PathFollow

Inherits: Spatial < Node < Object

Category: Core

Brief Description

Point sampler for a Path.

Member Variables

  • bool cubic_interp - If true the position between two cached points is interpolated cubically, and linearly otherwise.

The points along the Curve3D of the Path are precomputed before use, for faster calculations. The point at the requested offset is then calculated interpolating between two adjacent cached points. This may present a problem if the curve makes sharp turns, as the cached points may not follow the curve closely enough.

There are two answers to this problem: Either increase the number of cached points and increase memory consumption, or make a cubic interpolation between two points at the cost of (slightly) slower calculations.

  • float h_offset - The node’s offset along the curve.
  • bool loop - If true, any offset outside the path’s length will wrap around, instead of stopping at the ends. Use it for cyclic paths.
  • float offset - The distance from the first vertex, measured in 3D units along the path. This sets this node’s position to a point within the path.
  • RotationMode rotation_mode - Allows or forbids rotation on one or more axes, depending on the constants being used.
  • float unit_offset - The distance from the first vertex, considering 0.0 as the first vertex and 1.0 as the last. This is just another way of expressing the offset within the path, as the offset supplied is multiplied internally by the path’s length.
  • float v_offset - The node’s offset perpendicular to the curve.

Enums

enum RotationMode

  • ROTATION_NONE = 0 — Forbids the PathFollow to rotate.
  • ROTATION_Y = 1 — Allows the PathFollow to rotate in the Y axis only.
  • ROTATION_XY = 2 — Allows the PathFollow to rotate in both the X, and Y axes.
  • ROTATION_XYZ = 3 — Allows the PathFollow to rotate in any axis.

Description

This node takes its parent Path, and returns the coordinates of a point within it, given a distance from the first vertex.

It is useful for making other nodes follow a path, without coding the movement pattern. For that, the nodes must be descendants of this node. Then, when setting an offset in this node, the descendant nodes will move accordingly.