Package com.openinventor.inventor.nodes

Class SoVertexProperty

  • All Implemented Interfaces:
    SafeDisposable
    public class SoVertexProperty
extends SoNode
    Vertex property node. This property node is be used to efficiently specify coordinates, normals, tangents, texture coordinates, colors, transparency values, material binding, normal and tangent binding for vertex-based shapes, i.e., shapes derived from SoVertexShape.

    An SoVertexProperty node can be used as a child of a group node in a scene graph, in which case the properties it specifies are inherited by subsequent shape nodes in the graph. It can also be directly referenced using the vertexProperty field of a vertex-based shape, bypassing scene graph inheritance. Direct referencing is the recommended practice.

    When directly referenced by a VertexProperty field of a vertex-based shape, the SoVertexProperty node is the most efficient way of specifying vertex-based shapes. Use of the directly referenced SoVertexProperty node results in significantly faster scene rendering than scene graph inheritance of vertex properties, provided all required vertex properties are specified in the SoVertexProperty node.

    Because the class SoVertexProperty is derived from SoNode, a vertex property node can be inserted as a child node in a scene graph. When inserted as a node in a scene graph, the SoVertexProperty node is traversed as any other property node and the properties it specifies are inherited by subsequent shape nodes in the scene graph. It specifies the current material, normal and tangent bindings, and can be used to specify the current 3D coordinates, the current normals, the current tangents, the current texture coordinates, the current diffuse colors, and the current transparencies.

    All multiple-valued fields in the SoVertexProperty node are optional. If a field is not present (i.e. if it has 0 values), then shapes that require the missing information are required to obtain it from the current traversal state. However, developers are cautioned that, for optimal performance, the vertex property node should be referenced as the VertexProperty field of an SoVertexShape, and should specify in its fields all values required to render that shape.

    Fields:

    The various fields in a vertex property node can be used in place of corresponding fields in other property nodes, as follows:

    • The vertex field contains 3D coordinates, as in the point field of an SoCoordinate3 node.

    • The normal field contains normal vectors, as in the vector field of the SoNormal node.
      Normal vectors are used (for example) to compute the effect of lighting on the shape when lighting is enabled.

    • The tangent field contains tangent vectors.
      When not using any custom shader, tangents are used by line shapes to compute the effect of lighting on the shape when lighting is enabled. See SoLineSet and SoIndexedLineSet for more details.

    • The orderedRGBA field contains packed color+transparency values.
      Colors are specified in the hexadecimal format 0xrrggbbaa , where rr is the red value (between 00 and 0xFF hex), gg is the green value (between 00 and 0xFF hex), bb is the blue value (between 00 and 0xFF hex), aa is the alpha value (between 00 = transparent and 0xFF = opaque). Packed colors use less memory than SoMaterial colors and can be sent directly to the GPU. A packed color value can be queried from an SbColor or SbColorRGBA object using the getPackedValue() method. The packed colors are equivalent to an SoPackedColor node, and provide values for both diffuse color and transparency.

    • The texCoord and texCoord3 fields contain texture coordinates, as in the point field of the SoTextureCoordinate2 and SoTextureCoordinate3 nodes.

    If one of these nodes appears higher in the scene graph and setOverride(true) was called on that node, those values are used instead of the corresponding field of the vertex property node.
    Note: Calling setIgnored(true) on the fields of this node has no effect on its behavior.

    Color:

    If setOverride() was called on an SoMaterial node higher in the scene graph and either the diffuseColor field or the transparency field is not ignored (setIgnored()), then the color and transparency values from the SoMaterial node are used instead of the values in the SoVertexProperty. It is not currently possible to override just the color or just the transparency.

    Transparency:

    The default transparency algorithm is NO_SORT. To get a nice appearance for transparent objects you must change this to another value, for example, OPAQUE_FIRST or SORTED_PIXEL, using the setTransparencyType method in the viewer or renderAction class. See SoGLRenderAction for a discussion of transparency algorithms and rendering order.

    Material binding:

    The materialBinding field replaces the value field of the SoMaterialBinding node. The materialBinding field in a directly referenced SoVertexProperty node has no effect unless there is a nonempty orderedRGBA field, in which case the material binding specifies the assignment of diffuse colors and alpha values to the shape.

    Normal binding:

    The normalBinding field replaces the value field of the SoNormalBinding node. The normalBinding field of a directly referenced SoVertexProperty node has no effect unless there is a nonempty normal field, in which case the normal binding specifies the assignment of normal vectors to the shape.

    Tangent binding:

    The tangentBinding field of a directly referenced SoVertexProperty node has no effect unless there is a nonempty tangent field, in which case the tangent binding specifies the assignment of tangent vectors to the shape.

    File format/default:

    VertexProperty {

      vertex [ ]
      normal [ ]
      tangent [ ]
      texCoord [ ]
      texCoord3 [ ]
      orderedRGBA [ ]
      materialBinding OVERALL
      normalBinding PER_VERTEX_INDEXED
      tangentBinding PER_VERTEX_INDEXED
      forceSending false
    }

    Action behavior:

    SoGLRenderAction, SoCallbackAction, SoPickAction
    When traversed in a scene graph, sets coordinates, normals, tangents, texture coordinates, diffuse colors, transparency, normal binding, tangent binding and material binding in current traversal state. If not traversed, has no effect on current traversal state associated with action. The normalBinding field has no effect if there are no normals. The tangentBinding field has no effect if there are no tangents. The materialBinding has no effect if there are no packed colors. Sets: SoCoordinateElement, SoNormalElement, SoNormalBindingElement, SoMaterialElementSoMaterialBindingElement, SoTextureCoordinateElement, SoTangentElement, SoTangentBindingElement

    SoGetBoundingBoxAction
    When traversed in a scene graph, sets coordinates in current traversal state. If not traversed, has no effect on current traversal state associated with action. Sets: SoCoordinateElement

    See Also:
    SoIndexedTriangleStripSet, SoIndexedFaceSet, SoIndexedLineSet, SoTriangleStripSet, SoLineSet, SoFaceSet, SoPointSet, SoQuadMesh, SoVertexShape, SoIndexedShape, SoNonIndexedShape

    • Field Detail

      • vertex

        public final SoMFVec3f vertex
        Vertex coordinate(s). Default is empty.

      • texCoord

        public final SoMFVec2f texCoord
        2D texture coordinate(s). Default is empty.

      • texCoord3

        public final SoMFVec3f texCoord3
        3D texture coordinate(s). Default is empty.

      • forceSending

        public final SoSFBool forceSending
        Forces the texture coordinates to be sent to the GPU even if no texture is bound.

      • normal

        public final SoMFVec3f normal
        Normal vector(s). Default is empty.

      • tangent

        public final SoMFVec3f tangent
        Tangent vector(s). Default is empty.

        Since:
        Open Inventor 10.2

      • orderedRGBA

        public final SoMFUInt32 orderedRGBA
        Packed color(s), including transparencies. Default is empty.

    • Constructor Detail

      • SoVertexProperty

        public SoVertexProperty()
        Creates an SoVertexProperty node with default settings.