Particles node
Find Neighbors
GPU plexus solver: connects particles within a distance range. Interaction chooses what to link -- Particles (particle↔particle), Target Points (particle→an external point cloud), All Scene (both), or Scene Chain, which grows outward from the particles that reached the cloud, one ring of neighbours per hop. Chain Axis can pin that growth to a line, a single direction (+Y climbs, −Y hangs) or a plane. Add inside a Particle System and pair with Particle Lines to draw the web; works at full GPU particle scale. With Target Points cabled, an empty cloud draws nothing -- the particle↔particle fallback only applies while the port is unconnected.
Inputs
| Port | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
| EnableOff builds no connections at all, so any Particle Lines fed from this go empty. Max Distance at 0 has the same effect. | bool | true |
| InteractionWhat gets linked: Particles to each other, particles to Target Points, All Scene for both, or Scene Chain, which grows outward hop by hop from the particles that reached the cloud. Clamped to the list. | int | 0 |
| Max DistanceHow far apart two points can be and still link, in Grafit units. Held at 0 or above, and 0 switches the solver off; larger values also make the search grid coarser. | float | 0.4 |
| Min DistanceLinks shorter than this are skipped, leaving a clear hole around each particle. Held at 0 or above and never allowed past Max Distance. | float | 0.0 |
| Max ConnectionsHow many links a single particle may own. Clamped to 1…8 — lowering it is the cheapest way to thin a web that has turned into a solid mat. | int | 6 |
| Target PointsCable an external point cloud here for the Target Points, All Scene and Scene Chain modes. Up to 50,000 points are used; anything beyond that is dropped. | structure | — |
| Chain DepthHow many hops a Scene Chain grows outward from its roots. Clamped to 0…32, and every hop is another pass, so deep chains cost real frame time. | int | 4 |
| Chain VarianceHow randomly each hop picks its next neighbour. Clamped to 0…1, where 0 grows a tidy predictable structure and 1 a wandering organic one. | float | 0.35 |
| Chain AxisConstrains chain growth to a line, a single direction such as +Y for climbing or -Y for hanging, or a plane. All Directions leaves it unconstrained; values outside the list clamp to the nearest. | int | 0 |
| Axis ThresholdHow much sideways slack the chain has around its axis, in Grafit units. Held at 0 or above; small values give a tight column, larger ones loosen it into a cone or a slab. | float | 0.1 |
What It Does
Find Neighbors is the GPU "plexus solver" for particles. Each frame it builds a uniform spatial grid over every live particle and finds, for each one, its nearest neighbours inside a Min–Max Distance band (capped by Max Connections). The result is a set of connection pairs that Particle Lines draws as a web. It's fully GPU and deterministic (neighbours ordered by distance + index, so the web never flickers), and it scales to the full particle count.
Add it inside a Particle System (dive in, then add it next to the Emitter).
Interaction Modes
One Interaction dropdown turns this into a universal solver:
| Mode | Connects |
|---|---|
| Particles | particle ↔ particle — the classic plexus web on the swarm itself. |
| Target Points | particle → an external point cloud wired into Target Points (geometry, Vision landmarks, another system). The swarm "wires up" onto any .points source. |
| All Scene | both at once — particle↔particle and particle→target, mixed in a single pass. |
Tips
- Always pair with a Particle Lines node — Find Neighbors produces the connections, Particle Lines renders them.
- Max Distance sets how far apart two particles can be and still connect; Max Connections caps the lines per particle (keeps dense swarms readable and fast).
- In Target Points / All Scene mode, connect any point cloud — the same ones you'd feed Plexus.
- If a target mode has no cloud connected, it gracefully falls back to particle↔particle.
Open Find Neighbors in the interactive catalog →
Find Neighbors is one of 381 nodes in Grafit Pro.
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