Module Index Internal Parameter
Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2019 6:25 pm
What do you think of having an 'Internals' feature that provides the Index of a module based on the position of its output noodle into the next module or its input noodle from the previous module.
Simple use case: a (say polygon) module is connected to 10 transform modules each of which could use its index to position itself automatically.
Extended use case: use the Index in the expression modifier for a wide range of effects.
In addition to these simple use cases, this would open up the possibility for the following...
A single module could be virtually instanced, adding input and/or output connectors as required e.g allow a single transform to have 10 inputs and 10 outputs each, where the input and output indexes are available to the parameters and modifiers are applied to each instance. In the mock-up image above, the first input would be scaled on X to 0.1 and sent to the first output, the second 0.2 and so on, thereby having 10 images progressively stretching in the X dimension. Could be used like an Array module but much more powerful.
One could also imagine chaining these instance modules together e.g. 10 into 10 or 10 in 5 and another 5. Many possibilities.
Simple use case: a (say polygon) module is connected to 10 transform modules each of which could use its index to position itself automatically.
Extended use case: use the Index in the expression modifier for a wide range of effects.
In addition to these simple use cases, this would open up the possibility for the following...
A single module could be virtually instanced, adding input and/or output connectors as required e.g allow a single transform to have 10 inputs and 10 outputs each, where the input and output indexes are available to the parameters and modifiers are applied to each instance. In the mock-up image above, the first input would be scaled on X to 0.1 and sent to the first output, the second 0.2 and so on, thereby having 10 images progressively stretching in the X dimension. Could be used like an Array module but much more powerful.
One could also imagine chaining these instance modules together e.g. 10 into 10 or 10 in 5 and another 5. Many possibilities.