Slide 2 - Working With Paths

This exercise teaches you how to link to resource palettes.

Preparation Work

This instruction set contains preparation instruction.

  1. Select File » New from the main menu.
  2. Save the file as \EXERCISES\USING_PALETTES.BOX.

Creating A Virtual Light

This instruction set teaches you to create a virtual light by connecting a link node to the light node in LIGHT_PALETTE.BOX.

  1. Examine the hierarchy: This is a picture of the hierarchy.
  2. Delete the light node named AmbientLight: 1,1,1.
  3. Right click over the group node named Scene and select Create » Link Node from the listed options.
  4. The hierarchy looks like this: This is a picture of the hierarchy.
    The use of × as the icon for the link indicates the link cannot find the data to which it is linked or the data is not loaded. The indicator × does not necessarily mean the link is broken.
  5. Double click the link node.
  6. This displays link properties in the browser.
  7. Set Node Type to Light.
    This is not strictly necessary and if you are unsure of the node type, you can select Node from the listed options. Scenome uses this parameter to optimize inclusion and streaming operations. Using the correct node type is best practice.
  8. Left click the right column of the Point At This .BOX File parameter.
  9. This displays the Open dialog.
  10. Set the file to \EXERCISES\PALETTES\LIGHT_PALETTE.BOX.
  11. Set Point At This Node Inside The File to the database address /Scene/InfiniteLight: -1,-1,-1.
    This link creates a hyperlink between the current file and LIGHT_PALETTE.BOX. The database address ensures the hyperlink points at a specific node in the file. Sometimes it's convenient to hyperlink to a specific node; sometimes you want to link to an entire database. To link an entire database use / as the database address. You can omit the name of the root node if you wish; Scenome automatically uses the root node as the start of traversal when it pages LIGHT_PALETTE.BOX from the hard disk.
  12. Examine the Point At This .BOX File parameter.
  13. The path is listed from the root: C:\ or D:\.
  14. Examine the hierarchy.
  15. Right click on the link node and select External File Path: Set Relative from the listed options.
  16. The path now reads .\palettes\light_palette.box which tells Scenome to look in a sub-directory named palettes for a file named LIGHT_PALETTE.BOX.
    That was a bit of work but don't worry. There is a much faster method of creating links between databases; but it's important that you understand how linking works from the ground up.