Inputs

Color

Here you can input color values into the Node. These will simply be passed through and will be output unmodified at that Passthrough output. If the Write to Console option is enabled, the color value of the Color setting can also be read out in the Console.

String

Normal text or Tokens (in curly brackets) can be entered here. Each Token represents a piece of information about the current object or rendering and can output its information to the Cinema 4D Console if the Write to Console option is enabled.

Write to Console

This option enables the output of information that is entered in the text field or of the Token therein in the Console.

 Tokens

All Tokens that the Debug Node can evaluate will be listed here. Don’t forget to put the Token between curly brackets.

 Object

The following Tokens are available in the Object category:

• {issecond}: If a four-sided polygon is being calculated, a positive Boole signal (1 or TRUE) will be output for this Token when the current sample point lies on the second triangle. Otherwise 0 or FALSE will be output.
• {material}: The name of the material at the current sample point.
• {matrix}: The world-space matrix of the object at the current sample point.
• {name}: The name of the object at the current sample point.
• {objectindex}: Each object within the scene is assigned a unique number that can be output for the object at the current sample point.
• {objectposition}: The position of the object at the current sample point. This information also corresponds with the first vector of the object matrix.
• {polygonid}: This is the index of the polygon at the current sample point..
• {subpolygonid}: This is the index of the sub-polygon at the current sample point that was created for rendering using the Sub-Polygon Displacement function.

 Ray

These are the Tokens from the Ray category. Rays refers to the render ray that, for example, is emitted from the camera in the direction of an object surface point, is reflected into the scene from a reflection or is diverted by a refraction.

• {ior}: This is the refraction index of the material at the object surface point currently being calculated.
• {raydepth}: Whenever a ray is reflected or passes through a transparent surface, the internal count will increase for the ray depth until the limit defined in the Render Settings is reached. This Token outputs the ray depth at the current sample point.
• {raydirection}: This is the direction vector of the current ray.
• {rayorigin}: This is the origin of the current ray. This can, for example, be the position of the active render camera or, for a reflection, a position on the object’s surface.
• {raytype}: This Token outputs information about the type of ray currently being calculated. It can, for example, be a ray for calculating the primary visibility, Global Illumination, reflection, transparency, refraction or a volumetric effect.

 Sample

The Sample Token category contains information about object surface Normals or UVW coordinates:

• {geometrynormal}: This is the surface Normal as it lies on the polygon. No interpolation or smoothing of the Normal direction will take place.

These are the surface Normals that are generated based on the position of the surface polygon. No interpolation or smoothing will take place in the Normals’s direction.

• {originalnormal}: This can be the surface Normal smoothed using a Normal or Phong tag before the material properties are added for the Normals.
• {position}: This Token contains the current position on the surface that is being calculated.
• {phongnormal}: This is the surface Normal as it will be used for rendering. The material’s and, for example, the Phong tag effect will be included.
• {uvw}: Here you will find the UVW coordinates of the position currently being rendered.

 Scene

The Scene category contains information about the location to which the current scene is saved and about the name of the active project.

• {path}: This is the file path for the active Cinema 4D project.
• {project}: This Token can be used to output the name of the active Cinema 4D project in the Console.

 Screen

The Screen category lets you output the currently calculated pixel position and the render resolution being used, among other things.

• {pixel}: This is the pixel coordinate. at the current sample position.
• {resolution}: This is the render resolution being used.
• {subpixel}: Since individual sections within a pixel are also sampled during image sampling and antialiasing calculation, these sub-pixels can also be output.

 Time

The Time category contains information about the current time within the animation being rendered as well as the system time.

• {fps}: This Token can be used to query the defined number of frames per second.
• {frame}: This is the number of the animation frame currently being rendered.
• {time}: This Token outputs the currently rendered animation time in seconds. The same value can also be ascertained by dividing the current frame number with the fps value.
• {timestamp}: This Token outputs. the system time in the format YEAR/MONTH/DAY HOUR:MINUTE:SECOND.

 Screen Bounds (Pixels)

The Screen Bounds (Pixels) category’s settings restrict the area of rendering within which the node will output data to the console. Otherwise the flood of data during rendering would simply be too large. It is recommended to restrict the screen bounds to the smallest possible area which contains the desired data, i.e. just a few pixels.

X [-2147483648..2147483647]
Y [-2147483648..2147483647]

Here you can define the pixel position of the top-left corner of a rectangular region for rendering for which the Debug Node ascertains data and can be output in the Console.

Width [-2147483648..2147483647]
Height [-2147483648..2147483647]

These values are measured in pixels and define the rectangle’s width and height for which the Debug Node should be activated.

Condition

This option enables the execution of the Node. If the Debug Node then in fact ascertains outputs depends on the area defined by the Screen Bounds (Pixels) setting.