All functions in the Create menu of the Scenegraph add more nodes to the scene. Generated nodes are added as children to the currently selected node. If no node is selected, the new node is a child of the Root node. The geometry, lights, and camera options in the Create menu are the same as in the Scene menu of VRED. All other options in the Scenegraph Create menu are described here.
- Group
- Create a group node to which you can add objects. This is useful when you want to move, scale, or rotate multiple objects as a unit. This does not affect the graphical representation within the render view. (Ctrl+G)
- Shell
- Create a shell node; edit the shell node under .
- Clone
- A clone node duplicates and references all child nodes of the node that is dropped onto it.
- Matrix Transform
- Create an empty matrix transformation node in the Scenegraph called “Transform.” This node holds independent translation and transformation information. You can use it to reuse positions and transformations of an object to be applied to other structures.
- MaterialGroup
- Create an empty node in the Scenegraph named “MaterialGroup”. When material is assigned to this node, objects under this node will use the MaterialGroup’s material. The original material of the object will not be deleted.
- Environment
- Create an environment group node so you can organize your environment geometries. An environment group node provides a textured surrounding with a shadow plane on its ground. Its texture affects the representation of all scene-related materials.
- Switch
- A Switch node has only one child visible at a time. The child to be set visible can be selected under . Switches can also be controlled in the Variants and the Variant Set Module.
- StereoSwitch
- A StereoSwitch node can draw the first two children independently of each other. While the first child is drawn on the left eye channel, the second child is drawn on the right. To activate the StereoSwitch, select a preferred stereo render mode.
- HostSwitch
- Create a HostSwitch node. HostSwitch children can be rendered on any dedicated host computer. Enter the name of the host computer under .
- Billboard
- A Billboard node aligns its children to the camera.
- ClipPlane
- A ClipPlane is a node with a border behind which its child objects are not shown.
- DistanceLOD
- With a DistanceLOD node, you can set up different children to be rendered depending on the distance between the object and the camera. Usually this is used to reduce the level of detail of the geometry when the camera is far away from an object and increase the detail when the camera is close by switching between different geometries. This keeps the frame rate high. To set up which child should be drawn for which distance range, click and edit the range property. If the DistanceLOD node has N children, specify the N-1 range values (comma separated floating point values are accepted). Each value constitutes a distance threshold between two adjacent ranges corresponding to a specific level of detail.
- Sound
- Create a Sound node to embed sound into a scene. Enter the path of the sound file under .
- SoundObstructor
- A SoundObstructor node mutes a sound file when the corresponding Sound node is covered by the SoundObstructor in the render view.
- Custom
- Create custom nodes. Enter the custom node type.