Connection Questions

[mcarriere]

Just a small piece of feedback, it wasn't immediately obvious how I should set up a connection between two points, and the UI for the FollowUp/Head To documentation leaves a little to be desired in understanding how it all works.

I understand that if I sync position/rotation between the connections, it will ensure all connections share such data. 

What I don't understand is what the FollowUp node does -- can you try to explain a few use cases why I'd want the FollowUp node to point the start or end of a spline? Could you describe what happens when the option is set to auto, or not set at all?

Finally, what's the benefit of not specifying a followup node for a connection?

(Thanks! Pretty impressed with everything so far.)

[mcarriere]

Any chance I could get a reply on this?

[Jake]

Any chance I could get a reply on this?

Sure!

In general, Connections are independent from curves math, i.e. they aren't used to determine curvation. If you use Catmull or TCB interpolation, a segment's curvation is not only defined by the two CPs forming the segment, but from 4 CPs instead. Now, defining a FollowUp direction gives the curve segment the information which CPs to use in it's formula.

Example: Say you have a big "T" formed by two splines. You have a single connection where the | meets the top line (- of the T). If you set no FollowUp, you'll get a hard edge, if you set one you'll get the | either bend to the left or the right, depending on direction.

Does that make sense?