Force object reference

The properties on force objects control how forces affect the model and the scene.

Note: Forces operate only on Generators or Nodes where the force is enabled in the Forces property group.

The properties in this group set the basic functionality of force objects.

Use this property to toggle the force's influence on model computation. Disabling a Mesh force will stop it from influencing the model but it will not take it out of the model if it is set to be included (see “Include in Model,” below).

Sets the type of force.

This value controls how much the force influences the model. This number is multiplied by the value of the force properties on each generator before being applied to the model.

Controls how much the force acts on the initial orientation of the nodes it affects. Each generator has an alignment scalar that combines with Align strength to control the alignment behavior.

Sets the color of the force indicator in the Tree Window.

Sets the size of the icon used to represent the force in the Tree Window. This property has no effect on the size of actual mesh forces.

Set whether the force object can influence global lighting. This property is available only when Type is set to Geometry.

These properties control the behavior of geometry forces. Set the Type property above to Geometry to make a force act as a force mesh.

Choose whether the geometry force is governed by a mesh asset or generator.

These properties are visible only if Source is set to Mesh asset.

Specifies a named mesh asset.

Enable this property to have the mesh exported as part of the model. With this property disabled, the mesh will be used to interact with the model but it will not be included in exports.

When the mesh is not being included in the model, check this property to allow the mesh to contribute to ambient occlusion computations.

Specifies what color is used to render the mesh when no material has been assigned.

Assign a material to render the mesh asset.

Specifies which mesh LOD, if available, is used for the current LOD state.

Note: LOD meshes must be assigned to the mesh assets for this property to work.

Controls this mesh's influence on the lightmap in versions where lightmap UVs are computed.

Specifies how the mesh surface should influence branch spines.

Specifies what happens when a branch spine collides with the mesh surface.

The name of the action.

Once all of the iterations have failed for a spine that has collided with the mesh, this property specifies what action to take.

Causes the force's influence to taper off as the spine gets farther away from the location of the force.

Specifies the type of attenuation from the following options:

This value sets distance around the force where attenuation is applied.

Sets the distance from the edge of the attenuation towards the force location at which attenuation begins.

The properties in this group allow you to specify mesh forces to be used to designate the area of effect for this force. Use these properties to designate regions where forces work based on mesh assets.

Type the name of a Mesh force in this property. That mesh will be used to indicate the only region where this force is applied.

Type the name of a Mesh force in this property. That mesh will be used to indicate the region where this force will not be applied.

Selects when the attenuation indicator is displayed.

Forces can be animated over time and exported as part of a sequence for VFX applications. Use the properties in this group to control the animation.

Note: Only the force's strength can be animated – its position cannot be animated.

Specifies the frame at which the animation starts.

Sets how many frames the animation lasts.

Controls the animation, as follows: The left-hand side of the curve corresponds to the percentage of the force applied at the start frame. The right-hand side corresponds to the percentage of the force applied at the end of the animation duration.

When using animated growth, controls the strength of the force over the life cycle of the growth animation.

Controls the strength of the force over the duration of the growth animation. The left-hand side of the curve corresponds to the percentage of the force applied at the start of the growth animation. The right-hand side corresponds to the percentage of the force applied at the end of the growth animation.

The properties in this group control the position and orientation of the force. They are set automatically when you use the transform gizmo to move and orient the force.

Sets the position of the force object.

Positions the force at the origin.

Specifies the vector around which the force is rotated.

Specifies how much the force is rotated around the axis.

Resets the rotation back to the default settings.

Sets the scale of the force object on each axis.

When checked, the X, Y, and Z scales are set to the same value as to not distort the shape.

Sets the scale values back to 1.0.