Just a Line TOP

[monty_python]

@matijaerceg

not a free program, at least not for commercial projects

True, I haven’t thought of that, but that’s good point. I guess I haven’t realized this since I still have valid Houdini license, but once that changes, it won’t be that easy

@matijaerceg

I would say that the existence of a nice Curve SOP in Houdini speaks to the usefulness of having just such an OP in TOP space in TD.

Yes, you are right. But based on this - maybe it would be better to create Curve SOP rather than TOP in TD - as it would then allow for more flexible rendering (making it easier to do various shading tricks and stuff - just like one could do in Houdini with curves)?

@Achim

So maybe it would be a better idea to invest dev time into a workflow that allows user generated COMPs to mimic a selectable (top, chop, sop, dat) optype.

This would be great. Not meaning to hijack this discussion, but I have tried to write my thoughts on this here. Such way of handling user components would make my life so much easier

Anyway this is great discussion

[matijaerceg]

@monty_python

maybe it would be better to create Curve SOP rather than TOP

Would love that also!

@greg

making user-created and Derivative-created COMPs to feel like (and be accessible like) native OPs is on point. I agree. We’re working toward that.

Dream come true

@greg

complicated by the wish to alternately gesture/draw them

A simple A to B line segment/curve TOP could just use a few parameters, same as the Circle/Rectangle TOPs, as far as the original RFE is concerned.

Parameter Name	Field(s)
Start Point	X and Y
End Point	X and Y
Curvature	Float
Color	RGBA
Width	Float
Different End Width	Toggle
End Width	Float
Dashed	Toggle
Dash Length	Float
End Caps	Start Cap Toggle, End Cap Toggle
Cap Type	Circle/Triangle/Square/Custom	(custom takes from 2nd input TOP?)
Cap Scale	Start Cap Float, End Cap Float

Food for thought.

[Infratonal]

Hey, Amazing discussion, I’m glad this topic is getting an echo, and this RFE is of course, not just the original message I wrote but everyone ideas.

Thank you, @greg and @timgerritsen, for the super useful .Tox. But that’s what I already noticed: The SOP technique and even the GLSL one are pretty expensive if I compare this to a native TOP rectangle, for example (which is a more complex shape, though).

I understand the @greg argument to not develop any native TOP if there is a way to obtain it differently. But as it appears to not have a simple and fast line drawing technique in TOP; and as the rectangle TOP and the Circle TOP already exist. I wonder if the line TOP is not the missing TOP to draw any basic shape.

If I take our ADOBE friends, they have theses basic vector shapes :

• ADOBE Rectangle → Retangle TOP
• ADOBE Elipse → Circle TOP
• ADOBE Triangle → Circle TOP
• ADOBE Polygone → Circle TOP
• ADOBE Line → ?

The @matijaerceg idea to add curve features would be great if it doesn’t slow down basic lines drawing.

@greg

The issues of this Line/Curve TOP discussion has been on my mind for years, complicated by the wish to alternately gesture/draw them and consideration of how out of control it can get as the number of lines increases, and how far you can go with parameters,

maybe as much as possible as long drawing a simple line is faster than a rectangle or a circle

To the @matijaerceg Parameter list, I would add a way to reference a CHOP that can manage the creation of several lines as in the Tox of @timgerritsen do. And of course, it is only worth it if it is much more effective than this tox. Otherwise, it means it’s something for the palette, maybe.

[Mallin]

This could be an interesting top, I think matijaerceg is more or less on the money, I wouldn’t make it more complex than he is describing.

In the meantime, I made my own quick version of a line tool that covers my own needs, happy to share!

line.tox (2.3 KB)

[r-ssek]

At this point it’d be probably better to just port something like Skia or nanovg to accept a bunch of commands via a DAT manifest and draw , perhaps with a python wrapper or a syntax to evaluate dependable data from elsewhere… Or just use the webRender TOP