Out there in the 3D world of software tools many options and solutions are available. Interacting with external tools and getting the data into tP has always been a concern. With the ImportFile node thinkingParticles is offering file compatibility with the following applications and file formats:

1. Realflow *.bin
2. Krakatoa *.prt
3. Alembic *.abc (supported formats Particle and Mesh)

PRT files are able to set Velocity (full sub sampling support), Size, Scale, Mass and Alignment (Orientation).

ON - determines whether the operator is considered 'on' or 'off'. You can connect other operators to this input channel such as a Bool Helper to activate/deactivate the whole operator.

Time -  defines the local time for the operator when the user wants to override the default system time.

Emitter Particle - reads in the currently selected particle group that will be used to act as an emitter.

UI Control Parameters - those input data streams are the equivalent of the UI controls, keep in mind that there is no visual indication that an operator is connected to any of those inputs! It might be needless to adjust a value if it gets overwritten by a connected operator.

Emitter Particle - outputs the emitter particle as found and defined in the *.bin file format.

Particle - outputs the particles found in the *.bin or *.prt file as per the definition of the file format.

Mesh Particle - outputs the particle “holding” the mesh information as it is found in the (*.bin) file

Position - used to supply the particle position of the particles found in the *.bin or *.prt file

Velocity - outputs the particle velocity as it is found in the external file (either *.bin or *.prt)

Force - outputs the force (acceleration) per particle as found in the (*.bin) file  

Vorticity - outputs the vorticity (spin) per particle as it is found in the (*bin) file

Normal - outputs the normal (alignment) per particle as it is found in the (*bin) file

Neighbors - outputs the number of neighbors a particle has as it is found in the (*.bin) file

Texture Coords - outputs UVW coordinates per particle as it is found in the (*.bin) file

Age - outputs the age per particle as it is found in the (*.bin) file

Isolation Time - outputs the amount of time the particle is without neighbor, this is a value per particle found in (*.bin) file.

Viscosity - outputs the viscosity per particle as it is found in the (*.bin) file

Density - outputs the density value of the particle as it is found in the (*.bin) file

Pressure - outputs the pressure amount per particle as it is found in the (*.bin) file

Mass - outputs the mass per particle as it is found in the (*.bin) file

Temperature - outputs the temperature per particle as it is found in the (*.bin) file

RealFlow ID - outputs the RealFlow particle ID as it is found in the (*.bin) file

Add File - when clicked, a standard windows file open dialog opens. Possible file formats to choose from are: *.bin and *.prt.

Remove - click this button to remove the selected file.

Zero Sequence Frame Offset - check this option to force an overwrite of the timing information found in the (*.bin or *.prt) file. By default, the timing is taken from the file itself.

Start Frame - sets the start frame for the external file playback (*.bin or *.prt).

Out Of Range -  This drop down list reveals several Out of range options to choose from. The particle or mesh playback from file may handle end of animation or start of animation in different ways.

Remove - when checked, the animation will end and nothing will be shown.

Hold Start - first frame of the animation will be shown until the frame slider reaches the animation time of the file.

Hold End - when the animation ends the last frame is kept and the particles are shown.

Hold Start/End - first frame of the animation is shown until the animation starts and at the end the last frame is shown throughout the scene animation time.

Loop - the animation starts all over at the end and loops back form the first frame.

Loop Hold Start - the first frame of the animation will be shown until the frame slider reaches the animation time set in the file. Then at the end of the cycle it will start over and loop.

Emitters - selects the particle group to be used for creating the particle emitters

Particles - defines the particle group were the particles from the file will be stored/created in.  

Nth Particle - sets the amount of particles that should be displayed from the file. A value of one will show every single particle as it is found in the (*.bin or *.prt) file.

Zero Emitter Pos - when checked, the emitter position will not be taken from the (*.bin or *.prt) file.

Zero Emitter Rot - when checked, the emitter rotation information will not be taken form the (*.bin) file.

Force Set Data - check this option to use the original position and velocity from the particles in the file. Every new file will overwrite its old data. Keep this option unchecked, when you want to use the initial position and speed,only. All subsequent frames will “add” onto the velcoity and positon as force.

Mesh Files - specifies the particle group to use for handling the mesh form the (*.bin) file.

Random Seed - sets the random seed for that particular ImportFile node.