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Brickini Scatter

Overview

Brickini

Brickini Scatter allows to scatter vegetation on top of a landscape generated with Brickini Brickify. Brickini Pantry contains the actual parts that you want to scatter.

Brickini Scatter has four inputs requiring the following nodes/outputs:

  1. Brickini Pantry (green)
  2. Brickini Vending Machine (purple)
  3. second Brickini Brickify output (pink)
  4. third Brickini Brickify output (yellow)

Tip

The inputs and outputs of Brickini tools are color coded. This should help to easily identify which output goes into which input.

It is possible to stack multiple Brickini Scatter on top of each other. (usually one scatter node per vegetation type is recommended). In this case connect the second Brickini Scatter as follows:

  1. Brickini Pantry with different vegetation (green)
  2. first output of previous Brickini Scatter (purple)
  3. second output of previous Brickini Scatter (pink)
  4. third output of previous Brickini Scatter (yellow)

Note

A good strategy is to stack Brickini Scatter nodes from big plants to small plants. I.e. If you intend to have trees, bushes and grass, start with a Brickini Scatter node for the trees and then fill in the gaps with subsequently smaller plants like bushes and grass afterwards.

Parameters

  • Use Mask For an organic look, Brickini Scatter applies a noise mask (can be configured with parameters below). This overall mask allows to overwrite the noise mask. It supports float values from 0-2.

    • 0 = force off
    • 1 = use noise distribution
    • 2 = force on.

  • Scatter Mask Attribute name of the mask attribute. Default: scatter_mask

  • Use Noise Enables noise mask.

  • Density Specify how densely populated the scatter should be. This parameter shrinks the noise patch islands.

  • Density Scale The scale of the noise pattern. Small values create a more random look, while larger values generally look more natural as one type of vegetation is scattered in patches. Imagine a real environment, where seeds fly through the air: Usually the probability is fairly high, that you'll find the same plants growing next to each other. However once in a while, wind may carry a seed further away creating a new patch somewhere far away and - over time - creating a new patch of that plant.

  • Density Offset This shifts/offsets the noise pattern. If multiple Brickini Scatter nodes are stacked on top of each other, it is recommended to modify this parameter, so your current vegetation doesn't try to grow in the same areas as the previous one

  • Use Nth This allows to thin out your scatter. If your vegetation is packed too tightly, enable this parameter to remove neighbours. It acts as a post process on top of the noise parameter. If you are generally happy with your distribution settings, this can help to avoid intersections and give each individual entity more "breathing room"

  • Every Nth How many neighbouring entities should be removed

  • Visualize Density Displays points in black and white showing where your vegetation will be scattered.

Tip

To get familiar with above parameters, the visualize density checkbox can be very handy. Create a default grid, move the various sliders and see how your scatter changes in real time. This will allow you to make more informed decisions/tweaks when dealing with a complex environment and various types of vegetation.

  • Margin For Next Scatter If connecting another Brickini Scatter beneath a Brickini Scatter - to scatter a different type of brick - this specifies an extra margin to avoid intersections.
  • Variant Seed If you have multiple different instances sources, this allows you to shuffle the variant assigned to each point

  • Color Variation This allows to have a secondary variable color per instance. For example a flower always has a green stem, but the petals color could vary. The flower and the pebbles in Brickini Pantry are the only items that support this mode. However you can hook up custom geometry that supports this workflow as well. See Brickini Pantry for details.

  • Color 1 First random color option for your instances

  • Color 2 Second random color option for your instances

  • Color 3 Third random color option for your instances

  • Orientation

    • Use Point Orientation: Orient instances based on point attribute
    • Rotate Randomly: Rotate freely. This option is best for all Brickini Pantry items that have a 1x1 stud base (grass, flowers, pebbles)
    • Rotate Randomly 90 steps: Depending on their base, some instance sources might only be able to rotate in 90 degree steps like bushes. In this case this option would then need to be combined with the Use 4 Studs option below.

  • Use 4 Studs This instances inbetween four studs instead of onto a single stud. This is necessary for instance sources with a 2x2 base like the trees in Brickini Pantry

  • Scatter on Water By default areas with the water attribute are excluded from scattering, however if there is a foam attribute present (which generates transparent plates with studs) it is possible to scatter onto these. (Cute ducks for example)

  • Wind Adds a procedural animation to your scatter that mimics wind influence

  • Speed How fast the scattered elements are rotating

  • Strength How much the scattered elements are rotating