You are here: Reference Guide > 3D Nodes > PositionToPoints

PositionToPoints

Generates a 3D point cloud from an xyz image, such as a position pass. If all the data is in multiple channels in the input image, then set the surface point to the channels that contain the xyz data in the input image, and optionally set the surface normal to the channels with the point normals. If you have the xyz and normals in separate image streams, you can instead connect the xyz stream to the pos input and optionally connect the normals to the norm input.

Inputs and Controls

Connection Type	Connection Name	Function
Input	unnamed	The image from which the point cloud is generated, if all xyz data resides in one image. This is also where the color information for the point cloud is taken from.
	pos	The image containing positional data. Note that this input is hidden until the unnamed input is connected.
	norm	The image containing normals data. Note that this input is hidden until the pos input is connected.

Control (UI)	Knob (Scripting)	Default Value	Function
PositionToPoints Tab
display	display	solid	Adjusts the display characteristics of 3D objects. These settings don’t affect the render output of the scene; these are for display purposes only in the 3D Viewer. • off - hides the 3D geometry object. • wireframe - displays only the outlines of the object’s geometry. • solid - displays all geometry with a solid color. • solid+wireframe - displays the geometry as solid color with the object’s geometry outlines. • textured - displays only the surface texture. • textured+wireframe - displays the wireframe plus the surface texture.
selectable	selectable	enabled	When enabled, you can make selections as normal in the Viewer. When disabled, points cannot be selected or changed.
render	render_mode	solid	Sets how the points will render. This control is independent from the display selection, but has the same settings.
cast shadow	cast_shadow	enabled	When enabled, the object can cast shadows.
receive shadow	receive_shadow	enabled	When enabled, and a material shader is added to the object, the object can receive shadows.
frame range	frame_first	1	Sets the start frame for the frame range displayed in the Viewer when the Timeline range is set to Input. This can be used to display the offset used in the TimeOffset node.
frame range	frame_last	1	Sets the end frame for the frame range displayed in the Viewer when the Timeline range is set to Input. This can be used to display the offset used in the TimeOffset node.
surface point	P_channel	none	The point positions are taken from these channels in the first input. If the pos input is used these channels are ignored.
surface normal	N_channel	none	The point normals are taken from these channels in the first input. If the norm input is used these channels are ignored.
point detail	detail	0.5	Controls the number of available points to display in the Viewer. A value of 0 means no points are displayed. A value of 1 displays all available points.
point size	pointSize	5	Controls the display size of the points in the Viewer.