RandomDirectionInCone

This node element is used to generate a random position on the surface of sphere within a defined segement of that sphere. The segment is defined using two angle values between 0 and 180, and the orientation is given by the vector formed by taking the pitch and heading, and the position of the particle emitter. The effect itself can create something like this image:

When specifying values, you can supply Node Inputs, or add fixed values to the node input boxes, or you can add them through the Inspector window:

 

The image below shows a typical basic setup for using this node:

 

 

Node Inputs

The RandomDirectionInCone node permits the following inputs:

 

• Pitch

  This is ptch that will be used - along with the heading - to define the orientation of the centerline of the sphere segment (pitch and heading are used along with the emitter position to generate the vector of the sphere orientation).

 

• Heading

  This is heading that will be used - along with the heading - to define the orientation of the centerline of the sphere segment (pitch and heading are used along with the emitter position to generate the vector of the sphere orientation).

 

• InnerAngle

  This is the inner (first) angle value used to define the segement over which the particle position will be randomly calculated. Input is between 0° and 180°.

 

• OuterAngle

  This is the outer (second) angle value used to define the segement over which the particle position will be randomly calculated. Input is between 0° and 180°.

 

• RandSeed

  This is the random seed to use to generate the output.

 

• RandIndex

  This is is an additional value to be added on to the seed value. Usually this would have the particle ID AttributeType as the input to ensure that each particle is generated differently.

 

 

Node Output

The node will output a Vec3 of floats, which will be a random position on the surface of the defined sphere segment.