Go to: Synopsis. Return value. Related. Flags. Python examples.
boundary(
string string string [string]
, [caching=boolean], [constructionHistory=boolean], [endPoint=boolean], [endPointTolerance=linear], [name=string], [nodeState=int], [object=boolean], [order=boolean], [polygon=int], [range=boolean])
Note: Strings representing object names and arguments must be separated by commas. This is not depicted in the synopsis.
boundary is undoable, queryable, and editable.
This command produces a boundary surface given 3 or 4 curves.
This resulting boundary surface passes through two of the given curves
in one direction, while in the other direction the shape is
defined by the remaining curve(s). If the "endPoint" option
is on, then the curve endpoints must touch before a surface
will be created. This is the usual situation where a boundary
surface is useful.
Note that there is no tangent continuity option with this command.
Unless all the curve end points are touching, the resulting
surface will not pass through all curves. Instead, use the birail
command.
| string[] | Object name and node name |
In query mode, return type is based on queried flag.
doubleProfileBirailSurface, loft, squareSurface
caching, constructionHistory, endPoint, endPointTolerance, name, nodeState, object, order, polygon, range
| Long name (short name) |
Argument types |
Properties |
|
caching(cch)
|
boolean
|
  
|
|
Toggle caching for all attributes so that no recomputation is needed
|
|
endPoint(ep)
|
boolean
|
|
|
True means the curve ends must touch before a surface will be created.
Default: false
|
|
endPointTolerance(ept)
|
linear
|
|
|
Tolerance for end points, only used if endPoint attribute is true.
Default: 0.1
|
|
nodeState(nds)
|
int
|
|
|
Maya dependency nodes have 6 possible states.
The Normal (0), HasNoEffect (1), and Blocking (2) states can be
used to alter how the graph is evaluated.
The Waiting-Normal (3), Waiting-HasNoEffect (4), Waiting-Blocking (5)
are for internal use only. They temporarily shut off parts of the graph during interaction
(e.g., manipulation). The understanding is that once the operation is done,
the state will be reset appropriately, e.g. Waiting-Blocking will reset
back to Blocking.
The Normal and Blocking cases apply to all nodes, while
HasNoEffect is node specific; many nodes do not support this option.
Plug-ins store state in the MPxNode::state attribute. Anyone can set
it or check this attribute. Additional details about each of these 3 states follow.
| State |
Description |
| Normal |
The normal node state. This is the default. |
| HasNoEffect |
The HasNoEffect option (a.k.a. pass-through), is used in cases where
there is an operation on an input producing an output of the same data type.
Nearly all deformers support this state, as do a few other nodes.
As stated earlier, it is not supported by all nodes.
It’s typical to implement support for the HasNoEffect state in
the node’s compute method and to perform appropriate operations.
Plug-ins can also support HasNoEffect.
The usual implementation of this state is to copy the input directly to the
matching output without applying the algorithm in the node. For deformers,
applying this state leaves the input geometry undeformed on the output.
|
| Blocking |
This is implemented in the depend node base class and applies to all nodes.
Blocking is applied during the evaluation phase to connections.
An evaluation request to a blocked connection will return as failures,
causing the destination plug to retain its current value. Dirty propagation
is indirectly affected by this state since blocked connections are never cleaned.
When a node is set to Blocking the behavior is supposed to be the same as
if all outgoing connections were broken. As long as nobody requests evaluation
of the blocked node directly it won’t evaluate after that. Note that a blocked
node will still respond to getAttr requests but a getAttr on a
downstream node will not reevaluate the blocked node.
Setting the root transform of a hierarchy to Blocking won’t automatically
influence child transforms in the hierarchy. To do this, you’d need to
explicitly set all child nodes to the Blocking state.
For example, to set all child transforms to Blocking, you could use the
following script.
import maya.cmds as cmds
def blockTree(root):
nodesToBlock = []
for node in {child:1 for child in cmds.listRelatives( root, path=True, allDescendents=True )}.keys():
nodesToBlock += cmds.listConnections(node, source=True, destination=True )
for node in {source:1 for source in nodesToBlock}.keys():
cmds.setAttr( '%s.nodeState' % node, 2 )
Applying this script would continue to draw objects but things would not be animated.
|
Default: kdnNormal
|
|
order(order)
|
boolean
|
|
|
True if the curve order is important.
Default: true
|
|
| Common flags |
constructionHistory(ch)
|
boolean
|
|
|
Turn the construction history on or off.
|
|
name(n)
|
string
|
|
|
Sets the name of the newly-created node. If it contains
namespace path, the new node will be created under the
specified namespace; if the namespace does not exist, it
will be created.
|
|
object(o)
|
boolean
|
|
|
Create the result, or just the dependency node.
|
|
polygon(po)
|
int
|
|
|
The value of this argument controls the type of the object
created by this operation
- 0: nurbs surface
- 1: polygon (use nurbsToPolygonsPref to set the parameters for the conversion)
- 2: subdivision surface (use nurbsToSubdivPref to set the parameters for the conversion)
- 3: Bezier surface
- 4: subdivision surface solid (use nurbsToSubdivPref to set the
parameters for the conversion)
|
|
range(rn)
|
boolean
|
|
|
Force a curve range on complete input curve.
|
|
|
Flag can appear in Create mode of command
|
Flag can appear in Edit mode of command
|
|
Flag can appear in Query mode of command
|
Flag can have multiple arguments, passed either as a tuple or a list.
|
import maya.cmds as cmds
# Creating boundary surfaces with three curves:
crv1 = cmds.curve(d= 3, p= ((8, 0, 3), (5, 0, 3), (2, 0, 2), (0, 0, 0)) )
crv2 = cmds.curve(d= 3, p= ((8, 0, -4), (5, 0, -3), (2, 0, -2), (0, 0, 0)) )
crv3 = cmds.curve(d= 3, p= ((10, 0, 3), (9, 3, 2), (11, 3, 1), (9, 0, -3)) )
# These curves form a rough triangle shape pointing at the origin.
# If order is OFF, then the apex of the surface will always between
# the 1st and 2nd curves.
cmds.boundary( crv3, crv1, crv2, order=False, ep=0 )
cmds.boundary( crv3, crv2, crv1, order=False, ep=0 )
# If order is ON, then think of the order of selection as "rail, rail, profile"
# where the boundary is formed by sweeping the profile along two rails.
# Direction of the curves becomes important as well; use the reverseCurve
# command if you want to change a curve's direction.
cmds.boundary( crv1, crv2, crv3, order=True )
# Creating boundary surfaces with four curves:
crv1 = cmds.curve(d= 3, p=((-2, 0, 5), (-1, 0, 3), (1, 0, 3), (3, 0, 4), (6, 0, 5)) )
crv2 = cmds.curve(d= 3, p=(( 7, 0, 4), (8, 0, 2), (8, 0, -3), (7, 0, -4)) )
crv3 = cmds.curve(d= 3, p=(( 6, 0, -5), (2, 0, -3), (1, 0, -5), (-3, 0, -5)) )
crv4 = cmds.curve(d= 3, p=((-2, 0, 4), (-4, 0, 1), (-4, 0, -3), (-2, 0, -4)) )
# These curves form a rough square shape around the origin.
# To make a boundary surface from four curves, two of the curves are
# "rails" while the other two are "profiles".
cmds.boundary( crv1, crv2, crv3, crv4, order=False, ep=0 )
cmds.boundary( crv2, crv3, crv4, crv1, order=False, ep=0 )
# profile, rail, profile, rail
# Notice that in both cases, the resulting boundary surface passes through
# the rail curves.
# When order is ON, direction of the curves becomes important;
# use the reverseCurve command if you want to change a curve's direction.
# Notice the difference between:
cmds.boundary( crv1, crv2, crv3, crv4, order=False, ep=0 )
cmds.boundary( crv1, crv2, crv3, crv4, order=True, ep=0 )