XGen archive count

[niovi.phino]

Hi 

I needed to use XGen archives and need some help understanding how it works.

 -   Is there a way of getting the exact count of primitives produced with XGen Core?
 I need specific numbers of objects being produced, ie 100 and 10 000. The density slider doesn't seem to represent the number of primitives being produced -at 1.0 it produces a lot more than 100. 


A way around it I found was the Preview/Output to set the Limit to the number I wanted. But then I came across another issue. 
When limiting the the amount I'm getting a weird distribution pattern as oppose to even distribution.


I tried using the Compensate for Uneven parametarisation but it didnt seem to do much of a difference. 
And when I reached the maximum density in the limit then it was distributed fine. 




- Am I doing this the wrong way or is this a bug? Is there another way of approaching this?


Thank you!

[sean.heasley]

Hi @niovi.phino

I don't believe there is a native way to have a number for the archive count. That said the spacing and density can control how many objects from the archive you'll be seeing by a percent base not an actual node base.

 While percent base can get a lot done, I highly recommend posting this request on the Maya Idea Board!

This is a great place for the community to share ideas or feature they want to see in the future of Maya and this board is regularly checked by the dev team.

[niovi.phino]

Hi Sean,

Thanks for the reply. So there isn't a way of knowing/setting a precise number of archives but what about the weird/ uneven interpolation? Where is that coming from?

[sean.heasley]

Hi @niovi.phino

As far as I know no there isn't a way to see an exact number.

As for the weird positioning, that may be down to how you set up the archive. Did you set up the description to be in uniform rows, random or on specific points?

Also if you make a new description/archive does this still occur? Are there other settings your tweaking that may be causing this?

[niovi.phino]

Hi Sean,

It happened to more than just one collection/fresh scene. The example I used was straight out of the box - created the archives, then the collection - description archives set to random points. The only settings I've changed were the Limit in the preview, the density and on/of the uneven parameter (under density).

[sean.heasley]

Hi @niovi.phino

Hmm ok.

It may have been due to the uneven parameter being changed. Since you had the placement set to random, by changing the random parameter they began to line up in more uniform rows which is what it looks like in that last screenshot.

Also, are you on 2018.4 of Maya? If not you may want to try updating to that version and see if you can still reproduce this.

[sean.heasley]

Hi @niovi.phino

Just wanted to check in to see how things were going. Are you still having this issue?

If your issue is resolved, please click Accept as Solution on the posts that helped you so others in the community can find them easily.

[niovi.phino]

Hi Sean,

I didnt have time to test it again. The test scene was set up in Maya
updt.3, I don't know if we have update 4 at work to test it.
I will try again when i can.

Thanks

[sean.heasley]

Hey @niovi.phino

Just wanted to check in to see how things are going. Did you have a chance to test this again?