fork

 

 

Generates child branches from existing particles by splitting them into multiple new particles at a defined angle and distance. Each input particle can spawn up to Max Count child particles, distributed around the parent's axis at the specified Spread angle. Depth tracking ensures branching stops at the defined Max Depth level, preventing infinite recursion. Commonly used after Space Colonization to further detail branch tips, or standalone for generating tree forks, lightning splits, coral structures, and any other recursively branching geometry

 

 

[Inputs]

 

#Particle Stream - Requires a particle stream to be connected. Each particle in the stream is evaluated as a potential fork point. Child particles are spawned from the input particle's position along directions derived from spread angle, and alignment axis.

 

Enabled - Enable or disable node evaluation.

 

Path Group - The particle group that newly forked child particles will be assigned to.

 

 

Properties

Distance - How far from the parent particle each child particle is placed along its fork direction, in world units. Larger values produce more open, spread-out branching structures.

 

Variation % - Random percentage variation applied to Distance. At 0 all children are placed at exactly the same distance. Higher values introduce organic irregularity in branch lengths.

 

Max Depth - Maximum branching depth at which forking is allowed. A particle at or beyond this depth will not spawn children. Controls overall tree complexity and prevents unbounded recursive growth.

 

Variation % - Random percentage variation applied to Max Depth per particle, allowing some branches to terminate earlier than others for more natural-looking results.

 

Max Count - Maximum number of child particles spawned per input particle. Each fork produces up to this many branches radiating outward from the parent position.

 

Variation % - Random percentage variation applied to Max Count, so individual fork points may produce fewer children than the maximum, adding structural variety.

 

Spread - Half-angle in degrees between the parent axis and each child direction. At 0 all children grow straight along the parent axis. At 90 children grow perpendicular to it. Controls how open or closed the fork shape appears.

 

Variation % - Random percentage variation applied to Spread per child, producing irregular fork angles rather than a perfectly uniform cone.

 

Divergence - Rotational offset applied around the parent axis between consecutive child particles. Controls the angular spacing of children around the cone. At 0 all children cluster in the same rotational direction. At 180 with Max Count 2 produces a clean opposing fork.

 

Divergence Var % - Random percentage variation applied to Divergence, randomizing the rotational placement of children around the parent axis.

 

Stop Parent % - Probability that the parent particle stops growing after spawning children. At 0 the parent always continues. At 100 the parent always terminates at the fork point. Intermediate values produce mixed results where some fork points terminate and others continue, useful for organic tree structures where not every branch continues past a split.

 

Align Axis - The local axis of the parent particle used as the base direction for child placement. Children are distributed around this axis according to Spread and Divergence. Typically set to match the axis along which your source particles are oriented ??? Z Axis for particles grown along Z, X or Y for other orientations.

 

 

Inheritance

Velocity % - Percentage of the parent particle's velocity inherited by each child particle at the moment of forking. At 100 children start with the full parent velocity. At 0 children are born stationary. Values between produce a proportional blend, useful for maintaining flow continuity through branch splits.

 

Velocity Var % - Random percentage variation applied to Velocity %, introducing per-child differences in inherited velocity magnitude for more organic branching motion.

 

Scale % - Percentage of the parent particle's scale inherited by each child. At 100 children are the same size as the parent. Lower values produce progressively smaller branches at each fork level, naturally tapering the structure from trunk to tip.

 

Scale Var % - Random percentage variation applied to Scale %, so sibling branches at the same fork point may differ slightly in size.

 

Distance % - Percentage of the parent particle's remaining lifespan or travel distance passed on to children. At 100 children inherit the full parent distance budget, allowing them to travel as far as the parent would have. Lower values cause branches to shorten at each successive fork level.

 

Count Inherit % - Percentage of the parent's Max Count passed on to children. At 100 each child can spawn the same number of grandchildren as the parent spawned children. Lower values cause the branching fan-out to reduce at each depth level, naturally limiting the exponential growth of deep recursive structures.

 

 

[Outputs]

 

Particle Stream - Generated particle stream.

 

Parent -.Parent particle.

 

Depth - Branching depth level of each particle, starting from 0 at the root. Useful for shading or filtering by generation.