| Please note that this is a BETA version of the document. All information presented is correct but we are working on improving the details. |
The Pin Collector
Pin collectors are used for gathering pins of nodes in Aximmetry. We can add input pins of one or more nodes to a Pin Collector. Making it easier to control the properties of nodes in Aximmetry.
We can add a Pin Collector, right-click in the Flow editor-> New Special Compound-> Pin Collector
You should add this next to the nodes which you want to connect to it later.
Flow Editor:
Pin Collector comes with one output pin named + you can drag any other nodes input pin to this.
Here for instance I connected a Copy Integer nodes input to it.
Flow Editor:
then a pop-up window will appear where you have to name this pin(we will discuss naming more precisely later) for now name it the same as the starting nodes pin.
Flow Editor:
Changing the value of the Pin Collector In pin will change the nodes' values as well.
Properties Editor:
You can connect more nodes to your Pin Collector thus creating 2 or more properties that you can set.
The connected nodes' pins can be controlled from a single node.
Flow Editor: Properties Editor:
Pin Collectors can be added to any Control Board making them a very versatile way to control any part of your project from outside the Flow editor.
(this documentation takes into consideration that you are already familiar with Control Boards, if not please follow this documentation)
You can add a Control Board from anywhere in your Flow editor right-click-> New Special Compound-> Control Board
Flow Editor:
You can add the Pin Collector to your Control Board by right-clicking on them. Add to Control Board-> here you can select which control board you want to add the Pin Collector. In this example, I only have one Control Board.
Flow Editor: Control Board:
Add a Button
Let's say we want to trigger something from the control board, in this case, we can connect any trigger to the Pin Collector.
Flow Editor:
We see that the pin collector is empty and we can only use the trigger in the properties section.
Control Board: Properties Editor:
If we want buttons in our Pin Collector we need to rename them accordingly, this means adding a # before its name, #In for instance.
Flow Editor:
This will result in a button like this on the Control Board:
Flow Editor:
Add Icons for Buttons
To add an icon for the button you can use the predefined Icon Keyword list when naming your pin.
Flow Editor:
Here for example I used the Play keyword:
Control Board:
Add Radio Button
A radio button is a line of buttons from which only one can be active at a time.
To achieves this name the Pin Collectors pin is similar to this example. The name should be started with # and each button should be separated with a comma.
Flow Editor:
This will result in a line of buttons on the Control Board too. In this case, the buttons A, B, C, and D (but you can give them other names as well) will set the value to 0, 1, 2, and 3 (these values are not affected by their button's name).
Control Board:
Finetuning the Radio Buttons Layout
If you want to have gaps between the buttons all you have to do is put an _ before the name of the button thus creating a gap. Using more _ will get you bigger gaps.
Flow Editor: Control Board:
If you start the name of the pin with a # followed by a comma the output value will start from 1.
Flow Editor: Control Board:
If you don’t want to output a certain value, you should remove its button's name but leave the comma in place. This method won't create a gap in the Pin Collector.
Flow Editor: Control Board:
Add Video/Image Switch Button
First, add a Switch Video node to your scene and connect its Selected pin to the Pin Collector.
Before its name put a # followed by a $. Then add as many Video Player nodes to your scene as many you want to switch between. After that connect each Video File pin to the Pin Collector. Connect the Out pin of each Video Player to the Switch Video node.
Flow Editor: Control Board:
To this node, we can drag-n-drop videos from Aximmetrys file browser or any other file explorer.
The thumbnail will show up.
Control Board:
If you click on the thumbnail that video will be played.
You can also drag images into this Pin collector.
If you want an option where no video is played then rename the pin - which you have connected the Switch Videos Selected - to have, Something at the end. Similarly to what you see in this picture:
Flow Editor:
This is how it looks like on the Control Board:
Control Board:
If the OFF button is selected then the value of the Selected property will be 0.
Add a Bit Switch Button
The name of the Pin Collectors pin should start with ## followed by button names, each button represents a bit, and their index starts from 1.
In this example a stands for the first bit, b for the second, and so on. Each bit is turned off by default.
Flow Editor: Control Board:
If you turn a button on the corresponding bit will be turned on as well. In this case, I have b turned on, so the second bit will be turned on as well.
Flow Editor: Control Board:
Add a Control Board Panel Selector Button
Control board panel selector is a tricky way to associate panel buttons with different panels. It is also a way to force users to select panels. A famous example of this is the keying Monitor buttons in camera compounds:
The Panel Selector Button selects a panel on the control board when the button is pressed. For this to work, one must give the panel's name after the button's name with a > seperator. Like #B1>Text,B2>Video,B3>Pin Collector 2 where B1,B2 and B3 are the button names and Text, Video, and Pin Collector 2 is the name of the panels.
Also, the whole setup must be in a locked compound, otherwise, the buttons will select the nodes within the Flow Editor.
In this example the Pin Collector buttons point to 3 node names which are added to the control board:
Flow Editor:
Control Board with different pressed buttons:
Add a Dropdown
To add a dropdown for the Pin Collector, the pin name should start with $enum, then the name of the pin, then the dropdown options (e.g.: $enum,Name,Option 1,Option 2,Option 3):
Flow Editor:
This will result in enumerated options when selecting the pin of the Pin Collector on the Control Board. In this case, the pin is called Name. And the options are Option 1, Option 2, and Option 3 (but you can give them other names as well) and will set the value to 1, 2, and 3:
Control Board:
This is not restricted to Pin Collectors. It is possible to add such pins to compounds:
Flow Editor:
