This is the most advanced and most powerful layer currently in the layer system, it allows you complete control over the generated layer mesh by defining any number of rules saying what kind of objects are added to the layer and how they are added. Each rule has its own params and also has a weighting value so if more than one rule of the same type is found on the layer then how many of each used in the layer can be controlled through the weight value. All the objects in the layer are combined into a single mesh to reduce the draw calls. More rules will be added as the system evolves currently the rules supported are:
- Start – Object to use at the start of the layer
- End – Object to use at the end of the layer
- Filler – Object to be used to fill in between the start and end objects
- Regular – An object that is to appear every Nth object in the layer.
- Placed – Object to appear at a set position in the layer
Clone Rule Params
The general options for the clone rules layer, such as the layer to build on, and the normal rotation, scaling, twist curves etc.
Name
Name of the layer.
Enabled
Un checking this will remove this layer from the loft object and hide most of the inspector for it.
Col
Color to tint the inspector for this layer, makes finding the layer you want easier on complex loft objects.
Lock
Sometimes you will want to have the loft object update in realtime but maybe not all the layers actually change, if you check the Lock option then during a rebuild the layer will not recalculate its contribution to the mesh but will just use the last lot of vertices it built so greatly speeding up the mesh creation for entire object. So useful if you have a complex race track loft object and just want to deform a crash barrier layer from it, so you would lock all the layers except for the one to change, update that then lock it again.
Surface
The Mega Loft Object this layer will build onto.
Layer
When you select a Loft object as the surface this drop down will be filled with the layers from that object that you can use as the surface for the clone layer to build on.
Start
The start position along the path shape to start building the layer, 0 is the start 1 is the end, values outside this range will either loop for closed shapes or extrapolate past the ends on open shapes.
Length
The length of the loft along the path, 1 is a full length of the path loft, the length value is added to the start value to find the actual end value, so if this is outside the rang 0 to 1 then the layer will either loop or extrapolate past the ends of the path.
Cross Alpha
The position across the surface where the clone layer will be built.
Calc Up
If this is set then the mesh will be built perpendicular to the mesh underneath it.
Up Amount
How much the mesh aligns to the calculated up value.
Seed
The seed for the random number that picks the rules.
TMRotate
This rotation will be applied to the objects to be cloned before being used to build the layer so this can be used to adjust objects that are in the wrong orientation or whose up axis is wrong etc.
Scale
Apply a scaling to the rule objects before they are used.
Tangent
This value controls how far the system will look ahead when computing directions or tangents for such things as slopes and directions.
Axis
The axis to use as the width of the clone objects when computing sizes and spacing.
Use Twist
Check this option to allow the use of a twist curve along the length of the layer.
Twist
How much to multiply the twist curve by to get the final twist amount to apply to the clone layer.
Twist Crv
The curve to use to define the twisting along the length of the layer.
UpRight
This value controls how upright the mesh is on slopes.
Global Scale
Global scaling value for the entire layer, this allows you to easily adjust the size of the entire layer.
Use Cross Crv
Sometimes you want the clone layer to wander across the surface and not just be in one place, so you can turn on the option to control the position across the surface from a curve.
Cross Crv
The curve that controls the position across the surface.
Add Rule
This will add a new blank rule to the list.
Start Rule
Options for the Start Rule.
Name
Name for the rule, makes it easier to track down for editing.
Obj
The object to ad to the layer mesh for this rule.
Enabled
Rules can be turned on/off.
Offset
An offset to apply when this rule is used, useful for adjusting the positioning of objects.
Scale
Scaling to apply when this rule is used.
Gap In
Gap to be added to the layer before this rule is used.
Gap Out
Gap to be added to the layer after this rule is used.
Type
The type of rule.
Weight
The weight value of the rule, when more than one of the same type is found the system will use each rule depending on its weight compared to others in the layer, so a rule with a weight of 1 will appear twice as often as a rule with a weight of 0.5.
End Rule
Options for the End Rule.
Name
Name for the rule, makes it easier to track down for editing.
Obj
The object to ad to the layer mesh for this rule.
Enabled
Rules can be turned on/off.
Offset
An offset to apply when this rule is used, useful for adjusting the positioning of objects.
Scale
Scaling to apply when this rule is used.
Gap In
Gap to be added to the layer before this rule is used.
Gap Out
Gap to be added to the layer after this rule is used.
Type
The type of rule.
Weight
The weight value of the rule, when more than one of the same type is found the system will use each rule depending on its weight compared to others in the layer, so a rule with a weight of 1 will appear twice as often as a rule with a weight of 0.5.
Filler Rule
Options for the Filler Rule.
Name
Name for the rule, makes it easier to track down for editing.
Obj
The object to ad to the layer mesh for this rule.
Enabled
Rules can be turned on/off.
Offset
An offset to apply when this rule is used, useful for adjusting the positioning of objects.
Scale
Scaling to apply when this rule is used.
Gap In
Gap to be added to the layer before this rule is used.
Gap Out
Gap to be added to the layer after this rule is used.
Type
The type of rule.
Weight
The weight value of the rule, when more than one of the same type is found the system will use each rule depending on its weight compared to others in the layer, so a rule with a weight of 1 will appear twice as often as a rule with a weight of 0.5.
Regular Rule
Options for the Start Rule.
Name
Name for the rule, makes it easier to track down for editing.
Obj
The object to ad to the layer mesh for this rule.
Enabled
Rules can be turned on/off.
Offset
An offset to apply when this rule is used, useful for adjusting the positioning of objects.
Scale
Scaling to apply when this rule is used.
Gap In
Gap to be added to the layer before this rule is used.
Gap Out
Gap to be added to the layer after this rule is used.
Type
The type of rule.
Weight
The weight value of the rule, when more than one of the same type is found the system will use each rule depending on its weight compared to others in the layer, so a rule with a weight of 1 will appear twice as often as a rule with a weight of 0.5.
Count
The number of rules before the object is added in again, so if you had two regular rules on a layer one for a lamp post with a count of 8 and one for a fence post with a count of 2, then you would get a fence post every 2nd object but on the forth time the lamp post would be used instead.
Placed Rule
Options for the Placed Rule.
Name
Name for the rule, makes it easier to track down for editing.
Obj
The object to ad to the layer mesh for this rule.
Enabled
Rules can be turned on/off.
Offset
An offset to apply when this rule is used, useful for adjusting the positioning of objects.
Scale
Scaling to apply when this rule is used.
Gap In
Gap to be added to the layer before this rule is used.
Gap Out
Gap to be added to the layer after this rule is used.
Type
The type of rule.
Weight
The weight value of the rule, when more than one of the same type is found the system will use each rule depending on its weight compared to others in the layer, so a rule with a weight of 1 will appear twice as often as a rule with a weight of 0.5.
Alpha
The position along the layer that the object will be placed, so an alpha of 0.25 will cause the object to be placed as near as possible to a quarter of the way along the layer.
Clone Layer Rules Video
Small video guide to the Clone Rules layer.
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