General Module Function
The drive_glyph module provides a way to move any object (glyph or object from Read_DXF, etc.) along multiple paths to create a "driving" animation.
Module Input Ports
drive_glyphs has three input ports.
Data passed to the first port is the paths to follow (normally from read_lines).
The second port accepts the glyph or vehicle to drive, usually read in with the load_glyph module.
The third port is a float parameter for the position of the glyphs.
Module Output Ports
drive_glyph has three output ports.
The leftmost output port is a float parameter for the position of the glyphs along the input paths.
The center port is the animated glyphs.
The right output port is the animated glyphs in a renderable form for the viewer.
Module Control Panel
drive_glyph’s control panel is shown above.
The Map Component selector takes both the nodal data and the cell data from the input lines and allows the glyphs to be colored according to the selected component. For nodal data the color of the glyph is linearly interpolated between each node along the line, while with cell data the color of the glyph is constant throughout the cell.
The Run toggle will increment the Position slider by the Position Increment until the value is 1.
The Run Back toggle will decrement the Position slider by the Position Increment until the value reaches 0.
The Reset toggle will set the Position to zero.
The Reset Back toggle will set the Position to 1.
The Cycle toggle will cause the Position slider to transition to the opposite end if the slider value reaches zero or one. This allows for a looping animation.
The Glyph Size field sets the size of the glyph in real world units.
Glyph Position indicates how each glyph will be placed along a line.
If "% Along each line is selected then the glyphs positions will be determined based upon each individual line length.
If "% Along longest line is selected then the glyphs position will be determined based on the longest line in the input.
Sequential Walk will allow a glyph to walk along each line in succession.
The Position slider gives the percentage along a line to use for glyph positioning.
The Position increment changes the value the percentage is incremented by.
Number of glyphs indicates how many glyphs at most will be present along the line.
The Circulate toggle is used for looping or cycling animations. If a glyphs position is greater than the line length the glyph will be placed the appropriate distance from the start of the line. Or if the glyph position is before the end of the line it will be placed the appropriate distance from the end of the line. In example if you have selected 3 glyphs to be placed on a line (meaning that each glyph should be placed 33% of the line distance apart) and the Position is at zero. Then there will be one glyph at zero and another at 100 - 33 or 66% and a final glyph at 100 - 66 or 33% of the distance along the line length.