Group with a Group node or a Null node in DAZ

iaunpom

Could someone tell me the differences between grouping objects, lights, cameras, etc., elements of the scene, under a group or null node. The only difference I've found is that with null you can make the crosshead invisible in the viewport or make the node invisible in the viewport, and the related elements are still visible. With a group node, if you make it invisible, the related elements become invisible.

Leana

Another useful feature of using nulls is that if you parent them to a null you can then use it to rotate all items around where the null is.

iaunpom

Leana said:

Another useful feature of using nulls is that if you parent them to a null you can then use it to rotate all items around where the null is.

Isn't it the same with parent  in a node group?

Leana

iaunpom said:

Leana said:

Another useful feature of using nulls is that if you parent them to a null you can then use it to rotate all items around where the null is.

Isn't it the same with parent  in a node group?

Yes, but IIRC you don't choose where the parent ends up when creating a group, DS automatically creates it. With a null you can decide where it is more easily.

Zicon

Groups have the advantage that visibility settings applied to the group also applies to every member in the group. Very useful for quickly toggling visibilty while working on different parts of the scene, or removing a whole set from dforce simulations. Groups can also be turned into lightweight placeholders with Placeholder Manager or used as a source for Ultrascatter.

And of course, there's nothing preventing you from using both: Group your items, then parent the group to a null.

Richard Haseltine

Cmd/ctrl clicking on the eye next to a Null will also hide all of its children.

iaunpom

Richard Haseltine said:

Cmd/ctrl clicking on the eye next to a Null will also hide all of its children.

They share that characteristic, but when null you can make it invisible by clicking on the eye without cmd/ctr the related elements are visible. If I do the same with a group node, the related elements are hidden in the viewport, without clicking cmd/ctr 

iaunpom

Leana said:

iaunpom said:

Leana said:

Another useful feature of using nulls is that if you parent them to a null you can then use it to rotate all items around where the null is.

Isn't it the same with parent  in a node group?

Yes, but IIRC you don't choose where the parent ends up when creating a group, DS automatically creates it. With a null you can decide where it is more easily.

I have not understood this explanation, is it an important feature? 

crosswind

Both of them have pros & cons...

- Null node cannot auto-parent the selected items to it, you have to manually parent them. Group node, as default, auto-parent items selected.

- If you Ctrl + Hide a Null Node, you still can individually unhide any sub-node of it. But if you hide a Group node, then any sub-node cannot be unhide individually.

- Transforms of a newly-created Group node will be recalculated when grouping items(s), while with default settings, a newly created Null node just locates at world center...

So, just use them as per your case and need.

Richard Haseltine

crosswind said:

Both of them have pros & cons...

- Null node cannot auto-parent the selected items to it, you have to manually parent them. Group node, as default, auto-parent items selected.

- If you Ctrl + Hide a Null Node, you still can individually unhide any sub-node of it. But if you hide a Group node, then any sub-node cannot be unhide individually.

and, as I was reminded, if you ctrl-click to unhide the Null all of its children will become visible, even if some were originally hidden.

- Transforms of a newly-created Group node will be recalculated when grouping items(s), while with default settings, a newly created Null node just locates at world center...

So, just use them as per your case and need.

crosswind

Richard Haseltine said:

crosswind said:

Both of them have pros & cons...

- Null node cannot auto-parent the selected items to it, you have to manually parent them. Group node, as default, auto-parent items selected.

- If you Ctrl + Hide a Null Node, you still can individually unhide any sub-node of it. But if you hide a Group node, then any sub-node cannot be unhide individually.

and, as I was reminded, if you ctrl-click to unhide the Null all of its children will become visible, even if some were originally hidden.

- Transforms of a newly-created Group node will be recalculated when grouping items(s), while with default settings, a newly created Null node just locates at world center...

So, just use them as per your case and need.

Yep, exactly ~ Group node doesn't have such a behavior ~

iaunpom

Thanks !