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Krakatoa Schematic Flow

 Available in Krakatoa v1.5.1 and higher.

Overview

  • The Krakatoa Schematic Flow is a node-based user interface which displays a schematic representation of the data flow within the Krakatoa Renderer and provides an alternative approach to controlling its major settings.
  • It can be used for the following tasks:
    • Overview the data flow inside the system.
    • Determine which features of Krakatoa are turned on and off
    • Turn features on and off using right-click context menus in "Show All Nodes" view mode.
    • See the scene Particle sources including number of objects and select any one of them via right-click context menus.
    • See the lights affecting the particles and select any of them using the right-click context menus.
    • Select the camera (if any) set as the view to render via the right-click context menus.
    • See any warnings and errors (e.g. active Omni lights present while in Voxel mode) through nodes highlighted in red and repair the problems.

Modes

  • The Schematic Flow provides two view modes: Show All Nodes and Active Nodes Only.

Show All Nodes

  • The Show All Nodes mode displays all nodes relevant to the current renderer (Particle, Voxel, Saving To Disk) regardless of their enabled state.
  • Thus, you can both see all stages particle data could potentially go through and enable/disable features using the Schematic Flow as an alternative User Interface to Krakatoa.

  • Note that when switched from Particle to Voxel rendering mode, some nodes will change to represent the different stages particles go through, for example Sorting for Lights and View which are not available in Voxel mode.

Active Nodes Only

  • The Active Nodes Only mode shows only the features currently enabled via the standard Krakatoa GUI.
  • This mode is more compact and better suited for overviewing the current system, but it cannot be used to turn on features that are currently off since their nodes are not visible.

  • When the Particle Cache is enabled, the particle source nodes will be turned off both in Active Nodes Only and in All Nodes mode because they are completely ignored in that case:

Updating the Schematic Flow

  • To update the Schematic Flow in order to represent the current state of all relevant settings, either
    • Left-click anywhere in the Schematic Flow including any of the nodes
    • Right-click outside a node
    • Or select the Update! menu option
  • Note that moving nodes around or attempting to change the wirings will have no effect - the Schematic Flow will always be reodered in hard-coded manner which cannot be changed manually.

Feedback, Node Info, Warnings and Errors

  • When the mouse is moved over a node, the node will be highlighted and a description of the node's function will be shown in the bottom right corner of the flow.
  • If the mouse is not over a node and at least one warning or error was detected in the last update, the text of that warning or error will be shown.
  • If a node is highlighted in red due to a warning or error, rolling over the node will display the corresponding warning or error's text.
  • The current state (OK/WARN/ERROR) will be shown in the upper right corner.

Nodes

Particle Sources

  • The Particle Sources nodes represent the 9 particle source types found in the Main Controls rollout.
  • These nodes are shown in green
    • Bright green when the source type is enabled for rendering AND contains valid nodes (visible renderable objects)
    • Dark green when the source type is enabled for rendering but contains NO valid nodes.
    • Black when disabled for rendering regardless of whether objects of this type exist or not. (Show All Nodes mode only)
  • Right-clicking a node will show a context menu with
    • The option to Enable/Disable the source type
    • The corresponding scene objects prefixed with + if renderable, -- if hidden or -r if not renderable
    • A suffix in [brackets] will follow the object name showing the reason for not rendering, e.g.
      • [object hidden]
      • [layer hidden]
      • [hide frozen]
      • [hidden by category]
      • [object not renderable]
  • Selecting a scene object from the right-click menu will select the scene object in the 3ds Max viewport. It will NOT unhide the object or change any causes for the object not being renderable - this has to be done manually.
  • The title of the node will show the number of objects that will actually render (the number of nodes marked with + on the Right-Click Menu)

Local KCMs

  • This node represent KCMs added to PRT Loaders, PRT Volumes or PRT FumeFX objects.
  • When a KCM is added to a PRT Loader, PRT Volume or PRT FumeFX object, the corresponding Particle Source node will connect to the Local KCMs node.

Deformations

  • This node represents any deformation modifiers added to PRT Loaders or PRT Volumes.
  • When a deformation modifier is added to a PRT Loader or PRT Volume, the corresponding Particle Source node will connect to the Deformations node.

Culling

  • This node represents any culling operations enabled in PRT Loaders.
  • When culling is enabled in a PRT Loader, the PRT Loader node will connect to the Culling node unless Deformed or using a KCM.

Node Material

  • This node represents the material assigned to a scene object.
  • By default, all Particle Sources will connect to this node (even if they don't have a material) unless a PRT Loader, PRT Volume or PRT FumeFX has KCM, Deformation or Culling applied.

Channel Override

  • This node represents the Global Channel Override Sets that can be used to apply one or more KCMs to all scene particles.
  • Right-clicking this node will open a context menu which will let you:
    • Disable the Channel Overrides
    • Create a new Global Channel Override Set with a default KCM (Color->Color)
    • Select to enable an existing Global Channel Override Set

Color Override

  • This node represents the Override Color option in the Global Render Values rollout.
  • Right-clicking this node will open a context menu with the option to enable/disable the Color Override.

Emission Override

  • This node represents the Override Emission option in the Global Render Values rollout.
  • Right-clicking this node will open a context menu with the option to enable/disable the Emission Override.

Absorption Override

  • This node represents the Override Absorptionoption in the Global Render Values rollout.
  • Right-clicking this node will open a context menu with the option to enable/disable the AbsorptionOverride.

Density Override

  • This node represents the Override Density option in the Global Render Values rollout.
  • Right-clicking this node will open a context menu with the option to enable/disable the Density Override.

Force Additive Mode

  • This node represents the Force Additive Mode option in the Main Controls rollout.
  • When enabled, the Emission will be set to the Color Channel without allocating the Emission Channel in memory, while Absorption and Color will be assumed black without allocating the Absorption channel.
  • Right-clicking this node will open a context menu with the options to
    • Toggle Force Additive Mode.
    • Toggle Emission Channel allocation (enabled only when no in Force Additive Mode)
    • Toggle Absorption Channel allocation (enabled only when no in Force Additive Mode)

Use Emission

  • This node represents the allocation and use of the Emission channel to make particles appear self-illuminated.
  • Right-clicking this node will open the same context menu as for the Force Additive Mode node.

Use Absorption

  • This node represents the allocation and use of the Absorption channel to make particles absorb light based on the RGB values in the channel.
  • Right-clicking this node will open the same context menu as for the Force Additive Mode node.

Use SpecularPower

  • This node represents the Allocate SpecularPower option in the Main Controls rollout and is only visible when the Shading Mode is switched to Phong Surface.
    • Right-clicking the node opens a menu with the option to toggle the Allocation of the SpecularPower channel.

Use SpecularLevel

  • This node represents the Allocate SpecularLevel option in the Main Controls rollout and is only visible when the Shading Mode is switched to Phong Surface.
    • Right-clicking the node opens a menu with the option to toggle the Allocation of the SpecularLevel channel.

Use PhaseEccentricity

  • This node represents the Allocate PhaseEccentricity option in the Main Controls rollout and is only visible when the Shading Mode is switched to Henyey-Greenstein or Schlick.
    • Right-clicking the node opens a menu with the option to toggle the Allocation of the PhaseEccentricity channel.

MEMORY POOL/PARTICLE CACHE

  • This node represents the particles in memory.
  • Krakatoa loads the particles into memory into a single global pool before rendering them.
  • The node shows the number of particles currently in memory and the amount of memory used.
  • Right-clicking this node will let you toggle
    • The PCache (disabling the PCache will disable the LCache, too)
    • The LCache (enabling the PCache will enable the PCache, too) - available only in Particle Rendering mode.
  • When the PCache is enabled, the Particle Source nodes and the Overrides will be hidden because all particles will be served from the memory pool in the PCache.

[image:Krakatoa16_SchematicFlow_LightAttenuationNodes.png]]

Sort For N Lights

  • This node represents the particle sorting performed once for each light in the scene before calculating Attenuation.
  • Right-clicking the node opens a context menu with the following options:
    • Ignore Scene Lights - toggles lighting off and on.
    • A list of all lights in the scene, prefixed with a checkmark if selected and a + if enabled and -- if turned off.
    • An option to create a default Spotlight with position [-1000,0,1000] and target at [0,0,0]
    • An option to open the 3ds Max Light Lister.

Attenuation

  • This node represents the internal Attenuation calculation.
  • It provides no additional controls.

Sort For View

  • This node represents the particle sorting relative to the current view performed once for the final pass of Particle rendering.
  • Right-clicking the node opens a context menu with the following options:
    • A list of all Cameras in the scene (if any) prefixed with a checkmark if the camera is the current view. Selecting from the list will select the Camera and set it as the current view.
    • The option to create a Camera from the current view, enabled only if the current view is not a camera.

M/N Passes Motion Blur

  • This node represents the native Krakatoa Motion Blur.
  • The title will list the number of passes as well as
    • the letter "J" when Jittered Motion Blur is enabled in Particle Mode
    • the letter "D" when Deformation Motion Blur is enabled in Particle Mode
  • The node will also show the Shutter and Bias values from the Main Controls rollout.

Shading Mode

  • This node represents the Shading Mode (Phase Function) used to calculate the particle shading.
    • The title will display the current mode - Isotropic, Phong Surface, Henyey-Greenstein or Schlick.

Depth Of Field

  • This node represents the Depth Of Field calculations in either Particle or Voxel Rendering mode.
  • The node will display the DOF Sample Rate value.
  • Right-clicking the node will open a context menu with the option to toggle Depth Of Field calculations.
  • When enabled, the node will turn red if the viewport is not a Camera or if the active Camera has no Krakatoa Camera Modifier added to provide an f-stop value. Selecting the red node will list the WARNING in the bottom right of the Schematic Flow dialog.

Env.Reflections

  • This node represents the Environment Reflections calculations in Particle rendering mode.
  • Right-clicking the node will open a context menu with the option to toggle Environment Reflections on and off.
  • If toggled on, the node will turn red if no texture map exists in the Environment Map slot of 3ds Max. Selecting the node will explain the problem as WARNING in the bottom right corner of the dialog.

Ambient PME

  • This node represents the Ambient Participating Medium Extinction calculations.
  • Right-clicking the node will open a context menu with the option to toggle APME on and off.

Depth Map Matte

  • This node represents the Initial Depth Maps matting feature of Krakatoa.
  • Right-clicking the node will open a context menu with the option to toggle Depth Map Mapping on and off.
  • If enabled, the node will turn red if no valid Z-Depth map sequence has been specified.

Object Matte

  • This node represents the Matte Objects processing.
  • When enabled and if valid geometry objects have been specified via Named Selection Sets, the objects will be rasterized to a Depth Map and used to occlude particles.

Particles To Grid

  • This node represents the encoding of particles onto the voxel grid (one slice plane at a time) in Voxel rendering mode.

N Light Passes

  • This node represents the Light Passes in Voxel Rendering Mode.
  • Right-clicking the node will open a context menu listing
    • A menu item to toggle lighting on and off (corresponding to >Ignore Scene Lights in Main Controls rollout).
    • A menu item to disable all Omni Lights (because Voxel Rendering Mode does not support Omni Lights)
    • All scene lights, prefixed by + for active lights and -- for disabled lights. Selected lights will have a checkmark.
    • A menu item to create a default Spotlight at coordinates [-1000,0,1000] looking at [0,0,0].
    • A menu item to open the 3ds Max Light Lister
  • When the Ignore Scene Lights option is unchecked, this node will turn red if
    • No lights exist in the scene and Use Emission or Force Additive Mode are off.
    • One or more active Omni lights are in the scene.
  • Selecting the node will explain the problem in the bottom right corner of the dialog.

Env.Reflection Pass

  • This node represents the Environment Reflections pass in Voxel rendering mode (reflections will be calculated in a separate camera-space pass)
  • Right-clicking the node will open a context menu with the option to toggle Environment Reflections on and off.
  • If toggled on, the node will turn red if no texture map exists in the Environment Map slot of 3ds Max. Selecting the node will explain the problem as WARNING in the bottom right corner of the dialog.

RENDER PARTICLES

  • This node represents the Krakatoa Particle Renderer.
  • Right-clicking the node will open a context menu with the options to toggle
    • Particle Rendering
    • Voxel Rendering
    • Save Particles To File Sequence
    • Light Scene Particles
  • In addition, the menu item RENDER FRAME NOW! will render in Iterative mode (even if Iterative mode is not checked in the Main Controls rollout) and will respect the Output Scaling of the Iterative mode.
    • This options will only be enabled if the current mode is not Save Particles To File Sequence.

RENDER VOXELS

  • This node represents the Krakatoa Voxel Renderer.
  • Right-clicking the node will open a context menu with the options to toggle Voxel Rendering and Particle Rendering.
  • This node will turn red under the same circumstances as the Light Passes (when no lights or active omni lights are found in the scene)

Render Elements

  • This node represents the 3ds Max Render Elements Manager and is the root of any nodes representing the actual Render Elements in the Schematic Flow.
  • The right-click context menu provides options to
    • Toggle the Render Elements Manager on and off (and thus all Render Elements in it);
    • One entry for every Render Element in the Manager, with a checkmark when the element is enabled and the ability to toggle the element on and off by selecting the menu item;
    • Open the Render Elements tab of the Render Dialog for editing.

Attenuation File

  • This node represents the Attenuation File saving in Particle rendering mode.
  • Right-clicking the node will display a context menu with the options to toggle the saving of Attenuation Map Files on and off.

Image File

  • This node represents the primary output Image File saving.
  • Right-clicking the node will display a context menu with the options to
    • Toggle the saving of the Image File output on and off.
    • Specify the Image File output name - if a valid name is specified, a checkmark will be shown in front of the menu item.

Frame Buffer

  • This node represents the Virtual Frame Buffer (Rendered Frame Windows).
  • Right-clicking the node will display a context menu with the options to toggle the display of the 3ds Max Virtual Frame Buffer (Rendered Frame Window) on and off.