RELEASED The "Scatter Tool" plugin for Poser

[Ken1171]

Here are some usage examples using the new upcoming features. First, we use Poser's Grouping Tool to create a new group "GroupA" and paint some poly selection, below shown in red. This is using the GeoSphere I have posted in this thread.

Then scatter over this newly created group by selecting the GeoSphere_1 and GroupA. I am also showcasing the new Y scale variation to vary the cube's height when scattered. Note how the cubes only spawn over the selected GroupA area! You can paint different areas on the same surface to scatter different things, or scatter different things over the same group. This gives much more control over what goes where! ^____^

 

[Miss B]

I'm especially liking the option to make them different sizes. That would really work well with a forest of trees.

 

[DanaTA]

I'm especially liking the option to make them different sizes. That would really work well with a forest of trees.

Actually, I was thinking a cityscape of tall buildings. They can be textured differently once in place, right? Of course, it doesn't matter to me...I don't have Poser 11 Pro, and don't know if I'll get it any time soon. I think there may be something similar to this tool for DAZ|Studio, but I may be wrong. I think there was something by DraagonStorm.

Dana

 

[Ken1171]

I'm especially liking the option to make them different sizes. That would really work well with a forest of trees.

The current Scatter Tool already has the option to make trees of different sizes, but this new option affects only the height, stretching and squashing objects. I think it might work well with plants and bushes, adding more variety. It depends a lot on what's being scattered, and I remember in my early scattering where I wanted the grass to have more height variations. This will cover that, and whatever else people find useful for in their individual renders. ^^

Actually, I was thinking a cityscape of tall buildings. They can be textured differently once in place, right?

Yes, I made a scene like that in the very first page in this thread, where I have textured a couple of cubes with building windows, and created an entire city with it. It's the 3rd example on page #1. It's easier to texture the cubes before scattering, of course.

 

[Miss B]

Actually, I was thinking a cityscape of tall buildings. They can be textured differently once in place, right?

Yes, I think it could be used to create buildings as well.

 

[Miss B]

The current Scatter Tool already has the option to make trees of different sizes, but this new option affects only the height, stretching and squashing objects. I think it might work well with plants and bushes, adding more variety. It depends a lot on what's being scattered, and I remember in my early scattering where I wanted the grass to have more height variations. This will cover that, and whatever else people find useful for in their individual renders. ^^

Ohhh, yes those options would be great.

 

[an0malaus]

What about having another evolution with the option to randomly vary a selected parameter(s) on the scatter objects, such as a morphTarget, that way objects that have recognisable proportions won't just look like they've been Y-scaled. I'm imagining a shrub with a spherical topiary top that you want to vary in height, but only by the length of the trunk. That way the trunk length morph could be randomised in the scatter, but not have some look like flattened or stretched ellipsoids, remaining spherical.

 

[Ghostman]

It would be nice with an option to select several props to scatter at the same time.

 

[Ken1171]

I am taking note of all of these suggestions on my queue list! ^_____^

 

[RAMWolff]

Your a good script creator. How about a script that would allow for multiple surfaces to be selected at once to apply same maps and shaders too? I know there are scripts out there but nothing that's updated with built in definitions of the Hivewire figures or La'Femme and L'Homme. I don't mind building definitions but with Superfly and all these newer figures it would be nice to have some shiny new tools to work with.

 

[Ken1171]

How about a script that would allow for multiple surfaces to be selected at once to apply same maps and shaders too?

Thanks, Ram! I have been thinking about this for a while, and I had plans to make something like that, even if just for myself. There were some technical difficulties figuring out how to copy materials from one node to another - the API doesn't offer any direct way of doing it. But when asking around, I have discovered there is a whole set of undocumented hidden instructions that can greatly expand what we can do with Python in Poser. We have to hack one of the Poser files to find these instructions, and they appear to be new in Poser 11. I have used one of them in the Scatter Tool, and it would be impossible without it.

Once the dust settles with the Scatter Tool, I want to look into that. ^____^

 

[RAMWolff]

That would be AWESOME! Thank you Ken!

 

[Ken1171]

For today's update, I have significantly improved the random location algorithm in version 1.1, so scattering will be faster and more reliable. Still ironing out the upcoming scattering over selected groups, which will make the tool way more versatile. You will be able to paint (using the Grouping Tool brush) precisely where you want things to scatter directly on the surface, and you can make as many regions as you want. I am sure you can already see where this will be useful.

 

[Miss B]

I'm assuming that once you have the updates ready for the store, it will be a free upgrade, or are you planning a totally different version?

I ask because I was going to try to pick it up this week, but if it's going to be a brand new version, I'll just wait.

 

[Ken1171]

Version 1.1 will be a FREE update for all existing Scatter Tool owners.

 

[Miss B]

OK, then I'll pick it up this week.

 

[Ken1171]

For today's update, version 1.1 will allow adding and removing selected objects by name and by individual custom groups. I have added support for allowing overlapped objects - that is, placing objects on top of others, while still keeping them tracked. We will be able to toggle this on/off at any time.

However, that adds a new layer of complexity when tracking scene objects, so this will require updating the tracker code to support auto-calculating the number of remaining free positions on the scattering surface. That's coming next!

 

[wimvdb]

I just purchased the scatter tool. I was a bit surprised that the max instances allowed are limited to 100 for the ground (construct) plane. In Octane i can put a million instances on it. I understand that would be a problem for preview, but do you have any plans to seperate render and preview modes to allow more instances?

 

[Ken1171]

I just purchased the scatter tool. I was a bit surprised that the max instances allowed are limited to 100 for the ground (construct) plane. In Octane i can put a million instances on it. I understand that would be a problem for preview, but do you have any plans to seperate render and preview modes to allow more instances?

First of all, WELCOME to the HW forums, and thank you for your support! The scatter tool itself will not limit how many instances are created. What limits that is actually the scattering surface's vertex count. Subdivision doesn't actually create new vertices the tool can use, but, as some have suggested here, we can resolve that by using the Grouping Tool to cut out the region you want to scatter at as a new prop, then subdivide and export to OBJ. When you import it back, it will have 4 times the vertex count, meaning you can now spawn 4X more instances on that surface.

Hope it helps! ^^

 

[Miss B]

Welcome to the HiveWire forums from me as well Wim. Good to see you here.