be used. The same thing happens for specular path and color. There are also several other properties:
- diffuse and specular weights
- specular roll off and eccentricity
- normal map path
Environment variables in your file paths are allowed.
GeometryGroup Tab
The "GeometryGroup" contains the list where the agent type variations are defined.
Right click on the list and then select "Add group". Each entry will contain geo-material combinations and optionally a LOD list.
You can right click on the "Combinations" or "LOD" lists and press "Add Entry" to create new entries.
From the dropdown lists you will be able to select the geos and materials you added previously.
Please use the variations module to assign variations to your agents.
