Hello all,
Have extracted the following from the upcoming version of the manual. The information was provide by Keith:
Description
The Tendril effect provides an effect which looks like a twisting threadlike structure. You can think of tendrils as the pattern you would see if you took a piece of string, held it just above a flat surface and moved it around. As you do so the string would move leaving a trail which did not exactly match the movements but was a result of it. The parameters of the tendril effect let you control the movement of the string and how the string behaves.
Movement
This describes how the end of the string is being moved. Available movements include:
•Random - The string on each frame is randomly moved somewhere else on the model. This creates dramatic but random movements.
•Square - The string is moved around the edge of the model from corner to corner anti-clockwise.
•Circle - The string is moved around the centre of the model in a circle clockwise.
•Horizontal Zig Zag - the string is dragged left to right and back again across the model slowly moving up and down the model. With the right settings this can almost look like a spiral tree.
•Vertical Zig Zag - the string is dragged up and down and back again across the model slowly moving left and right across the model.
•Music Line - The string is moved left and right across the model with the vertical movement determined by the intensity of the associated music in that frame.
•Music Circle - The string is moved in a circle clockwise with the distance the string is from the center of the circle determined by the intensity of the associated music in that frame.
Tune Movement
The tune movement slider adjusts the current movement. This works differently for each movement.
•Random - Tunes how far each random movement is. Smaller means smaller movements.
•Square - Tunes how many steps the string takes moving from one corner to the next. Larger numbers make the movement slower
•Circle - Tunes how many degrees the string takes moving around the circle. Larger numbers make the movement faster.
•Horizontal Zig Zag - Tunes the number of zig zags on each traversal of the model. Large numbers reduce the number of traversals.
•Vertical Zig Zag - Tunes the number of zig zags on each traversal of the model. Large numbers reduce the number of traversals.
•Music Line - Tunes the speed the line travels left and right across the model. Large numbers speed up the line.
•Music Circle - Tunes the speed the line travels around the circle. Large numbers speed up the line.
Speed - This allows you to lower the frame rate. 10 is full speed. Anything lower will make the movement slower and jerkier.
Thickness
This is how thick the string is. By default it is just 1 pixel wide.
Friction
Friction is how much the surface resists the string moving. When set low friction is high and the string won’t move much. When set high the string will wildly flap about.
Dampening
Controls how quickly the string will try to resume being in line with the tail point. When set low it will come back quickly. When set high it can take a long time to align.
Tension
This behaves much like dampening. Set low and the tail of the string will tend to stay still and only the moving end will move much.
Trails
The effect can draw multiple lines (not just the one). On low resolution displays or when thickness is set high it won’t be seen. On higher resolution displays, if you set this to higher numbers , you will see the tendril fray into multiple related lines like a partially unravelled rope.
Length
This is how long the string is. By default it is 60 segments long.
Speed
This allows you to lower the frame rate. 10 is full speed. Anything lower may make the movement slower and jerkier.
