Shortest Path v1.3.0

Summary

Shortest Path computes the optimal paths between Start Point Group and End Point Group on the path geometry input. The start and end groups reference the path geometry by default. If an Alternate Start/End Point Locations input is connected, the groups are referenced from that input and the solver finds the closest points on the path geometry to those locations, tagging them as start and end points accordingly. Neighbor connectivity can be determined by spatial distance or mesh connectivity, with an optional Cost Attribute to weight traversal costs for more controlled pathfinding.

The solver outputs Line Strips Paths and Path Geometry. Visualization tools allow coloring individual paths, highlighting start/end points, and displaying cost attributes. Use Lock Alternate Start/End Point Locations to freeze path endpoints and avoid recomputation when upstream geometry changes.

Parameters

Page: Shortest Path

Start Point Group Startgroup – Group defining the start points for pathfinding. Sourced from path geometry, or nearest path points to alternate input if connected.
End Point Group Endgroup – Group defining the end points for pathfinding. Sourced from path geometry, or nearest path points to alternate input if connected.
Cost Attribute Costattrib – Point attribute used as traversal cost weight for pathfinding.
Iterations Iterations – Number of solver iterations for path computation.
Neighbors Type Nebrtype – – Method for determining point connectivity.
By Distance distance
Connected connected
Max Neighbors Distance Maxdistance – Maximum search distance for neighbor connections. Enabled when Neighbors Type is By Distance.
Num Hash Buckets Numhashbuckets – Number of hash buckets for spatial neighbor lookups. Enabled when Neighbors Type is By Distance.
Max Neighbors Maxneighbors – Maximum number of neighbors per point.
Display Line Strips Paths Displaylinestrips – Displays the computed paths as line strips in the viewport.
Display Path Geometry Displaygeo – Displays the path geometry in the viewport.
Visualize Paths Visualizepaths – Colors each path with a unique color for identification.
Visualization Seed Visualizationseed – Random seed for visualization colors.
Visualize Start/End Points Visualizestartend – Highlights start and end points in the viewport.
Visualize Cost Visualizecost – Visualizes the cost attribute as a color gradient.
Lock Alternate Start/End Point Locations Lockalternate – Locks alternate start and end point locations to prevent recomputation.
Maximum Number of Paths Maxpaths – Maximum number of paths to compute.
Maximum Number of Vertices Maxverts – Maximum number of vertices across all paths.
Copy Topology Info Back to CPU Cpureadback – Copies path topology information back to CPU for downstream processing.

Page: Common

Free Extra GPU Memory Freeextragpumem – Free memory that has accumulated when output memory has grown and shrunk.

Inputs

Input 0 POP – Path Geometry
Input 1 POP – Alternate Start/End Point Locations

Outputs

Output 0 POP – Line Strips Paths
Output 1 POP – Path Geometry