Timeshift

The Ultimate Houdini node reference

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Timeshift

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Most operators in Houdini access data at the current time. The Time Shift node lets us access an animation or simulation at a different time. This can be based on the current time (10 frames early or 10 frames later) or chosen entirely separately. For example, if we know an explosion goes off at frame 120, we can choose times or frames based on our knowledge of a sim or performance.
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General Parameters:

Method:

--  If we are accessing a different moment than the current frame and time in houdini, we need to decide how we access that different moment. Frame is one method, and time (which is accessible as frame = time * frames per second) is another. If that’s confusing, don’t worry, frame is…well…frame!

Frame:

--  As a number (with decimal places), what frame data would we like to access? Rather than move the playhead frame number at the bottom of the houdini UI, we can choose here, with this parameter on this node.

Integer Frame:

--  If we get a subframe value while calculating the frame, should we use the decimals or round to whole numbers? This toggle rounds to whole numbers if enabled.

Time:

--  If we decide to use the Method of Time rather than Frame, here we can specify the time as a number with decimal places. 1.00 for example, is 1 second, which, if we are 24 frames per second, is frame 24.

Clamp:

--  This lets us set a limit of what range to choose, which is particularly valuable if we are using expressions or other procedural methods to access time. Basically, this is like a safety limit. If something in our network says ‘use 0’ and our limit is ‘1’, the clamp enables us to use ‘1’.

Start/End:

--  If we do enable Clamp options above, we’ll need to specify the minimum and/or maximum time or frame settings to use. These frame/time values will be used to perform clamping.