Geometry & 3D node new in 3.1
Suspension Rig
A load hanging on real ropes. The top floats (a balloon carrying everything), is fixed (a ceiling, a beam, a moving hook) or is guided — floating, but pulled to a Top Target that can fly a path; the bottom hangs — a gondola, a chandelier, a swing. Rope i joins Top Points i to Bottom Points i (any point cloud), or Load Rig File… gives the layout. Trigger kicks the bottom at the Impulse Point along the Impulse Direction (recoil, a push, a gust): it swings, ropes go slack and snap taut, a floating top answers late. Kicks add up. Morph runs a rig file's start layout into its own: the ropes reel in or pay out as the shape changes. Show draws it all in the 3D Scene. Cable Top and Bottom Transform into the Parent of each body's Meshes.
Inputs
| Port | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
| EnableOff: both bodies stand at rest (identity transforms), no ropes are drawn and Show clears. On again continues from where the rig was. | bool | true |
| RigA layout file, loaded once with Load Rig File… and kept in the project: top and bottom rope points, centres, impulse point and direction, in scene units. Any cabled port below overrides its part. | string | |
| TriggerEvery rising edge is one kick: a key, a beat, a Timeline marker, a collision. Held true it kicks once. Kicks add up — one mid-swing pushes further. The Kick button tries one by hand. | bool | false |
| ImpulseStrength of a kick in newton-seconds, at the Impulse Point along the Impulse Direction. 800 swings a 900 kg load about 6°; a 6-pounder's real recoil is about 1200. Not clamped. | float | 800 |
| VariationEach kick is scaled by a random 1 ± this (0–1), so no two are alike. Repeatable by Seed. | float | 0.15 |
| SeedPicks the sequence of kick sizes and the gust pattern. | int | 0 |
| Bottom MassKilograms of the load (above 1). Heavier swings less per kick and pulls the ropes harder. Restarts the rig. | float | 900 |
| Top MassKilograms of a floating top, the air it drags along included (above 1). Heavier answers later and smaller. Ignored when Fixed. Restarts the rig. | float | 400 |
| Bottom DragHow fast the load's swing and drift die away, per second (0 = it swings for ever). 0.05–0.3 looks like air. | float | 0.08 |
| Top DragAir resistance of a floating top, per second: how firmly it resists drifting and how fast wind takes it. 0.2–0.8. | float | 0.4 |
| Home PullHow firmly a floating top drifts back to where it started, in Hz (0 = it drifts away after each kick). 0.02 takes about a minute. | float | 0.02 |
| Wind XSteady wind along X in metres per second: a floating top leans away and the load trails behind. | float | 0 |
| Wind ZSteady wind along Z in metres per second. | float | 0 |
| GustsSlow changing gusts on top of the wind, in metres per second (0 = none): the rig never hangs perfectly still. | float | 0 |
| Rope SegmentsLinks per rope (2–40). More = rounder slack curves and finer waves along the rope; 8–12 is plenty. Restarts the rig. | int | 10 |
| Rope SlackExtra rope length as a fraction (0–1): 0 hangs taut, 0.05 sags visibly. Restarts the rig. | float | 0 |
| Rope RadiusTube radius of the Ropes mesh in scene units. | float | 0.001 |
| Time ScaleSlows or speeds the physics (0–4): 0.25 for slow motion, 0 freezes it. | float | 1 |
| ResetA rising edge puts the rig back at rest. A Reset held true from the start is ignored. Reset Now does the same. | bool | false |
| ShowDraws the rig in every 3D Scene: ropes coloured by pull (blue slack, green carrying their share, red three times it), top anchors cyan, bottom yellow, each body's centre and axes, the lift and the kick. | bool | false |
| Top PointsWhere the ropes start: any point cloud (Make Point, Path, Geometry to Points…). Rope i runs to Bottom Points i. With Top Mode Fixed the points may move — a hook, a crane — and the load follows. | structure | — |
| Bottom PointsWhere the ropes hold the load, paired by order with Top Points. Their spread sets the load's size; changing them restarts the rig. | structure | — |
| Top ModeFloating: the top carries everything with its lift (a balloon). Fixed: it never moves — a ceiling, a beam, a hook. Guided: floating, but a spring pulls it to Top Target — a tethered balloon, an airship on a route, a lantern carried by hand. | int | 0 |
| Top CentreA floating top's centre of mass and lift, as one point. Empty = the middle of the Top Points (or the file's). | structure | — |
| Bottom CentreThe load's centre of mass, as one point. Empty = a little below the middle of its Bottom Points, so it hangs upright. Lower = steadier, higher = tips more. | structure | — |
| Impulse PointWhere a kick lands on the load, as one point (it rides the load as it swings). Empty = the load's centre (or the file's muzzle). | structure | — |
| Impulse DirectionWhich way a kick PUSHES the load, as one vector — for a cannon, opposite its muzzle (the recoil). Empty = the file's, or −Z. | structure | — |
| Meters Per UnitHow many metres one scene unit is — the scale gravity and ropes work at (a small model swings fast, a big one slowly). 0 = the file's, else 30. | float | 0 |
| Top RadiusA floating top's radius in metres, for how hard it is to turn. 0 = the file's, or the spread of the Top Points. | float | 0 |
| Top TargetGuided: where the top is pulled — a Parent Transform. Its Position moves the top, its Rotate turns it (about its Pivot). Drive it with an LFO, a Timeline or the mouse to fly a path; empty = home. | structure | — |
| FollowGuided: how firmly the top keeps to its target, in Hz. 0.05 a loose tether that lags far behind, 0.5 a steady pull, 2 nearly rigid. The same for any Top Mass. | float | 0.5 |
| Follow DampingGuided: below 1 the top overshoots and bobs around the target (0.3 lively), 1 arrives without overshoot, above 1 creeps in. Turn uses it too. | float | 0.7 |
| TurnGuided: how firmly the top turns to its target's rotation, in Hz (0 = it keeps its own heading). Slower than Follow reads as a big craft swinging round. | float | 0.3 |
| MorphRuns a rig file that has a “start” layout from it (0) to its own (1): the rope ends slide, the ropes reel in or pay out, nothing restarts. Without a start layout it does nothing. | float | 1 |
Outputs
| Port | Type |
|---|---|
| Top Transform | structure |
| Bottom Transform | structure |
| Ropes | structure |
| Rope Points | structure |
| Tension | float |
| Impulse X | float |
| Impulse Y | float |
| Impulse Z | float |
| Impulse Dir X | float |
| Impulse Dir Y | float |
| Impulse Dir Z | float |
| Kick | bool |
Open Suspension Rig in the interactive catalog →
Suspension Rig is one of 381 nodes in Grafit Pro.
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