Simple Scatter 1.19

Read Me Guide

This serves as a basic guide to how Simple Scatter functions. It will outline uses and intent of the geometry node setup.

General Notes

·       Most fields with the little Attribute Flag and can use weight maps. Just click the flag icon and search for the name of your weight map.

·       USR refers to a Uniform Scale Randomizer. This is if you want the scale of an object to remain uniform but want varying sizes of the object.

General Practice

·       Density should always be set very low when first using to avoid freezing or system overload.

·       Every random rotation function has seed value, not exposed in the interface. You can manually change the rotation seed if you would like by entering the “Rotation Controls” node group.

Inputs

              Toggles the mesh the randomizer is applied to.

Collection to Scatter

              Select a collection of a single item, or a collection of multiple objects to instance.

Multiple Objects ?

              Does the collection contain items you want it to separate when instancing?

              (Note: Say you have 3 items to scatter, a rock, tuft of grass, and a tree made of several different meshes. Simple scatter may separate the tree and instance the leaves in once place, and trunks without leaves in others. To fix, simply put the tree inside its own collection within the parent collection.)

Spread

              How far apart can the instances spawn next to one another.

              How many objects should spawn on the mesh. If you keep raising the density and aren’t getting more instances, ensure that the spread value is correct. A higher spread will prevent more objects from spawning on a mesh.

Seed

              This changes the instances placement on the mesh.

Bounding Boxes ?

              This replaces all the objects with simple bounding boxes. Great to visualize densities of high poly objects in a scene.

Hide instances in Viewport ?

              Hide the instances spawned, but only in the viewport. They will still render.

% Visible in Viewport

              What percentage of instances should be displayed in the viewport. (100% will render, this only alters what is visible in the viewport.)

Density / Weight Options

              The system is set up as a waterfall Boolean. It will always default to Weight / Vertex Groups. To use an image texture make sure the ‘Image Texture’ Boolean is set to 1. Doing so will now ignore the weight / vertex group inputs. If you wish to use noise, make sure both the ‘Image Texture ?’ Boolean, and the ‘Noise Based Texture’ Booleans are set to 1. (If the Noise Bool is set to 1, but the Image Bool is set to 0 it will default to the Weight / Vertex system)

              Weight / Vertex Group

                            Initially shown as a value, 0 = 0% and 1 = 100% of the objects are spawned to the mesh. (A more useful option is to click the Attribute Flag symbol and chose a weight / vertex paint map.)

              Image Texture ?

                             Would you like to use an image texture? (Be sure to select you UV Map by clicking the                                      Attribute Flag and searching for it.

              Texture Map

                             Search for the Image you wish to use as your density / weight map. (Ensure the object is UV’d correctly)

               UV Map

                             Click the attribute flag next to this option and search for the UV map you wish to use as a density / weight map.

              Noise Based Texture ?

                             Would you like to use a noise generator for object placement?  The noise can be edited  within the geometry nodes tab. Look for the group named “Edit Noise Here”, select it and press tab. Inside the usual noise options should be displayed.

              Noise Scale

Align to Normals ?

              Determines if instances are spawned perpendicular to the emitter meshes faces. If 0 all instances will face up on the world Z axis.

              (Note: If this is true you can no longer get uniform X and Y rotations as each object is rotated and placed according to the mesh’s normals. This prevents uniformity.

Normal Offset

              Should instances spawn higher or lower on the Z axis?

Randomize X ?

              Should instances spawn with random X rotations?

X Rotation

              Arbitrary numerical value that affects the rotation of each instance.

Randomize Y ?

              Should instances spawn with random Y rotations?

Y Rotation

              Arbitrary numerical value that affects the rotation of each instance.

Randomize Z ?

              Should objects spawn with random Z rotations?

           Arbitrary numerical value that affects the rotation of each instance.

              (Note: This node setup will always rotate along the Z axis of the instances local space. You can disable this in the ‘Rotate Instances’ node found in the node setup.

Scale

           What scale should the instances spawn at?

USR ? (Will override Non-Uniform Scaling if enabled.)

           Should instances have varying, but uniform sizes when spawning?

USR Min Scale

           What is the minimum scale an object should be instanced at?

USR Max Scale

           What is the maximum scale an object should be instanced at?

Outliers ?  (Will not function if USR is enabled.)

This option allows you to still have a variation in size, but then to also have some outliers that  can be significantly larger and smaller than the others to break up the uniformity.

Should Outliers Shrink ?

              Do you want the outliers to be smaller as well? Turn off if you only want larger outliers.

Default Scale

              What is the Default scale of your Instances?

Default Scale Difference %

What is the scale difference between instances? 20% Means object can be up to 120% of the default scale, but can also be 80% of default scale.

Outlier %

              How many instances should be Outliers?

Outlier X Scale

              How large can instances scale up to on the X axis.

Outlier Y Scale

              How large can instances scale up to on the Y axis.

Outlier Z Scale

              How large can instances scale up to on the Z axis.

Proxies

Proxy Objects ?

              Would you like to use proxies for this project ?

Render Proxies ?

  Would you like Blender to render the proxies? Or just use them in the viewport?

Proxy Collection to Scatter

              Select the collection containing your proxies. (Note: The order of objects in the collection is important. The Collection to Scatter and the Proxy Collection must maintain the same order.)

Proxy View Distance

              The distance, from a camera, that Instances will display their Proxy Geometry in the viewport.

              The camera that the ‘Proxy View Distance’ will measure from.

              (This could also be an object or empty that you can use to move around the scene to see the geometry you want.)

If you have any issues please email me at: [email protected]

Thanks for reading!