Different Node Types

Video captions: This tutorial will provide insight into the different node types found in Autodesk VRED Professional, with examples closely illustrating some of the functionality. We will do this using the right-click Scenegraph menu.

Open the Scenegraph using the Quick Access bar. Call up the Scenegraph menu by right-clicking within the editor. In the Create sub-menu, you'll discover a variety of nodes essential for structured workflow processes.

A group node is composed of several objects. This makes it possible to select and transform all objects within the group at once. When any of these objects is transformed, the group node automatically changes to a specialized type called a transform node.

In the following, we will group the tires and wheels of our example scene to better structure our data. After that, we will create a material group and familiarize ourselves with its functions.

Let’s create two groups and rename them Rim and Tire. In the Search bar, type Wheels to locate the Wheels group. Select both groups and drag and drop them into the Wheels group to subordinate them.

In the Search bar, enter tires to select all tires. Now, drag and drop them onto the Tire group. Next, in the Search bar, type Rims. Drag and drop the selected rims onto the Rim group node to subordinate the selected rims.

Now, let’s close some of these nodes to simplify our view in the Scenegraph. For the next step, with the Wheels group node selected, right-click and select Create > Material Group to create a material group. Drag and drop the Tire group to it to subordinate it.

A material group transfers the materials assigned to it to all subordinated objects. The original material of the geometry is suspended, but not deleted. To illustrate this more concisely, let’s open the Material Editor using the Quick Access bar.

Create a new plastic material by right-clicking within the Group Preview and selecting Create Material > Plastic. Leave the material in its raw state. To see the tire material change as the plastic material is assigned, let’s hide any unnecessary geometry in the Scenegraph by unchecking these nodes.

Now, left-mouse button drag the Plastic material onto the created Material Group. As you can see, the tire material changes to the newly assigned plastic material.

Select the Tire group and move it next to the Material Group. Now that we have removed the Tire group from the Material Group, it is no longer subordinated and the original geometry assigned material is used. Let’s close the Material Editor and unhide the hidden geometry.

In the following, we want to look at what functions Autodesk VRED supplies to create different geometry variants. For this, we can use the switch node, which controls geometry visibility. This node sets objects subordinate to it to visible, while other objects are rendered invisible. We will create a switch node for the front left wheel to provide an example of this functionality.

First, we need different geometry, in this case, an already imported wheel variation. In the Scenegraph, select the Wheels group node, right mouse button-click, and select Create > Switch. Rename the node to Rim_Switch_FL. Select the Rim group node. To the right of the search bar, click the Search in Selection icon, then type FL in the search field and hit Enter. Drag and drop the selection onto Rim_Switch_FL.

Now, let’s add the FL rims from the Multispoke group to the switch. As you can see, both rims are subordinated to the switch. We will use the Variants module to tell Autodesk VRED which variation to display.

In the main menu, select Scene > Variants. To display our Rim_Switch_FL node, drag and drop the switch node into the Variants module. Another way to achieve this would be by right-clicking within the Variants module to access the Variants menu. After selecting, Clear, choose Create All. Our created switch node properties become visible, and in the bottom right area of the module, we can switch between the variations by double-clicking them. The currently selected becomes visible, while the unselected is hidden.