Help with Layout Generator as Source

Bug Reports
#1

Hi everybody!

I’m relatively new to WM (love it!) and just starting to play around with the more advanced devices.
I can use the Layout Generator to modify existing terrains, but not as terrain source.
I created a terrain consisting of several lines and one polygon, which is rendered as Layout 1. I.e. in the device list on the left of the screen, I get both Layout Generator and Layout 1. Both are rendered. But apparently I cannot pass on the Layout 1 info. If I click on the LG device, the preview displays a flat terrain, and this is what is passed on to the following Perlin generator (which according to the manual is needed to give shape to the generated height and shape information).

In the Layout Generator, I can get the Layout Generator tab to display Layout 1, but it says on the top: “Selected Device is not current Layout”. How do I make it the current layout?

Could somebody please provide a Layout Generator for Dummies description of how to use the LG as terrain source?
Thanks!!!

#2

Hi there,

There is one slightly confusing thing about the Layout View – the layout that you currently have selected is NOT the one you necessarily see reflected in the terrain underneath what you’ve created. This is done so that you can examine a different device while creating a layout, which is a very useful ability.

Try this:

In the Layout View, select the “Layout 1” tab. You should see the outline of your lines/polygon to appear. If you see the warning “Selected Device is NOT current layout”, it means what you’re viewing underneath your shapes is not the actual layout generator (layout 1) that you’ve created.

To make it appear, you can do one of the two following things: Either click on the Layout 1 device on the leftside view, or click the “Select” button in the layout view near the top (just to the left of the tabs of different layouts). This will make the layout that you are creating appear in the view.

The other thing to know is that each layout generator is displayed seperately in the device workview. So to feed your “Layout 1” shapes to following devices, make sure you’re wiring the output from the Layout 1 generator to the (perlin noise / erosion / whatever else you are using).

Hope that helps!

#3

The other thing to know is that each layout generator is displayed seperately in the device workview. So to feed your “Layout 1” shapes to following devices, make sure you’re wiring the output from the Layout 1 generator to the (perlin noise / erosion / whatever else you are using).

For whatever reason, in my past attempts I couldn’t draw any shapes on the Layout Generator tab (just now it worked, don’t know what I did differently before). Therefore, I clicked on the New Layout tab and got Layout 1, where I could draw. (In your screenshot, the naming convention seems to be different as you got Layout 0 as initial layout window.) But I never got an additional device for Layout 1 in the Device View. It’s only listed in the Device Navigation pane, and when I click the Build button, it is built. But obviously, I cannot connect any wire to one of the existing devices. Is that a bug or is that supposed to be like that?

Otherwise, I now was able to draw inside the original window and it seems to work as intended. I created two LGs, both are shown as tabs in the LG window and I can switch between them by selecting them. So that part is now clear. But what exactly is the function of the New Layout tab, and does that work as it’s supposed to?

Would it be possible to get a Delete option to delete individual shapes from the LG? Maybe from within the Shape List? Or some kind of Undo function?

Thanks! :slight_smile:

#4

To delete, just right click on a shape and choose delete, or hit the del key with a shape selected. Undo would definitely be fantastically useful!

The New Layout button simply creates a new Layout Generator device for you – you can do exactly the same thing by going to the Device Workview toolbar and dropping a Layout Generator device into the world. The one it created might be just out of view – zoom the workview out to find it. They should be centered but placed below your other devices.

#5

Thanks! The fog is lifting more and more! :smiley:

I also found Zehryo’s WIP Building Worldspaces very helpful. (http://forum.world-machine.com/index.php?topic=2030.0)

#6