Tap

This feature was introduced in the “Artist Point” release

Replace and/or extract an individual channel from a composite datatype (such as Water or Material)

When to Use

There are often occasions when you need to modify just a single channel of a composite datatype. For example, you may have loaded a material from disk using the Material device, but want to tweak its colors before using it. Or you might want to access the Depth data of a water datatype.

In the example of a material above, you can use the Tap device to extract the diffuse channel from the Material for processing. Adding a second Tap device later in your network lets you splice in your modified diffuse, keeping the rest of the channels unchanged.

How to Use

You can use the Tap device to either extract or replace a channel from a composite type:

Extract

1. Connect the composite datatype into the primary input port.
2. Select the channel you wish to extract in the device settings
3. The channel you want is now available from the extraction port (2nd output)

Replace

1. Connect the composite datatype into the primary input port
2. Select the channel you wish to replace in the device settings
3. Connect the replacement channel into the Override port (2nd input)
4. The composite with your new data included in now available as the primary output

Ports

The Primary Input and Output should be a composite datatype. The output will always be the same as the input with possibly with one channel of your choice replaced as described above.

Parameters

Tap into channel: Select the channel you wish to expose for extraction or replacement. If the data connected to the device is not a composite datatype, no channel will be available in the list.

Tips and Tricks

• You may find it useful to use Tap devices in pairs, to allow you to extract, modify, and replace a particular data channel from the parent wire.
• World Machine will automatically add a Tap device if you attempt to connect a device into a composite wire.