Rope objects in thinkingParticles are special, unlike other objects they can either be created within thinkingParticles or outside of thinkingParticles. One way of creating rope objects in thinkingParticles is by using standard 3ds Max splines, which can be easily converted into a thinkingParticles rope object. Editing and managing those splines would be done through 3ds Max own set of tools.

However, Rope Objects can also be created in a fully procedural way and accessing or modifying the underlying data can be performed with this node.

ON - (Bool) This input data stream determines whether the operator is considered 'on' or 'off.' You can connect other operators to this input channel such as a Bool Helper to activate/deactivate the whole operator.

Time - (Time) This input data stream is used to define the local time for the operator when the user wants to override the default system time.

Rope Particle - sets the rope particle that will be evaluated.

Linear Stiffness - sets how “springy” or bouncy the rope will be. Lower numbers will create an ultra soft rubber while higher numbers will create a stronger appearing rope. Keep in mind we are talking here soft bodies! The rope will never become as hard as a strip of steel!

Damping - adds a dampening force to the rope stretching. The higher this value the more clay like the rope stretching will appear.

Iteration - sets the amount of intermediate steps the solver will take to simulate the rope system. The higher this value the more accurate the result will be, however the longer it will take to calculate.

Fixed Start - when checked the start of the rope will be fixed

Fixed End -when checked it will set the

Anchor - defines how strong the anchor holds

Rigid - sets the “bounce off” strength for rigid bodies colliding with the rope spline

Mesh Type - 0 equals to NONE and 1 equals to Radial

Thickness - defines the radius of the rope. The higher this value the thicker the rope will be.

Sides - sets the amount of segments circumventing the rope.

Steps - defines the mesh resolution along the length of the rope.

Rotation - rotates the rope around its center.

Constriction - sets the amount of constriction for the rope mesh. A value of 100% will show the maximum constriction.

Rate - sets the amount of constrictions. The higher this value the more constrictions will be visible. To see all of the mesh effects a proper amount of segmentation must be maintained!

Twist - sets how often the rope is twisted around

Autosmooth - check this option to turn on auto-smoothing of the rope mesh

Threshold - sets the angular threshold when to smooth the surface.

Generate Mapping - when checked, mapping coordinates for the rope mesh are created.

Start Position - sets the start position of the rope

End Position - defines the End position of the rope

Breaking Threshold - sets the maximum force at which the rope breaks/tears apart

Breaking Position - defines the position along the rope were the breaking should occur. A value of 0.5 means the middle part of the rope will break, 0 means it will break at a position were the maximum force occurs.

Break - when set to 1, the rope breaks immediately

Break Zoing - defines the “pre-load” factor for the rope, this controls the tear off effect. a value of 100% will create a maximum pre-loaded spring-back effect.

Margin - sets the collision margin of the rope.

FixedStartTrackPid - connect a particle to this input to set it as a start-anchor for the rope. The position of this particle will be tracked.

FixedEndTrackPid - connect a particle to this input to set it as an end-anchor for the rope. The position of this particle will be tracked.

MeshMaterialID - sets the material ID to be used for the rope

MeshCapMaterialID - sets the material ID for both caps of the rope (start/end cap)

MeshCutMaterialID - when the rope is cut (break-effect), this defines th4e material ID to be used by the cap surface at each of the cut positions.

IsBroken - outputs a True value and stays on, when this rope is broken/cut at any position.

BrokenAtPosition - outputs the world position where the cut happened.

BrokenVelocity - outputs the velocity at the broken ends.

All other  available outputs of this operator are identical to their input counterpart.  In the interest of avoiding unnecessary redundancy, those parameters are not described again. Please check the description of the parameters as shown in the previous chapter.

Collision - lets you choose, from the drop down menu, the physics engine solver to use for the Joint simulation. All compatible solvers found in the thinkingParticles setup will be automatically listed.