Parameters Tracks

Here you can find what parameters are available in Tracker and how to animate them depending on their type (for example, how to move nodes, change material parameters, etc.).

Node-related tracks (for example, that enables the node, or changes its position) need to be bound to some specific node in the world:

Select node dialog allows to choose a node to be animated by the track.
After that, you can change the node bound to the track in the Node field.

Common Node Parameters

enabled

Enables or disables the node.

position

Moves the node along X, Y or Z axes. Position of key frame points can be changed directly in the world by dragging manipulators.

Notice

Enable both the track graph (

) and editor Visualizer (Helpers -> Visualizer) in order to see the created track path in the world.

Inconst velocity stands for inconstant velocity of the node when it moves along the spline (as curves are passed faster).
Const velocity stands for constant velocity of the node. It will move at uniform speed throughout the whole spline.

Follow X, Y or Z indicates that the node always oriented along one of its axes when moving along the spline.

NoticeFor players, always set Follow Z mode, as all cameras face in the negative Z direction by default.


Follow X axis	Follow Y axis	Follow Z axis

Offset is measured in tracker time units. It specifies how far along the spline is the point by which the node is oriented.

By the default value of 0.01, the node faces the current spline point.
By higher values, the node is oriented as if it has already moved further forward the spline.
Do not set 0 for Offset, as the node will always be oriented along the specified axis instead of facing it along the spline.


Offset = 0.01 (facing the current spline point)	Offset = 0.5 (facing the point further forward the spline)

Tip: if you want to control the orientation of the node (without having to reexport the mesh, for example) you can use a dummy node:

Create a dummy node.
Add your node as its child.
Orient and position it relative the dummy however necessary.

rotation

Rotates the node along X, Y or Z axes:

Inconst velocity stands for inconstant velocity of the node when it rotates (with acceleration).
Const velocity stands for constant velocity of the node. It will rotate at uniform speed.
Order stands for order of rotations about the axes. For example, if rotating the sun (a world light source), the order should be ZYX.

scale

Scales the node along X, Y or Z axes.

Light Sources Tracks

These tracks control parameters of light sources:

Common light parameters
Omni light parameters
Projected light parameters
World light parameters

Objects Tracks

Common Objects Parameters

enabled	Enables or disables a surface of the object. Surface allows for choosing an object surface from the list.
material	Allows for changing a material assigned to a surface.
property	Allows for changing a property assigned to a surface.

Skinned Mesh Parameters

play	Toggles playback of the skinned mesh animation.
animation	Sets animation (from *.smesh file) for the skinned mesh.

Particle System Parameters

These tracks control parameters of particles (and their emitters).

Player Tracks

These tracks are used to set up cameras used for cutscenes. Two types of cameras can be used:

Dummy player — a simple free-flying camera
Persecutor player — camera that follows a node

Notice

For more details on creating cutscenes, see game-related tracks.

fov	Field of view of the player.
znear	Distance to the camera near clipping plane.
zfar	Distance to the camera far clipping plane.

Persecutor Parameters

Persecutor position can be controlled in one of two ways:

By setting node position (node enabled track).
By changing phi and theta angles for the persecutor. (This variant is also used to rotate a persecutor.)

target	Selects a node that persecutor follows. When the track is added, first select a persecutor player and then click on the track to add a target node.
anchor	Offset (in units) relative to the node's origin of coordinates. The player will look at this offset point instead of node's center.
distance	Distance to follow the node on. It cannot be out of Min-Max distance range set for the persecutor (in the editor or via script); otherwise, it will be ignored.
phiAngle	Rotates the player horizontally.
thetaAngle	Tilts the player vertically.

Sound Source Tracks

These tracks control parameters of sound sources. For common sound parameters, see sound.

Material-related tracks (that change some material setting over time) are added in the following way:

Select material dialog allows to choose a material to be animated by the track. (After that, you can change the material bound to the track in the Name field.)
Choose a setting:
- If it is one of common material settings, you can add it straight away.
- To add any other material setting, check the type of the material state or parameter you are going to change (toggled state, switched state, texture, color parameter or slider parameter) and choose it in the list.
In the latter case, select the setting in the drop-down list: State, Parameter or Texture.

stateToggle	Material state with a check box.
stateSwitch	Material state with a drop-down list: To set the 1st state from the drop-down list in Materials settings, set 0 as track Value. Track Value of 1 means the 2nd state in the drop-down list. Track Value of 2 means the 3rd state in the drop-down list, etc.
textureImage	Texture for the material.
parameterColor	Color multiplier (in Parameters) for the material.
parameterSlider	Material parameter with a slider.

Property-related tracks (that change some property setting over time) are added in the following way:

Select property dialog allows to choose a property to be animated by the track. (After that, you can change the property bound to the track in the Name field.)
Choose the parameter:
- If it is one of common property parameters (intersection or collision), you can add it straight away.
- To add any custom property setting, check the type of the property state or parameter you are going to change (toggled state, switched state, float parameter, toggled parameter, switched parameter, string parameter or color parameter) and and choose it in the list.
In case of a custom setting, select it in the drop-down list State or Parameter.

stateToggle	Property state with a check box.
stateSwitch	Property state with a drop-down list: To set the 1st state from the drop-down list in Properties editor, set 0 as track Value. Track Value of 1 means the 2nd state in the drop-down list. Track Value of 2 means the 3rd state in the drop-down list, etc.
parameterFloat	Property parameter with floating-point value.
parameterToggle	Property parameter with a check box.
parameterSwitch	Property parameter with a drop-down list: To set the 1st parameter from the drop-down list in Properties editor, set 0 as track Value. Track Value of 1 means the 2nd parameter in the drop-down list. Track Value of 2 means the 3rd parameter in the drop-down list, etc.
parameterString	Property parameter with a text string.
parameterColor	Color parameter for the property.

These tracks control render settings:

Common settings
Stems and leaves animation settings
Occlusion and global illumination settings
Refraction dispersion for red, green and blue channels
Motion blur settings
Light scattering settings
Volumetric shadows settings
DOF (depth of field) settings
Color correction settings

Render settings are applied to the screen image (i.e. all cameras both in the editor and in the game).

enabled	Enables or disabled rendering of the world into a screen buffer.
renderMaterials	Sets render postprocess materials for the screen.
postMaterials	Sets post postprocess materials for the screen.
fadeColor	Solid color to paint the screen over. It can be used to create smooth fade-in and fade-out effects.

These tracks control common sound settings. For individual sound sources, see sound source nodes.

enabled	Enables or disables sounds.
scale	Time scale for the played sounds. The default is 1 (no scaling). Higher scale sped up the playback; lower scale slows it down.
volume	Volume for all sounds. The value can be in range [0 ;1 ]. The higher the value (up to the maximum 1), the louder the sounds.
doppler	Doppler effect intensity. The default is 1.
adaptation	When the sound source is occluded (an obstacle appears between it and the player), Adaptation controls the speed of change between the clearly heard sound and the muffled one. By the minimum value of 0, the sound changes from clear to muffled one (and vice versa) instantly. By the maximum value of 1, the sound changes gradually over time.
volume0 - volume7	Volume for the specified sound channel. To what channel the sound (either a positional sound source or an ambient source) belongs is set in the Source mask per source.

These tracks can be used to create and edit cutscenes: switching between cameras, adding and changing postprocess effects. See tips how to create a cutscene.

enabled	Enables or disables the camera used in-game (when the editor is unloaded). When disabled, the played would not be updated.

Game Player Tracks

These tracks control the camera used in-game.

node	Allows to choose a player used to render the screen image.
fov	Field of view of the current in-game player.
znear	Distance to the near clipping plane (in units) of the current in-game player.
zfar	Distance to the camera far clipping plane (in units) of the current in-game player.
postMaterials	Post postprocess materials for the current in-game player.

These track allows for convenient mixing between different complex tracks (i.e. saved *.track files with a number of tracks inside).
For example, if there are saved tracks files that control day-night shift and tracks that contain weather conditions (windy, cloudy and rainy weather, loading them as track tracks allows to set the day time, while controlling the amount of wind, rain and cloudiness.

track	Loads the track file (with tracks inside). Time controls the time of contained tracks playback. For example, 0 time value means the start time for contained tracks (of course, if the time scale for them starts at 0). Time can also be used to slow down or speed up playback of tracks. Weight controls the weight of mixing tracks. It can be any value, because for calculating the final weight proportion is used. For example, to disable one track completely and enable another, simply set the weight of the first track to 0 and the second one to 1 (or any other positive value). Tracks with weights 1, 5 and 10, will be mixed in the following proportion: 1/16, 5/16 and 10/16.

track

Loads the track file (with tracks inside).

Time controls the time of contained tracks playback.
- For example, 0 time value means the start time for contained tracks (of course, if the time scale for them starts at 0).
- Time can also be used to slow down or speed up playback of tracks.
Weight controls the weight of mixing tracks. It can be any value, because for calculating the final weight proportion is used.
- For example, to disable one track completely and enable another, simply set the weight of the first track to 0 and the second one to 1 (or any other positive value).
- Tracks with weights 1, 5 and 10, will be mixed in the following proportion: 1/16, 5/16 and 10/16.

In This Article:

Node-Related Tracks

Common Node Parameters

Light Sources Tracks

Objects Tracks

Common Objects Parameters

Skinned Mesh Parameters

Particle System Parameters

Player Tracks

Persecutor Parameters

Sound Source Tracks

Material-Related Tracks

Property-Related Tracks

Render-Related Tracks

Sound-Related Tracks

Game-Related Tracks

Game Player Tracks

Track-Based Track