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Operator Type Properties window

The type properties window lets you edit the metadata and parameter interface of a digital asset node type.

On this page

Overview

Several different collections of information contribute to the overall definition of a digital asset:

  • The nodes inside the asset’s subnetwork.

  • The asset’s parameter interface.

  • Metadata such as the asset’s human-readable label and icon.

  • Extra files embedded in the asset, such as textures.

Except for the subnetwork contents, you edit all the rest using this window. As you develop an asset, you’ll open and use this window a lot, especially as you build and refine the asset’s parameter interface.

Note

Some of the information you set up when you created the asset, such as its human-readable label and the number of inputs, can be changed in this window. However, the internal name you set when you create the asset (which may include a namespace and version) becomes intrinsic to the asset and cannot be changed. If you make a mistake or want to change it, you must create a new asset.

Type properties vs. spare parameters

You can use a similar interface to add spare parameters and/or render properties to a single node. It’s important to keep the difference between editing an asset’s node type, as in this window, and adding spare parameters to a single node.

Spare parameters are "extra" parameters added to a single node instance, which are not part of the node’s inherent parameter interface. You can add spare parameters to both assets and "factory" nodes. They are useful for one-off customizations.

Render properties are a special type of spare parameter that convey information about the node (object, camera, material) to the renderer. Most render-related nodes are created with a set of render properties that you can add to.

If you are trying to add an extra parameter to a single node, you want a spare parameter. If you are customizing rendering, you want a render property. If you want to change the base parameter interface shared by all nodes of a certain asset type, you want this window.

How to

To...Do this

Edit the type properties of an asset

Right-click an instance of the asset and choose Type Properties.

or

In the Asset Manager window (Assets ▸ Asset Manager), right click the asset definition and choose Type Properties.

After you make changes in the window, you can apply them to the asset but keep the type properties window open by clicking Apply, or apply them and close the window by clicking Accept.

Basic tab

Label

The human-readable label for the node type. This is what Houdini shows when the node appears in the user interface, such as in the ⇥ Tab menu.

Icon

A reference to an icon file (SVG or image), in one of the following formats:

  • An opdef: path to an embedded file in the asset’s extra files.

  • A file path or URL for a file containing the icon.

  • The name of a built-in Houdini icon. For example, OBJ_geo or SHELF_candle.

Click the chooser button next to the field to browse for an icon. You can browse for a file on disk, or click opdef:/ in the chooser to browse embedded files, or hicon:/ to browse built-in icons.

If you choose a file on disk and Embed icon in operator is on, when you click Accept Houdini will automatically copy the file into the asset’s extra files and replace the Icon field with an opdef: reference to the embedded icon.

Version

You can use this field with "upgrade handlers" to provide scripts to update old (but forward-compatible) version of a node when a new version is available. Do not confuse this field with the asset version which is part of the asset’s internal name. See the two types of asset versioning for more information.

Minimum Inputs

The number of inputs that must be connected for this node to work. The node may have more inputs than this (set by Maximum outputs below), but if the first N inputs are not connected the node will error.

Maximum Inputs

The number of inputs the node has. Note that Houdini does not check that this number is greater than or equal to Minimum inputs — You can have a node with no inputs but a minimum input count of 1, meaning it will always error.

Use controls on the Input/Output tab to give the input(s) human-readable labels.

Maximum Outputs

If the node category (for example, VOP) allows multiple outputs, this is number of outputs on the node.

Use controls on the Input/Output tab to give the output(s) human-readable labels.

Parameters tab

A significant percentage of the work on an asset will involve editing the asset’s parameter interface, which is how users will control the asset’s options.

There are several ways to build the parameter interface.

  • Many parameters will be promoted from nodes inside the asset.

    When you "promote" a parameter, Houdini creates a copy of the parameter on the asset, and replaces the original parameter’s value with an expression that references the value of the parameter on the asset. This means the parameter on the asset drives the value of the corresponding parameter inside.

    For example, you might have an asset that scatters points on a surface and copies boxes onto the points. Inside the asset you, the author, will have a network with a Scatter node and a Box node, but the user will see the asset as a single node, and won’t see or interact with its contents. You will want the user to be able to control the number of points and the size of the boxes from the asset’s interface, so you would promote those specific parameters from the nodes inside onto the asset.

  • You can create new parameters on the asset. You can set up references for these parameters manually, or use callbacks/scripting to make the parameters functional.

    For example, you might want one "Size" float parameter on the asset to drive all three of a contained node’s Scale X, Scale Y, and Scale Z values. You could create a float parameter on the asset and manually set up references to it on the contained node.

  • If you are building a material, Material assets automatically create parameters corresponding to any Parameter VOPs inside the asset. See building a material for more information about material assets.

The Parameters tab is divided into three panes:

Create Parameters

This contains tabs representing different sources for parameters you can add to your asset. The By type tab lets you create new parameters from scratch.

Existing Parameters

This represents the node’s current parameter interface. You can drag in parameters from the left pane or the parameter editor to add to it, or drag items within the tree to rearrange it.

Parameter Description

When a parameter is selected in the middle pane, you can edit its settings in this pane.

To...Do this

Promote a single parameter

  1. Open the type properties window and click the Parameters tab.

  2. Select the node with the parameter you want to promote in the parameter editor

  3. Drag the parameter from the parameter editor onto the Existing parameters tree in the type properties window.

Browse for a parameter to promote

Alternatively to dragging-and-dropping parameters, you can browse for a parameter from within the type properties window.

  1. On the Parameters tab, under Create Parameters, click the From nodes sub-tab.

  2. The tree control shows all nodes in the current scene, and inside each node, all of that node’s parameters. Browse to the parameter you want to promote.

  3. Drag the parameter from the tree on the left onto the Existing Parameters tree in the middle.

    or

    Select the parameter under From nodes and click the Move button to move it over.

    or

    Right-click the parameter under From nodes and choose Install parameters.

Create a parameter from scratch

  1. Under Create parameters, click the By type tab.

  2. Find the type of parameter you want to add and drag it into the Existing parameters to add it to the parameter interface.

    or

    Select the parameter under By type and click the Move button to move it over.

Make a pop-up menu parameter

  1. Under Create parameters, click the By type tab.

  2. Add either a String or Integer parameter (see how to create a parameter from scratch above). The parameter type controls what type of values you get from the menu.

  3. Under Parameter description, on the Parameter sub-tab, set up the parameter’s controls such as its name and label.

  4. On the Menu sub-tab, turn on Use menu. If this is an Integer parameter, turn on Use menu item token as value.

  5. Set up the menu items (see the help for the Menu sub-tab. You can manually set up a list of items, or write a script to generate the menu items dynamically every time the user clicks the menu.

When you read the value of the parameter in a script or channel reference, you will get the "token" for the currently selected item. You can also set up a parameter callback script to do something whenever the user chooses an item in the menu.

Tip

You can also set up a parameter that has a field for the user to type in but also a menu button they can choose possible values from. See the help for the Menu sub-tab for more information.

Make a button strip or icon strip parameter

  1. Under Create parameters, click the By type tab.

  2. Add either a Button Strip or Icon Strip parameter (see how to create a parameter from scratch above). Button strips have text labels, while icon strips show icons instead of text.

  3. Under Parameter description, on the Parameter sub-tab, set up the parameter’s controls such as its name and label.

  4. Click the Menu sub-tab.

  5. Set up the menu items (see the help for the Menu sub-tab).

    • For button strips, the Tokens aren’t used (although you can access the list of tokens in a script using ParmTemplate.menuItems). The Labels are the labels on the buttons in the strip.

    • For icon strips, fill in the Tokens with references to icon files. The Labels will be used as tooltips when the user hovers over an icon.

  6. To make the buttons mutually exclusive, set the pop-up menu at the top to "Normal". To allow the user to turn on multiple buttons, set the pop-up menu to "Toggle".

    For example, you might have a "Quality" strip with "Low", "Medium", and "High" options. These are mutually exclusive, so you would set the pop-up menu to "Normal".

    On the other hand, you might have a node the generates text, with a "Style" strip with "Bold", "Italics", and "Underline". In this case you want the user to be able to turn each option on or off individually, so you would set the pop-up menu to "Toggle".

When you read the value of the parameter in a script or channel reference:

  • For "Normal" (mutually exclusive) strips, it returns the index of the selected item (starting from 0).

  • For "Toggle" (multiple selection) strips, it returns a bit field . See scripting button strips for more information.

You can also set up a parameter callback script to do something whenever the user clicks a button in the strip.

Tip

If you make a "Toggle" script and have the callback script turn off the selected item each time one is clicked, the button strip will act more like a toolbar of action buttons rather than a set of options.

Import blocks

When you are developing a set of complex assets, with high-level assets that build on low-level assets, you sometimes want to promote an entire block of parameters from a lower-level asset onto the higher-level asset you're authoring. However, you want to be able to continue to edit the lower-level parameters and not have to re-promote them every time.

Import blocks let you promote a block of parameters and have them remember where they were promoted from so you can automatically update them with changes to the originals.

To...Do this

Promote a block of parameters as a single unit

  1. Promote a folder of parameters from the contained node.

    (Tabs, group boxes, and collapsible sections in the UI are all represented by folders in the parameter tree.)

  2. Under Parameter description, turn on Import settings.

Now when you want to pick up changes to the original folder’s contents, you can right-click the promoted folder and choose Refresh imports.

Parameter types

Tip

There is no "menu" parameter type. If you want the user to choose a value from a pop-up menu, create an Integer or String parameter and then use the controls on Menu sub-tab under Parameter Description to set up a menu of value choices.

Angle

A single float representing an angle in degrees. In old versions of Houdini this had a different UI than a plain float but this is no longer the case.

Button

A clickable button. You can enter a script to run when the user clicks the button.

Button Strip

A horizontal strip of labelled options. The buttons can be mutually exclusive or individually set. See how to create a button strip parameter above, and how to write a button strip callback.

Color

A 3 float vector parameter with a UI for editing the value as a color. Channels use the suffixes rgb instead of 123.

Color and Alpha

A 4 float vector parameter with a UI for editing the value as a color with alpha channel. Channels use the suffixes rgba instead of 1234.

Data

Stores arbitrary binary data. The parameter has no UI, you must read or write the value in a script. This can be useful for stashing data on a node instance. For example, this is how the Stroke SOP stores stroke data.

Direction Vector

A 3 float vector representing a direction. In old versions of Houdini this had a different UI than a plain vector but this is no longer the case.

File

A string representing a file path, with a UI for choosing a file from disk.

File - Directory

A string representing a directory path, with a UI for choosing a directory from disk.

File - Geometry

A string representing a path to a geometry file, with a UI for choosing a file that filters out non-geometry files by default.

File - Image

A string representing a path to an image file, with a UI for choosing a file that filters out non-image files by default.

Float

A single floating point value.

Float Vector 2

Two floating point values.

Float Vector 3

Three floating point values, for example a 3D position.

Float Vector 4

Four floating point values, for example a quaternion.

Folder

A container for other parameters. Folders let you organize the node’s parameters. You can choose to present the folder in different ways, such as a tab, group box, or collapsible section. Adjacent tabs join together automatically.

Geometry Data

Stores arbitrary geometry data. The parameter has no UI, you must read or write the value in a script. This can be useful for stashing geometry on a node instance. For example, you could use this to make the Stash SOP.

Icon Strip

Like Button Strip but with icons on the buttons instead of text labels. The buttons can be mutually exclusive or individually set. See how to create an icon strip parameter above, and how to write an icon strip callback.

Integer

A single integer value.

Integer Vector 2

Two integer values.

Integer Vector 3

Three integer values.

Integer Vector 4

Four integer values.

Key-Value Dictionary

Stores a table of string → string associations.

Label

A read-only line of text.

Logarithmic Float

A single float, but the slider UI affects the value on exponential scale.

Logarithmic Integer

A single integer, but the slider UI affects the value on exponential scale.

Min/max Float

Two floats representing a low and high. Channels use the suffixes min and max instead of 1 and 2. Nodes with a parameter of this type will not load in Houdini versions before 16.0.

Min/max Integer

Two integers representing a low and high. Channels use the suffixes min and max instead of 1 and 2. Nodes with a parameter of this type will not load in Houdini versions before 16.0.

Operator List

A string representing a space-separated list of node paths, with a UI for choosing multiple nodes.

Operator Path

A string representing a node path, with a UI for choosing a node.

RGBA Mask

An integer bitmask created from a UI allowing the user to turn each of a red, green, blue, and alpha button on or off individually.

Ramp (Color)

A three float vector with a color ramp UI. You can sample the ramp in an expression with chramp.

Ramp (Float)

A single float with a curve ramp UI. You can sample the ramp in an expression with chramp.

Separator

Inserts a separator line into the UI to organize the parameters.

String

A text box for editing a string value.

Toggle

A checkbox for editing a boolean value.

UV

Two floats representing surface coordinates. Channels use the suffixes uv instead of 12.

UVW

Three floats representing surface coordinates. Channels use the suffixes uvw instead of 123.

Common settings

Name

The internal name of the parameter. This is how channel references and scripts refer to the parameter.

Label

The human readable label for the parameter. This is what appears next to the parameter’s UI in the parameter editor. You can turn off the checkbox to not show any label next to the controls.

Type

The parameter type. This affects how the value is stored and how the parameter is presented to the user in the parameter editor interface.

Invisible

When this is on, the parameter is not shown in the parameter editor, but you can still read and write its value using expressions and scripts.

By default, invisible parameters are not shown under Existing parameters. If you want to show them so you can select them, rearrange them, and delete them, turn on Show invisible parameters at the top.

Horizontally join to next parameter

Put this parameter and the next parameter in the same row in the parameter editor interface. Note that you can turn this on for more than one parameter in a row to layout three or more parameters horizontally. If all the "joined" parameters can’t fit in a line, they will wrap to the next line.

  • When you have 2 or more related, compact controls in a row, you can join them to save space.

  • You can make a checkbox, turn its label off, and "join" it to the next parameter, for a UI where the checkbox controls whether the parameter applies or not, similar to the Label control in this pane. (Note that you still need to actually implement that UI using expressions.)

Show parm in

There can be a few different parameter interfaces in Houdini. This controls which of these different interfaces this parameter appears in.

Main Dialog Only

Parameter only appears in the parameter editor.

Main & Tool Dialogs

Parameter appears in the parameter editor and the operator toolbar across the top of the viewer when the node is active.

Main & Tool Dialogs + Toolbox

Parameter appears in the parameter editor, and the operator toolbar across the top of the viewer when the node is active, and the floating parameter editor in the viewer.

Disable when

A rule for when this parameter should appear disabled/non-editable. This lets you set up parameters to dynamically disable based on the value of other parameters. See disable/hide when syntax.

Hide when

A rule for when this parameter should not appear. This lets you set up parameters to dynamically hide themselves based on the value of other parameters. See disable/hide when syntax.

Tags

Lets you attach arbitrary key/value data to the parameter template. You can access this data using hou.ParmTemplate.tags().

Currently this is used by the 3D viewer to signal when a parameter should be treated as an OpenGL value. For example, attaching the "OpenGL → Diffuse" tag to a parameter on a material node makes the 3D viewer treat that parameter’s value as the diffuse color when displaying the surface. Click Built in tags to choose from these pre-defined tags.

Some parameters may have internal tags attached to them which store options for the parameter’s look and behavior. These internal tags are not editable in the tag list.

Tags must have unique names.

Callback script

Houdini will runs this script when the value of this parameter changes.

The pop-up icon menu to the right of this field lets you set whether the callback script is in HScript command language or Python. While the default is HScript, we strongly recommend you write callbacks in Python.

If the value in the field is one line, it is treated as a Python expression and evaluated. If it has more than one line, it is treated as if it was the body of a function and must use a return statement at the end to return a value.

The script runs in an environment containing a kwargs global dictionary variable containing information about which parameter changed. See parameter callback scripts for more information.

Available for import

If you turn this off, this item will not be included when its parent folder is imported as a block.

Help

This is displayed as a tooltip when the user hovers over the parameter.

String settings

Multi-line string

Display this field as a multi-line editor instead of a single line text field.

Note that all string parameters can hold multi-line text. You can get an extended multi-line editor for a single line text field by pressing Alt + E in the field. This checkbox simply changes the look/capabilities of the user interface for editing the sting.

Lines to Show

When Multi-line string is on, this is the minimum and maximum number of lines to show in the editor. The field will always be the minimum number of lines tall. If the content has fewer lines than the maximum, the field automatically sizes down to fit, and expands as the user types more, until the content has more than the maximum lines to show, at which point the content will scroll.

Language

If the field will contain source code, you can specify a programming language to enable auto-completion and syntax highlighting in the field.

Suppress Quotes in VOP Code Blocks

Whether this parameter should be expanded without quotes within VOP code blocks. A common use is to allow strings from menus to be placed verbatim in a code block. Only available for string parameters in a VOP definition.

Numeric settings

Units

Specifies a unit type for this parameter’s value, such "distance" or "mass". Choose a unit type from the pop-up menu to the right of the field, or leave this field blank if this value should not scale with a change in units.

This tells Houdini whether/how to scale the parameter’s default value when the user changes the HIP file’s units. For example, if the user changes the HIP file’s units to cm, it will use this setting to scale any defaults related to length/distance.

The code uses the format m/kg/sexponent[m/kg/sexponent ...]. For example, length would be m1. Acceleration would be m1s-2 (that is, meters/seconds2, using a negative exponent instead of division). The following are some useful unit type specifications:

Mass

kg1

Time

s1

Velocity

m1s-1

Angular velocity

s-1

Acceleration

m1s-2

Angular acceleration

s-2

Force

kg1m1s-2

Force density

kg1m-2s-2

Impulse

kg1m1s-1

Torque

kg1m2s-2

Drag

kg1s-1

Angular drag

kg1m2s-1

Pressure

kg1m-1s-2

Spring constant

kg1s-2

Linear density

kg1m-1

Area density

kg1m-2

Volume density

kg1m-3

Size

When Type is Integer, Float, or Angle, sets the number of components in the parameter (1 to 4).

Defaults

The default value for the parameter. If Size is greater than 1, a default can be specified for each component.

Range

The range for the slider in the interface.

If you click the lock icon next to low and/or high value, the interface prevents the user from manually entering values lower and/or higher than this range.

Node path/list settings

Op filter

Filters which types of nodes the user can see and select in the chooser interface for this parameter.

For example, if the parameter requires the path to a bone, you would set this to "Object: Bone Only" to make it easier for the user to select from just the bones in the scene.

File settings

Browse Mode

For operating systems that have a different file chooser UI depending on whether you're opening or saving a file (such as MacOS), this lets you specify which type of operation is associated with this parameter.

For example, in a parameter that specifies a geometry file to load, you would set this to "Read Only". For a parameter that specifies an output file to write to, you would set this "Write Only".

Houdini’s file chooser currently does not use this information. This only makes a difference if you are using native file dialogs (you have set the HOUDINI_USE_NATIVE_FILE_CHOOSER environment variable) and the native file dialogs make this distinction (as on MacOS).

Folder settings

Folder type

How the parameter editor displays this group of parameters in the parameter editor.

Collapsible

Display as a collapsible heading containing the parameters.

Simple

Display as a labeled box around the parameters.

Tabs

Display as a tab. Multiple adjacent "tab" folders in the parameter tree display as a tab set in the parameter editor.

Radio buttons

Display as a tab that can change the operation of the node depending on which tab in the set is selected.

Import Block

Displays its contents as part of the normal parameter flow. This is useful when you are importing a folder as a block but don’t want the parameters to appear inside a tab or whatever other folder type you're importing.

Multiparm Block

A multiparm lets the user create multiple instances of a parameter. This folder type sets up an interface to let the user add parameters. The parameter(s) inside this folder act the template for the generated parameter blocks the user can add or delete.

"List" style adds the user-generated blocks as part of the normal parameter layout in the parameter editor. "Scrolling" style puts the user-generated blocks inside a scrolling area. "Tabs" puts each user-generated block in a separate tab in a set.

End tab group

Adjacent "tab" folders are merged into a tab set. If you want a series of tabs to be in different tab sets, turn this on for the last tab in each set. It indicates this is the last tab in its set and if the next item is also a tab it should start a new set.

Tab disable when

A rule for when all parameters in this tab should appear disabled/non-editable. See disable/hide when syntax.

Tab hide when

A rule for when this tab should be hidden. See disable/hide when syntax.

Import settings

Turn this on have this folder import its contents from a folder on a node inside this asset. See import blocks.

Source

A reference to the node or file this folder imports its contents from, when Import settings is on.

Token

A reference to which item to import from the node/file, when Import settings is on.

Mask

Only import parameters matching this pattern, when Import settings is on.

Ramp settings

Ramp type

This can be "Color" for a color ramp or "Float" for a scalar curve ramp.

Color type

When Ramp type is "Color", this specifies the model to use to generate color from the three channels in the data: "RGB", "HSV", "LAB", "HSL", "XYZ", or "TMI".

Default Points

The initial number of points when this parameter is created.

Def Interpolation

The default interpolation between ramp points for this parameter.

First Instance

The number associated with the first ramp point. This only affects how you refer to the ramp points in scripts.

VEX Ramp Variables

When this parameter is on a shader, this lets you specify VEX variable names for the basis, keys, and values parameters.

Show Controls By Default

Ramp parameters have a panel of controls below them that the user can collapse to save space. When this is on, the controls for this ramp will be visible at first when the node is created. When this is off, the controls will be collapsed at first.

Key-Value settings

Key label

The text to display at the top of the left (key) column in the parameter UI. If you leave this blank, it uses "Key".

Value label

The text to display at the top of the right (value) column in the parameter UI. If you leave this blank, it uses "Value".

Add chooser

Turn this on to add a button in the parameter UI to choose a key-value pair from a predefined list.

Chooser label

The text to display on the chooser button (when Add chooser is on).

Chooser callback

A Python script Houdini runs when the user clicks the chooser button (when Add chooser is on). This script can present an interface for the user to choose a preset (for example, using hou.ui.selectFromList() or hou.ui.selectFromTree()). It must return a (key, value) tuple.

See how to write a key-value parameter button script for more information.

Channels sub-tab

This sub-tab shows the animatable channels associated with this parameter.

By default, Houdini creates an animated channel for each component of the parameter value (so for example, a Translate vector parameter would get three channels, one for each component of the vector). However, you can have the parameter generate more (computed) channels or fewer channels.

  • You can turn on the Autoscope icon for a channel to make it key-able and automatically "scoped" (shown in the animation editor) when the node containing this parameter is selected.

    You should turn this on for all commonly animated values.

  • If this parameter is promoted, the "Linked Channels" column shows which channels this parameter was promoted from on the contained node. When the Link button in the middle is on, the channel gets its value from the linked channel.

Import sub-tab

Houdini stores information here about where a parameter was promoted from, for use when updating import blocks. You should not edit this information unless you know what you're doing.

Action Button sub-tab

Some parameters can have a small button appear to the right of the field in the parameter editor that runs an arbitrary script.

Unlike other parts of Houdini, this is no checkbox to control whether the action button appears. Instead, if the script editor on this tab is empty, the parameter has no action button, and if the script editor has any content, the action button appears.

If the script is one line, it is treated as a Python expression and evaluated. If it has more than one line, it is treated as if it was the body of a function.

The script runs in an environment with a global kwargs dictionary variable containing the following keys:

"node"

A hou.Node reference for the current node.

"parmtuple"

A hou.ParmTuple reference for the parameter.

"script_multiparm_index"

If the parameter with the action button is one instance of a multiparm, this is the (0-based) number of the specific instance. For example, if a multiparm has three instances and you click the action button for the second instance, this would equal 1. If the parameter is not a multiparm, this is -1.

"ctrl", "shift", "command", "alt"

If the given modifier key was held when the user clicked the button, the corresponding value will be 1, otherwise it’s 0. You can use this to modify the action the script performs based on modifier keys.

The following action button script for a node path parameter opens a chooser, waits for the user to pick an Object node, and then fills in the parameter with the path to that node. If the user shift-clicks the button, the chooser is limited to selecting cameras, and if they ctrl-click the button, it’s limited to selecting lights.

# Get the reference to the current parameter
parm = kwargs["parmtuple"]

# Get the current value of the parameter, to use as the default in the chooser.
# Note that the method returns a tuple, so we grab the first (and only) item in
# the tuple.
path = parm.evalAsStrings()[0]
node = hou.node(path)

# Check the modifier keys to set the filter
if kwargs["shift"]:
    nodetype = hou.nodeTypeFilter.ObjCamera
elif kwargs["ctrl"]:
    nodetype = hou.nodeTypeFilter.ObjLight
else:
    nodetype = hou.nodeTypeFilter.Obj

# Ask the user to choose a node
newpath = hou.ui.selectNode(initial_node=node, node_type_filter=nodetype)

# Set the parameter value (again, it's a ParmTuple, so we need to set it as
# as tuple with a single item)
parm.set( (newpath, ) )

Disable when/Hide when syntax

Often you want to dynamically show or enable parameters based on the values of other parameters. For example, you might have a checkbox that enables some feature, and only want to enable editing parameters related to that feature when the checkbox is on.

The Disable when and Hide when settings of a parameter let you set up when the parameter should be disabled or hidden. The value is a code using the syntax shown below to calculate whether to disable/hide based on other parameter values.

The general syntax is:

{ parm_name [operator] value ...} ...
  • One or more comparisons inside curly braces.

  • Inside the curly braces are one or more comparisons with a parameter name, a comparison operator, and a value.

  • The following comparison operators are available: ==, !=, <, >, >=, <=, =~ (matches pattern), !~ (doesn’t match pattern).

    { type == 1 count > 10 } { tolerance < 0.1 }
    

    Note

    You must put spaces around the comparison operator, otherwise Houdini will not accept the rule.

  • You can omit the comparison operator, in which case it will be assumed to be ==. For readability however we recommend you always explicitly type an operator.

    { geotype 1 } { geotype 2 }
    
  • If there are multiple comparisons inside a set of curly braces, all the comparisons must be true for that condition to be true.

    For example, with the condition below, if the enablefeature checkbox parameter is on and the count parameter is more than 10, this parameter would be disabled/hidden:

    { enablefeature == 1 count > 10 }
    
  • If there are multiple conditions (sets of curly braces), any of the conditions may be true to activate disabling/hiding.

    For example, with the condition below, if the enablefeature checkbox parameter is on or the count parameter is more than 10, this parameter would be disabled/hidden:

    { type == 1 } { count > 10 }
    
  • You can’t use expression functions in the rule string. However, a workaround is to create an invisible parameter containing an expression that calculates what you need, and then reference it in a comparison.

  • There are a few special functions you can use in place of the parameter name on the left side of a comparison. (You can not use these as a value on the right side of a comparison.)

    ninputs()

    The highest wired input number. This may be more than the number of wires if inputs in the middle are not connected. It also counts subnet inputs that may not be wired in the parent node.

    hasinput(n)

    Returns 1 if the given input number is connected, or 0 if not. This does not count an input wired into a subnet input if that input is not also wired in the parent node.

    isparm(parmname)

    Returns 1 if this parameter’s name is parmname. This is meant for use with multiparm items.

    For example, this rule would apply to the first item in a multiparm named blend, but not the second (blend1), third (blend2), and so on:

    { isparm(blend0) == 1 }
    

Node tab

Representative Node

For Object assets, this lets you choose a node inside the asset to indicate the general type of object the asset is (for example, a light, or camera, or geometry object). Houdini can use this information to filter and categorize this asset in the UI, such as in the link editor.

Guide Geometry

For SOP assets, Houdini will cook this node to create guides shown along with the node’s actual output. Guide geometry lets you include "extra" geometry aside from the node’s output to serve as indicators or visualization. For example, volume SOPs often have guide geometry indicating the bounding box, with ticks indicating the voxel size.

Editable Nodes

A space-separated list of node paths. These nodes can be edited even if this asset is locked.

Usually you want assets to seem like self-sufficient black boxes to the user, however for complex operations it might be expedient to let the user dive inside and modify nodes such as paint nodes or curves that affect how the asset works.

Editability does not "bubble up" to assets containing other assets. If node A is editable in asset B, that does not automatically make it editable in an asset C which contains an instance of B. You would need to list A as an editable node of C.

Message Nodes

A space-separated list of node paths. Warnings and errors on these nodes will bubble up onto the asset node. List any nodes inside the asset that might cause problems so the user will be able to see the warning/error.

For example, if you have a File node inside your asset that loads a path defined on the asset, you should include it in this list so if it can’t find the file the error is visible on the asset.

Dive Target

If this contains a subnetwork path, when the user double-clicks the asset (or uses the "Dive into Network" command), the network jumps to the contents of this subnetwork instead of the asset’s own contents. If you have a dive target you should add the target node to the list of Editable nodes above.

Since the contents of an asset are always the asset’s definition network, this is a workaround to allow assets to seem to the user as if the asset is a subnetwork with its own contents.

Users can still navigate to other nodes inside the asset using the tree view and other means. This setting only affects the "Dive in"/"Up to parent network" actions.

Descriptive Parm

If this contains the internal name of a parameter on this asset, Houdini will display the value of the parameter as the descriptive text badge in the network editor.

This should be a parameter whose value tells the user at-a-glance the most important thing about the node’s current settings. For example, on a File node this is the file path.

Default State

If this is not blank, when the user enters the Handles tool for this node, use this "state" instead of the generic node state.

Currently, the most common use for this is to set it to stroke to have the Handles tool use the Stroke state when a node of this type is active. Other built-in states are too coupled with a specific node to work here.

If you write your own interactive state using the HDK, you can use this setting to associate your custom state with the asset.

Shader Name

For material nodes, this is used as the internal name of the shader (for Mantra shaders, this is the name of the VEX shader function). This should usually be the same as the asset’s internal name.

Houdini automatically converts illegal characters in this string (for example, principledshader::2.0 might become principledshader__2_0 internally).

Shader Type

Narrows down the type of computations a material does and indicates how it should be invoked, and what the material can be expected to compute. Choose a type from the pop-up menu to the right of the field. The most common one is "vopmaterial" (which can provide both surface and displacement shaders). But the field can be also surface or displace if it only generates one type of shader. For RenderMan it is often bsdfshader or generic.

Render Mask

For material assets, this lists the renderer(s) this material works with. For example, the Principled Shader works with Mantra and the viewport OpenGL renderer, so its mask is VMantra OGL. The Pxr Disney shader only works with RenderMan, so its mask is RIB.

VopNet Mask

A space-separated list of VEX contexts in which the user can create this node. If you leave this blank, the node can appear in any context.

Available context keywords are surface (surface shading), displace (displacement shading), chop (motion data: VOP CHOP), cop2 (compositing: VOP COP2 Generator and VOP COP2 Filter), and cvex (no specific context: e.g. Attribute VOP, Point VOP).

Unit Length

The length (in meters) of one distance unit, according to the units used for values and defaults in the asset. For example, if you developed the asset assuming 1 unit = 1 foot, you should set this to 0.3048.

Houdini uses this to scale "distance" parameters according to the HIP file’s units (Edit ▸ Preferences ▸ HIP file options). You can specify that a parameter represents distance using the Units setting for the parameter on the Parameters tab.

Unit Mass

The mass (in kilograms) of one mass unit, according to the units used for values and defaults in the asset. For example, if you developed the asset assuming 1 unit = 1 pound, you should set this to 0.45.

Houdini uses this to scale "mass" parameters according to the HIP file’s units (Edit ▸ Preferences ▸ HIP file options). You can specify that parameter as represents mass using the Units setting for the parameter on the Parameters tab.

Get Properties from Vex Code

Allow pragma statements in the VEX source code to control settings in this window.

Save tab

Save information from node

This shows the path of the specific node instance Houdini will use to update the asset contents if you click Apply or Accept in this window. (This is the node you right-clicked and chose Type properties for to open this window.)

Save Contents and Parameters

When this is off, when you click Apply or Accept in this window, changes you made in this window will be saved to the asset defintion, but changes to the current node (its parameter values/defaults and contents) are not saved as part of the asset definition.

You should not turn this off unless you have a good reason.

Save Defaults as Initial Parameters

When this is on and you save the node type definition, the current node’s defaults are saved as the initial values for new instances. When this is off and you save the node type definition, the current node’s current parameter values are saved as the initial values for new instances.

Save Spare Parameters

If this is on and you save the node type definition, any spare parameters on the current node are saved as part of the node type, so any new instances would have the same spare parameters added.

Save Contents as Locked

Never turn this off. See Unlock new nodes on creation instead.

Unlock New Nodes on Creation

When Houdini creates new instances of this node type, they are automatically unlocked (that is, editable). This was added for example files. When you put down an example asset, you don’t have to unlock it before you can go inside it and play with the nodes inside.

This should always be off for assets you will give to users for use in production.

Compress Contents

Gzip is faster, Blosc gives better compression but may be slightly slower. The decompression speed of Gzip is practically unnoticeable on modern hardware, so there’s usually no point to using No Compression.

Check for External Node References

Show a warning if there references in the asset to nodes outside the asset when you save.

Save Cached Code

When this checkbox is turned on, Houdini saves compiled VEX code inside the HDA and uses it instead of generating that code from the node network.

Currently, it applies mainly to the Shader Builder SHOPs, which contain VOP nodes. Traditionally Houdini would use nodes to generate .vfl source code and then compile it to vex. By using the cached vex code, Houdini saves time, which can be quite substantial for complex shaders. Also, the synched HDA nodes don’t need to create child nodes to build the VOP network inside them (since they are not needed to generate code), so time is saved by skipping the creation of node network when loading hip files.

Help tab

The contents of the text field appear in the help browser when the user clicks the help button for a node of this operator type in the parameter editor.

This help can be HTML, or you can use a simple but powerful wiki format to create documentation that looks like the native Houdini help. See how to write wiki-format help.

Handles tab

The controls on this tab let you create handles (3D user interface elements that appear in the 3D view) and bind the editable parts of the handles to parameters on your asset. This lets the users of your asset control it interactive in the view. The handles appear in the Handles tool when an instance of this asset is current.

The controls in this pane are the same as for the Persistent handle editor.

Code tab

This tab lets you create and edit code used to implement Python surface nodes, VEX shaders, VOP operators, and other code-based operators.

Scripts tab

This tab lets you store scripts that are triggered by asset events (such as when an instance of the asset is created or deleted), as well as arbitrary scripts and Python modules needed by the asset. The interface is very similar to the Extra files tab, but includes a pop-up menu for specifying event scripts.

  • Do not create a script (on the Scripts tab) and an extra file (on the Extra files tab) with the same name. The two tabs share a single namespace, and unpredictable behavior may result.

  • See how to write asset event scripts in the Scripting chapter for information on how to write the Python event scripts.

  • See how to reference embedded files for how to refer to the embedded scripts anywhere Houdini expects a filename.

Adding and loading scripts

To...Do this

Start a new event script

  1. Choose the event type from the Event handler pop-up menu.

    • If you choose an event type, Houdini will automatically create a script with the proper name.

    • If you choose "Custom Script", Houdini will wait for you to fill in a name. Enter a name in the Section name field, then click Add empty section.

  2. Below the editor on the right side of the pane, set Edit as to "Python".

  3. Use the editor to write the script. The pop-up menu at the bottom controls whether the script is Python, HScript, or expressions.

Load an existing file as an event script

  1. Choose the event type from the Event handler pop-up menu.

    Choosing an event type (other than Custom script) will create a "section" for the script if it doesn’t already exist.

  2. Enter the filename for the script file to load in the Filename field.

  3. Click Add file.

A copy of the file is saved into the digital asset. If you change the file on disk, it will not affect the version in the asset. You will have to reload the file into the Scripts tab.

Run a function from a module on disk in response to an event

  1. Make sure the module is in Houdini’s Python path. In a Python shell, check that the module’s parent directory appears in the list output by this:

    >>> import sys
    >>> sys.path
    
  2. Create an event handler in the operator type window and write it to call the code in the module.

    For example, say you have a Python module with studio-wide code called companyutils. You can write an event handler that just calls code in the module like this:

    import companyutils
    
    companyutils.creation_handler(kwargs)
    

    You probably want to pass the kwargs global (which Houdini provides to the handler script) on to the function you call. See how to write asset event handlers for more information about kwargs.

Add a python module

The PythonModule section serves as a central place for Python values, classes, and functions related to the asset. The only thing that’s special about it compared to any other embedded file is that it’s returned by the node.hdaModule() method, which makes it convenient to access in scripts.

  1. Click Event handler and choose Python module.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • If you have a file on disk you want to load as the module contents, enter it in the Filename field, then click Add file.

    • Use the editor on the right side of the pane to write the module contents.

Add a custom script

  1. Click Event handler and choose Custom script.

  2. Enter a Section name for the script. This is how you will refer to the custom script within Houdini.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • If you have a file on disk you want to load as the custom script, enter it in the Filename field, then click Add file.

    • If you want to start the script from scratch in the editor, click Add empty section.

Tools

This tab lets you create shelf tools associated with this asset. When the asset is loaded, the tools you define on this tab will be available for the user to add to the shelf, and will show up in the viewer tab menu.

Note

Any tools you define on this tab will not automatically show up on the shelf whenever the asset is available. The user has to add the tools to the shelf, by right-clicking the shelf and choosing Edit Shelf Tab, then choosing the tools from a list of all available tools.

When you create an asset, Houdini automatically adds a tool to this tab, that invokes a generic script to create an instance of the asset. You can edit the script of this tool, or add additional shelf tools to provide alternate ways of instantiating the asset. Click Create New and choose Tool to start a new tool.

See how to create shelf tools.

Selectors tab

Note

This interface is leftover from old versions of Houdini. It only works for object-level assets, and only supports using HScript commands. The modern way to ask for selections is to incorporate selection in the Python tool script of a shelf tool.

This tab will probably disappear in a future version of Houdini.

This tab lets you set up a (possibly multi-step) selection process to allow the user to select what (objects/geometry) the node applies to when you create it. For example, you have the node prompt the user to select an object your object-level asset will attach to.

The Type field is not editable and reflects the basic type of the selector. The Name field is the english name which should uniquely define this selector with respect to the operator type. The Prompt field displays the string during the selection process. The Multi-selection checkbox indicates whether or not multiple object selections are allowed for the current selector. The editable text field allows for a user-defined script to be executed when object selections are finished. The input objects are accessed by the variables $argc, and $arg0, $arg1,..., $arg($argc-1), where $argc is the number of inputs and the remaining variables represent each of the input objects.

There is no variable which holds a path to your current node; however, you can retrieve the current node using the pwd HScript command.

For example, you can wire in the first selected input into your current node by doing the following:

set curNode = `run("pwd")`
opwire -n $arg0 -1 $curNode

Input/Output tab

For VOPs, this tab lets you set up the inputs and outputs that appear on the node and their types.

For other node type categories, the controls on this tab let you give human-readable labels to the asset’s inputs and outputs. These appear in the network editor as tooltips when the user hovers over a connector.

VOP assets

  • The tab has two table editors, one for inputs and one for outputs.

  • Click Create/update inputs from parameters to automatically create inputs based on the node’s parameters. This lets the user override parameter values by connecting inputs.

    The button creates inputs with the same name and label, and guesses the input type from the parameter type. If an input already exists with the same name as a parameter, the button only updates the label, so that changes to the input type aren’t overwritten.

    Inputs based on parameters cannot be edited in the table. They are marked with an info icon.

    If you manually create an input that has the same name as a parameter, they will automatically be linked.

  • To add an input or output, choose the type from the New input or New output menus above the tables.

  • Click the name, or label of an existing input/output in the table to edit it.

  • Select the first cell in a row and then drag it up or down to rearrange the row in the table.

    You can select multiple rows by Shift-clicking or Ctrl-clicking the first cell of each row, and then drag multiple rows at once.

    You can drag column headings to rearrange signature order.

  • To delete an input/output, click the Delete icon in the row.

  • Some cells cannot be edited or deleted. For example, inputs corresponding to parameters, and outputs corresponding to exported parameters or VOP network outputs.

Force code generation

When a VOP operator appears in a VOP network, the VEX Builder will only include the code generated by that operator if it determines that its code is required. Generally, this is true for subnet type VOPs, the Output VOP, and any VOP that is connected, directly or indirectly, to the input of a VOP that has required code. However, you can force the VEX Builder to generate the code for your VOP by turning on Force Code Generation.

External or Procedural Shader

Turn this on if this VOP is implemented by a DSO or DLL file instead of generated VEX code.

VOP signatures

  • A VOP can have multiple signatures: a set of input types and output type. For example, the Sine VOP has different signatures (float → float, vector → vector) corresponding to the different usages of the VEX sin function.

  • Each signature is represented by a column in the inputs table, and three columns in the output table. You can match them up by the Signature name (the first cell in a signature column). Initially, a VOP node has one signature named default.

  • You can use the New signature button to add a new signature (that is, a new way of calling the underlying VEX code with a different set of typed arguments and a different output). This adds one new column to the top inputs table, and three columns to the bottom outputs table.

  • The first cell in a signature column is the signature name. The second cell is a human-readable label for the signature. These are shown in both the signature column in the input table and the corresponding first column of the signature in the output table. Editing the name or label in one table automatically updates the other.

  • In the inputs table, the rows of a signature column (after the name and label rows) contain the types of each input when that signature is active. (The user chooses the active signature from a pop-up menu at the top of the node’s parameter interface.) click a cell to choose the type from a pop-up menu.

    In the outputs table, the rows of the first signature column (after the name and label rows) contain the type of the output.

  • To provide a default parameter to use for a particular signature, create a parameter with the same name as the input, followed by an underscore, then the name of the signature.

    For example, suppose you have two inputs, color and multiplier, which have the data types vector4 and float. You would create two parameters, also called color and multiplier. The first would be a Color parameter, and the second a single float parameter. Now you want to allow multiplier to also be a vector4. Create a new signature, and name it v4. Change the data type of multiplier for that signature to vector4. The create a new parameter named multiplier_v4, which is 4 floats. Now when one of these operator is created, and the signature is set to v4, the VEX Builder will use the color and multiplier_v4 parameters to provide the default values.

Extra Files tab

  • Any "unsaved" files (either by changing them in the editor, or because they're newly added) will have an asterisk in the section list.

To...Do this

Add a new file to the definition

  1. Type the filename in the File name field, or click the + button next to the field to choose the file.

  2. Section name is the name of the file inside the HDA. It defaults to the base name of the file (that is, the file name without any path information). You can edit it to give the file a different name inside the HDA.

  3. Click Add File.

Edit the contents of a text file

  1. Select the file in the section list to show its contents in the text editor on the right, along with the size and time stamp of the section.

  2. Edit the contents in the text editor.

  3. Click Apply.

Edit the contents of a binary file

  1. Select the file in the section list.

  2. Click Save As File in the lower right to save the contents of the section as a file on disk.

  3. Edit the saved file.

  4. Add the file back into the HDA with the same section name to replace the old binary using Add File.

Delete a file

  • Click the X button next to the file’s name in the section list.

Use an embedded file

Wherever Houdini takes a filename, you can enter a reference to an embedded file in an asset instead. For example, your asset might take a path to a texture file, and if that parameter is blank, use an embedded default texture. To point a node inside the asset at the embedded default texture file, you would use a reference like this:

opdef:.?default_texture.jpg

…instead of a file path.

Windows