Pipe Gen - Fully Customisable Pipe/Railing Generation (Subd Kit Included)
NOTE: THIS MODIFIER USES "EDGES." DO NOT USE CURVES OR IT WONT WORK CORRECTLY
To install the modifier you can either add it to your asset library or append the node group (pipeGen) from the provided .blend file into your scene.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
Please use the provided kit as a guide to see what scale the default settings work best with.When making your own flanges, please inspect the kit provided with PipeGen as reference. You will need to orient your flanges on the Z axis and make sure you pivot/origin point is set correctly. (for example: basic circular flanges need their pivot points in the middle so they line up with the pipe correctly.
When using custom profiles / flanges as mentioned above, the pivot/origin needs to be placed where you would want the profile/flange to be instanced on the curve. Its also important that the curve profile matches the pivot/origin point of the flange so they line up correctly.
MESH ASSIGNMENTS:
Original/Relative Instances - This setting is best used when you don't want to freeze your transforms of objects in your scene. You need to have all of your objects origins set at the world origin. This setting is best left off for most circumstances.Fillet Flanges - Flanges on either side of the pipe bend
Straight Flanges - Flanges spawned on the straight areas of pipe
EndA/B Flanges - Flanges at the end points of the pipe. If you need your pipe to connect to another pipe. Swap in a T join to one of the ends and move it into place.
Pipe Profile - Assign a custom profile to this socket to create your own custom designs. If you are using a custom profile, the following settings will no longer function: Pipe Radius, Pipe Bend Radius. If you need to change the size of the custom profile pipe, use the Flange Scale setting.
Custom Fillet Object - Set an object here to customize the object that is fitted around the bend/fillet of the pipe.
MESH/CURVE CONTROLS:
Flip End Flanges - Flips the end flange directionFlip Bend Flanges - Flip bend flange direction on either side of the bend.
Hide Flanges - Hides all flanges on the generator leaving only the pipe.
Realize Instances - As you are working its best to leave this ticked off for speed and memory. If you need to mirror OR collapse the modifier enable this.
Reverse Curve - Reverses the curve if you want to swap Ends and don't want to manually change the flange assignment.
Curve Twist - Globally twists the pipe. This is handy when using custom profiles or pipes that aren't uniform. Often when you extrude, the normal of the curve flips. When you are done extruding, use this setting to rotate it back into the orientation you need.
FILLET CONTROLS:
Fillet Resolution - Sets the segments of the pipe bendsFillet Size - This setting is used to increase or decrease the size of the bend.
Fillet Ratio - This setting has been added for extra control of the fillets. Anything that is not a 90 degree angle can be dialled in using this. This is especially helpful when dealing with pipes with a large radius. The default blender fillet will give a uniform fillet to everything which will cause overlaps. This setting allows you full control over all angles of the pipe, preventing extremely tight/small bends (as seen on the home page of the product).
Fillet Mult - This is a simple multiplier to increase or decrease whatever values you have input for your fillet amount and fillet ratio.
Fillet Radius - This setting controls the radius/thickness of the pipe around the fillet.
Custom Fillet Radius - When you have a custom fillet mesh assigned, this setting will control the radius/thickness.
PIPE CONTROLS:
Unlink Pipe Radius / Flange Scale - This setting is used if you don't want the flange scales to be control by the radius of the pipe. Generally you want to leave this off as it makes sense for your flanges to follow along with the pipe radius so they fit together nicely. If the flanges don't initially fit properly, use the flange scale to dial them in.Pipe Resolution - number of radial divisions of the curve
Pipe Radius - Sets pipe radius (this setting only works on pipes without a custom profile)
FLANGE CONTROLS:
Flange/Profile Scale - Scales up the flanges globallyEndA/B Flange Rotation - Rotate the end flange. This allows custom control on how your pipes connect to other pipes (at T junctions for example).
Bend Flange Offset - Offsets the flanges on either side of the bend.
Straight Flange Spacing - Change this value to increase/decrease the amount of flanges along straight sections of pipe.
Straight Flange Random Cull - Increase this value to randomly cull flanges on the straight areas of the pipe.
Flange Overlap Threshold - If you are trying to make 2 bends too close together, the flanges will start to overlap with each other. Increase this value to help with removing the overlap (don't go too high on this value as it also controls the merging of the pipe vertices under the flange):
MATERIAL/SHADING:
Material - Assign your material here.Flip Pipe Normals - Flips the pipe normal. This is handy when using custom profiles and the normal is reversed.
Shade Smooth - Shades the geo as smooth.
UVs:
Generate UVs - Toggle this setting to generate UVs or not. Keep this setting off until you are happy with the pipe to avoid slowdownUV Set Name - This allows you to set the name of your UV set being output. Handy for productions who don't use blender UV naming conventions.
Change UV Seam - This allows users to change where the UV seam is placed on the pipe in the event you want to hide it away from camera.
Example: If your pipe has a resolution (radial segments) of 24. You can increase this value to a maximum of 23 (UV seam 0 - 23). If you go beyond the amount of curve resolution the UVs will break.