Marionette Plug-in Style parameters by instance

[Niels Timmer]

Hi,

 

I created a Marionette Object and converted it into a red symbol (plug-in style). When I right click the symbol and choose Edit... to edit the marionette script, the parameters of all instances are reset.

 

Is there a way to prevent this? Can I set the marionette input nodes as 'by instance' parameters of the plug-in style? (sorry for this unclear English sentence, I'm a non-native 😁)

 

The image below may clarify what I mean:

 

 

[K.Lalkovski]

Hi Niels Timmer,

Could you please attach here the object you have created in order for us to look into it?

Thanks,

Konstantin

[Niels Timmer]

Yes, sure.

 

Most of the naming of layers/classes/objects is in Dutch but I think you will manage to understand what I'm trying to do.

 

It would be great if you could look into it!

231002 Standaardkozijn_purged.vwx

[K.Lalkovski]

Thank you!

[heavy manners]

According to this help section this is not possible:

 

Quote

The custom parameters in a Marionette object style are always set by instance; the only parameter that can be set by style is Reset on move. However, the script itself is set by style and can be edited to affect all instances that use the style. 

 

I've found that you can kind of get around this by converting the Marionette Object into a Symbol without checking the "Convert to plug-in object" box. However, this means that the parameters are only accessible if you enter the Symbol and select the Marionette Object. If you do check the "Convert to plug-in object", the parameters are still set by instance, but it does allow you to store the Marionette Object in the Resource manager.

 

What is puzzling to me is why it would not be possible, almost a decade after the introduction of Marionette, to control these parameters by Style. We have a 2D workflow at our office and the 3D PIO doors are bugging and are not useable to us, and Marionette is the only way I've been able to craft simple parametric doors. However, without the ability to set parameters by Style, this feature is next to useless. Perhaps I'm missing something, but I've searched everywhere for an answer to this question, to no avail. Any help would be greatly appreciated – thanks!

 

Note 1: even though I could use my own workaround as described above without too much trouble for me, the ability for our employees to easily interact with these items would be limited.

 

Note 2: It is still a mystery to me exactly what the latter part of the sentence quoted above means: "However, the script itself is set by style and can be edited to affect all instances that use the style." Does it simply mean: "The node network is controlled by the Style"? I mean that would be the absolute minimum wouldn't it. Or does it mean something else that actually contains the key to my problem?

Edited June 13 by heavy manners

[heavy manners]

Another problem with the approach of converting the Marionette Object into a non-PIO Symbol is that any record that was attached to the Marionette Object will now be attached to the Symbol, not the Marionette object within the Symbol, breaking any link there was between them. This means it would be impossible or very cumbersome to maintain e.g. door tables.

Edited June 13 by heavy manners

[K.Lalkovski]

On 6/13/2024 at 2:51 PM, heavy manners said:

According to this help section this is not possible:

 

 

I've found that you can kind of get around this by converting the Marionette Object into a Symbol without checking the "Convert to plug-in object" box. However, this means that the parameters are only accessible if you enter the Symbol and select the Marionette Object. If you do check the "Convert to plug-in object", the parameters are still set by instance, but it does allow you to store the Marionette Object in the Resource manager.

 

What is puzzling to me is why it would not be possible, almost a decade after the introduction of Marionette, to control these parameters by Style. We have a 2D workflow at our office and the 3D PIO doors are bugging and are not useable to us, and Marionette is the only way I've been able to craft simple parametric doors. However, without the ability to set parameters by Style, this feature is next to useless. Perhaps I'm missing something, but I've searched everywhere for an answer to this question, to no avail. Any help would be greatly appreciated – thanks!

 

Note 1: even though I could use my own workaround as described above without too much trouble for me, the ability for our employees to easily interact with these items would be limited.

 

Note 2: It is still a mystery to me exactly what the latter part of the sentence quoted above means: "However, the script itself is set by style and can be edited to affect all instances that use the style." Does it simply mean: "The node network is controlled by the Style"? I mean that would be the absolute minimum wouldn't it. Or does it mean something else that actually contains the key to my problem?

Hi @heavy manners,
We implemented  Plug-in styles for Marionette Objects 2 years ago. And  setting  all the Marionette object parameters by instance was by design.This is how it works at the moment. 
My suggestion is just create a wish in our Jira so that we can consider supporting the parameters by style as well.

As for your second question about the mystery - "However, the script itself is set by style and can be edited to affect all instances that use the style."
Please, look at the attached video.
As can be seen, regardless of the fact that the individual circles have different radiuses, manually changed through the OIP for each instance of the style, if we edit the network in the red symbol in RM and add additional functionality, in this case, extrude, after finishing the marionette network editing in the Resource Manager (the red symbol), all circles will become cylindrical extrudes, and their radius will be the same, equal to the parameter value seen in the dialog with the button E dit script.

That is, all instances will change after editing the marionette network in the Marionette Object style and will be aligned to the parameter values of the Marionette network  in the red symbol in the Resource Manager. The idea is, taking your door example into consideration - if you want, for instance, to add a handle to the doors, you add to the marionette network in the red symbol new nodes that create it, and all instances will have a handle after editing the network of the plug-in style.

Regards,

Konstantin
 

2024-06-14 16-00-35.mkv

[heavy manners]

On 6/14/2024 at 3:31 PM, K.Lalkovski said:

Hi @heavy manners,
We implemented  Plug-in styles for Marionette Objects 2 years ago. And  setting  all the Marionette object parameters by instance was by design.This is how it works at the moment. 
My suggestion is just create a wish in our Jira so that we can consider supporting the parameters by style as well.

As for your second question about the mystery - "However, the script itself is set by style and can be edited to affect all instances that use the style."
Please, look at the attached video.
As can be seen, regardless of the fact that the individual circles have different radiuses, manually changed through the OIP for each instance of the style, if we edit the network in the red symbol in RM and add additional functionality, in this case, extrude, after finishing the marionette network editing in the Resource Manager (the red symbol), all circles will become cylindrical extrudes, and their radius will be the same, equal to the parameter value seen in the dialog with the button E dit script.

That is, all instances will change after editing the marionette network in the Marionette Object style and will be aligned to the parameter values of the Marionette network  in the red symbol in the Resource Manager. The idea is, taking your door example into consideration - if you want, for instance, to add a handle to the doors, you add to the marionette network in the red symbol new nodes that create it, and all instances will have a handle after editing the network of the plug-in style.

 

Thank you for a swift and clear reply, Konstantin!

 

Regarding the second part, that was what I suspected it meant, and this is good!

Regarding the first part, I will create a wish for that. It just seems weird to me that there exists a possibility to create a PIO but without this feature, as Styles are a crucial component of managing other PIOs like doors.