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The sMerge Controls tab
Controls
The only control for the sMerge node is the Override Axis checkbox, which overrides the shape’s axis.
Common Controls
The Settings tab in the Inspector is common to all Shape nodes. These common controls are described in detail at the end of this chapter in “The Common Controls” section.
sNGon
The sNGon node
The sNGon node is used to create multi-sided shapes like triangles, pentagons, and octagons. Like almost all Shape nodes, you can only view the sNGon node’s results through a sRender node.
External Inputs
This node generates shapes and does not have any inputs.
Basic Node Setup
The sNGon node is a shape generator, meaning it generates a shape and therefore has no inputs. The output of the sNGon can go into a sRender for viewing and further compositing or, more likely, connect to another Shape node like sGrid or sDuplicate.
An sNGon node connecting to an sDuplicate node, and then viewed using an sRender node.
Inspector
The sNGon Controls tab
Controls
The Controls tab is used to define multi-sided shape characteristics, including fill, border, size, and position.
When enabled, the Solid checkbox fills the NGon shape with the color defined in the Style tab. When disabled, an outline created by the Border Width control is displayed, and the center is made transparent.
This parameter expands or contracts the border around the shape. Although it can be used when the Solid checkbox is enabled, it is primarily used to determine the outline thickness when the checkbox is disabled.
The Border Style parameter controls how the sides of the NGon join at the corners. There are three styles provided as options. Bevel squares off the corners. Round creates rounded corners. Miter maintains pointed corners.
When the Solid checkbox is disabled, three cap style options are displayed. The cap styles can create lines with flat, rounded, or squared ends. Flat caps have flat, squared ends, while rounded caps have semi-circular ends. Squared caps have projecting ends that extend half the line width beyond the end of the line.
The caps are not visible unless the length is below 1.0.
The Position parameter is only displayed when the Solid checkbox is disabled. It allows you to position the starting point of the shape. When used in conjunction with the Length parameter, it positions the gap in the outline.
The Length parameter is only displayed when the Solid checkbox is disabled. A length of 1.0 is a closed shape. Setting the length below 1.0 creates an opening or gap in the outline. Keyframing the Length parameters allows you to create write-on style animations.
These parameters are used to position the shape left, right, up, and down in the frame. The shape starts in the center of the frame, and the parameters are used to offset the position. The offset coordinates are normalized based on the width of the frame. So, an X offset of 0.0 is centered and a value of 0.5 places the center of the shape directly on the right edge of the frame.
The Width and Height parameters determine the vertical and horizontal size of the ellipse. If the values are identical, then all sides are of equal length.
The Angle parameter rotates the shape based on the center axis.
Style Tab
The sNGon Style tab
Style
The Style tab is used to assign a color to the shape and control its transparency.
The Color controls determine the color of the fill and border. To choose a shape color, you can click the color disclosure arrow, use the color swatch, or drag the eyedropper into the viewer to select a color from an image. The RGBA sliders or number fields can be used to enter each color channel’s value or the strength of the alpha channel.
When this checkbox is enabled, the alpha channel value is maintained even when passing through other nodes downstream that may cause the shape to overlap with copies of itself. When disabled, the alpha channel value may increase when the shape overlaps itself.