tubes

The tubes module is used to produce open or closed tubes of constant or data dependent radius using 3D lines or polylines as input. Tube size, number of sides and data dependent coloring is possible.

Rotation of the tubes are done with the Phase slider (or type-in), which is specified in degrees. There are two methods used to maintain continuity of the tube orientation as the path meanders along a 3D path. These are specified as the Phase Determination method:

• Force Z Up: is the default and is most appropriate for paths that stay relatively horizontal. This option keeps the tube faces aligned with the Z axis and therefore with a slope of 30 degrees, the effective cross sectional area of the tube would be reduced by cos(30) which would be a 14% reduction. However for the typical slopes found with tunneling this effect is quite minimal and this option keeps the tube perfectly aligned.
• Perpendicular Extrusions: keeps the tube cross-section aligned with the tube (extrusion) path and therefore preserves the cross-section no matter what the path. However, tube rotation creep is possible.

Module Input Ports

• Input Field [Field] Accepts a field with or without data containing lines which represent the paths of the tubes.

Module Output Ports

• Output Field [Field] Outputs the field as tubes.
• Output Object [Renderable]: Outputs to the viewer.