Parameter Reference

Every hand-authored parameter on the Advanced Velocity node, grouped the way it appears in the interface. Names in code are the internal parameter names.

Each velocity type also carries an identical Adjust and Mask pair, promoted from Houdini's Attribute Adjust nodes — not repeated here; see Adjust and Mask and the SideFX pages for the full reference.

Top level

Parameter	Name	Description
Group	group	Point group that receives the final velocity write. Points outside it keep the velocity they arrived with.
Mode	av_mode	Timed Events: the output is a sequence of baked events. Single Field: the setup is evaluated live and written straight to the output.

Events

Visible in Timed Events mode. See Timed Events for the workflow.

Parameter	Name	Description
At Frame	dyn_now	Live readout of which events are contributing at the current frame, and by how much.
Stale	dyn_recall_note	Warns when the live Setup no longer matches the event it was last based on.
(warning) Unplayable events	stale_bake_label	Appears when the input's point count no longer matches what an event baked against, so those events write zero. Fix with Utilities ▸ Re-bake All Events.
Record / Stop / Create Event	record_events, stop_events, create_event	Play the range for live marking; stop; bake the current setup into a new event at the current frame.
Copy Event	copy_event	Duplicate an existing event at the current frame, nothing re-baked.
Sort by Frame	dyn_sort_events	Reorder the event rows chronologically.
Solo / Mute	dyn_solo, dyn_mute	Play only / ignore the listed events. Space-separated numbers and ranges (1 3-5); the dropdowns add to the list.

Per event

Parameter	Name	Description
Name	ev_name#	Label for the event, shown on its tab and the timeline.
Event Frame	ev_frame#	The peak frame — Attack ramps into it, Release ramps out of it.
Captured	ev_summary#	What the event actually baked: types, point count, peak speed.
Event Options ▸ Track Motion	ev_track#	Re-aim the event's directional velocity at the pieces' predicted positions each frame. On by default, and what makes To Rest Pose work at all. Refuses when anything per-point (Adjust, Mask, Distance Falloff) sits between the field and the bake; Captured says so.
Event Options ▸ Create Rest Position Attribute	ev_rest_en#	Record this event's positions into a <name>_rest attribute for To Rest Pose.
Event Options ▸ Mute Gravity	ev_mute_grav#	Off / During Impulse (attack + hold) / Until Next Event / End. Off by default. The arrow button beside it propagates this event's setting to every other event. The third setting keeps gravity muted across the gap to the next event without holding the impulse on, so pieces coast instead of falling; on the last event it runs until that event stops contributing — to the end of the range when Release is off, since the envelope latches there. Mutes gravity for the whole solve, not just this event's pieces.
Event Options ▸ Stagger Points	ev_stagger#	Bring the points in one at a time across the event's window (Attack + Hold) instead of all at once. Off by default. Applied at playback, so it needs no re-bake. Waiting points hold in mid-air rather than falling.
Event Options ▸ Shape Distribution Ramp	ev_stagger_shape#	Reveal a ramp over the activation times.
Event Options ▸ Distribution	ev_stagger_ramp#	Left to right is each point's place in the shuffle, height is when it activates (0 = start of the window, 1 = end). Straight is an even spread.
Event Options ▸ Order	ev_stagger_order#	Who leads the cascade: Random, Strongest First (a shockwave out of a Point Source blast), Weakest First, Along Axis, or by piece size. Modes with nothing to measure fall back to Random.
Event Options ▸ Sweep Axis	ev_stagger_axis#	Direction of the Along Axis cascade — low end first. Negate to sweep the other way.
Timing	ev_timing#	Envelope: one Attack / Hold / Release around the Event Frame. Pulse: a train of grips distributed evenly across a range.
Range (F)	ev_pulse_range#	Pulse timing — the frames the train spans, starting at the Event Frame. Has its own Extend to Next + undo.
Pulse Count / Hold (F)	ev_pulse_count#, ev_pulse_hold#	How many grips tile the range; how long each counts as delivering energy (drives Injecting Now and Mute Gravity, anchored at each grip's peak).
Pattern / Curve	ev_pulse_pattern#, ev_pulse_curve#	Each grip's intensity: Hit (spike then decay), Build (ramp then cut, final grip holds), Wave (smooth swell). Curve eases Hit and Build.
Additional Exports ▸ Export Activation Age	out_age	Write @av_age: frames since a playing event last took hold of each point, −1 if never touched. Stagger- and pulse-aware — built for shading pickup glows. Timed Events only.
Additional Exports ▸ Export Trigger	out_trigger	Write @trigger: the magnitude the playing events are delivering this frame, with direction stripped away — for one event with no incoming base layer this is exactly length(@v). Follows Scale by Piece Size and Clamp Speed, and includes Event Strength but not Incoming Velocity. Events sum without cancellation, so two blasts pushing opposite ways read as a strong trigger even where @v cancels to zero. To use it in an RBD Bullet Solver you must list trigger in the solver's Overwrite Attributes field and remove v from it — otherwise the value never reaches the sim and your wrangle silently reads 0. See Exporting the trigger. Timed Events only.
Attack / Hold / Release	ev_atk#, ev_hold#, ev_rel#	Envelope phases in frames, each with its own enable checkbox, all on by default. Switch all three off to latch the event at full strength forever.
Extend to Next	ev_extend#	Set Hold so this event holds until the next event's Attack opens. Next is by frame, ignoring solo/mute. Refuses on the last event.
(undo, beside Extend to Next)	ev_extend_undo#	Put Hold back to what the last Extend to Next replaced. That setting only, one press deep; greyed until Extend has been used.
Attack / Release Curve	ev_atk_curve#, ev_rel_curve#	Ramp shape: Linear, Ease, Sharp, Snap, Soft.
Release Mode	ev_rel_mode#	Fade to Zero ramps out over the Release time; Drag decays at a rate, so thrown pieces visibly slow. The arrow button beside it propagates this event's mode to every other event.
Drag	ev_drag#	Decay per second, in Drag mode.
Recall / Update	ev_recall#, ev_update#	Load the event's setup back for editing / re-bake it from the live Setup.

Setup

Parameter	Name	Description
Fold / Unfold All	dyn_fold_setup	Collapse or expand the enabled velocity sections at once. Sections whose type is switched off are left closed — their controls are hidden anyway.
Clear Setup	dyn_clear_setup	Switch every velocity type in the live Setup off.

Every type's Adjust folder opens with the same row: Variation (variation1–6, five strengths), Randomize (randomize1–6, the dice), and Reset (reset_variation1–6).

Basic Velocity

Parameter	Name	Description
Add Basic Velocity	add_basic_vel	Header checkbox. One fixed vector applied to every point.
Value	value1v	The velocity vector, in units per second.

Directional Velocity

Parameter	Name	Description
Add Directional Velocity	add_directional_vel	Header checkbox.
Direction	direction_source	To Position (the default), SOP Path, Use Second Input, or To Rest Pose.
Create Point	dir_create_point	Second Input mode — builds an Add SOP with one point above the mesh and wires it in.
SOP Path	dir_vel_sop_path	The SOP whose geometry is the target.
Target Group	dir_target_group	Which part of the target the centre is computed from. A single point number aims at exactly that point.
Group Type	dir_target_grouptype	What kind of element the Target Group names (default Points, so a bare number means a point).
Method	method	How a single position is derived: Center of Mass, Bounding Box Center, Convex Hull Center.
Rest Pose Attribute / Strength	rest_attrib, rest_strength	To Rest Pose mode — which rest pose to aim at, and how fast.
Target Position	dir_target_pos	To Position mode — the world position to aim at.
Toward / Around / Away	dir_aim_toward, dir_aim_around, dir_aim_away	Snap Direction Bias to +1 / 0 / −1.
Direction Bias	dir_bias	The continuum: +1 at the target, 0 pure orbit, −1 straight away; in between spirals. Speed blends from orbital radius to full distance.
Orbit Axis	dir_orbit_axis_mode	Toward Target (moving the target tilts the spin) or Custom Vector.
Custom Axis	dir_orbit_axis	The fixed world axle direction, in Custom Vector mode.
Normalize Direction	dir_normalize	Unit-length direction, so distance no longer affects speed.
Distance Falloff	dir_falloff_enable, dir_falloff_min, dir_falloff_max, dir_falloff_ramp	Fade the velocity with distance to the target (from the axle when orbiting).

Exploding Velocity

Parameter	Name	Description
Add Exploding Velocity	add_exploding_vel	Header checkbox.
Origin	exp_origin	Whole Object, or Point Source.
Method	exp_vel_method	Whole Object — Centroid or Medial Axis.
Move Centroid	t	Whole Object — offsets the centre the burst radiates from.
Direction	exp_direction	Point Source — Off Surface (default), Outward, Inward, or Both (split thin objects).
Place Source	exp_pick	Enters the viewport placement state.
Source Position	exp_source_pos	The world-space blast origin, drawn with a radius sphere.
Depth Scroll Step	exp_pick_depth_step	How far one Shift + scroll notch pushes the source during placement. A plain scroll scales the Radius instead.
Falloff Radius	exp_radius	Blast reach, measured to each piece's real bounds.
Strength	exp_strength	Peak speed at the source, in units per second.
Never Push Into Surface	exp_clamp_outward	Mirror any velocity heading back into the body. Hidden in the modes that already leave it.
Falloff	exp_falloff	Multiplier across the blast — left is the source, right is the radius edge.
Show Affected Pieces / Affected Color	exp_show_affected, exp_viz_ramp	Highlight the pieces the blast will move, normalized to the strongest one. Drawn in the viewport only — nothing is written to the output.

Velocity from Motion

Parameter	Name	Description
Add Motion Velocity	add_inherited_vel	Header checkbox. Velocity from the input's frame-to-frame movement.
Velocity Scale	inherited_scale	Multiplier on the derived velocity.

Curl Noise Velocity

Parameter	Name	Description
Add Curl Velocity	add_curl_vel	Header checkbox. A divergence-free turbulent field.
Frequency / Amplitude	curl_freq, curl_amp	Vortex size and speed.
Reverse Direction	curl_reverse	Every swirl runs the other way.
Offset	curl_offset	Shifts the field — vary for a different swirl pattern.
Evolution Speed	curl_evolve	How fast the field churns over time. 0 holds it static.
Octaves / Roughness / Lacunarity	curl_octaves, curl_rough, curl_lacunarity	Fractal detail controls.

Angular Velocity

Parameter	Name	Description
Add Angular Velocity (@w)	add_angular_vel	Header checkbox. Writes @w.
Source	angular_source	Constant, or Inherited from Motion (needs a point orient on the input).
Angular Velocity Value	angular_vel	The spin axis and magnitude, radians per second.

Velocity Mixer

Parameter	Name	Description
Event Strength	evmix_amount#	Timed Events only — one slider per event, named live after it. Scales that whole event across the whole range, applied at playback (never makes the event stale). The Gains below balance the types inside an event; these balance the events against each other. Does not close Injecting Now / Mute Gravity — use Mute for that.
Mixer Mode	mixer_mode	Additive, or Weighted (Normalized).
Incoming Velocity	add_input_vel, input_amount	Feed the velocity already on the geometry in as another stream (on by default), and how much of it. In Timed Events it plays as a live base layer under the events.
Gains	gain_basic, gain_dir, gain_exp, gain_inherited, gain_curl	Additive — per-type multipliers before the sum.
Weights	weight_basic, weight_dir, weight_exp, weight_inherited, weight_curl	Weighted — blend weights, normalized against each other.
Master Speed	out_master_scale	Overall multiplier on the final combined velocity, both modes.

Output

Parameter	Name	Description
Combine Into Attribute	out_combine	Write the mixed result to the output attribute. On by default.
Muting Gravity	dyn_mute_gravity	Live 0/1 — 1 while any playing event is inside its Mute Gravity window. Drive a solver's gravity force from it. Always 0 in Single Field.
Create Connected RBD Sim	make_rbd_sim	Build an RBD Bullet Solver below the node, already gated on Injecting Now and Muting Gravity.
Output As	out_as	Velocity (@v) — set directly, what RBD reads — or Force (@force) — accumulated by POP and Vellum.
Velocity Attribute / Force Attribute	out_attrib_name, out_force_name	The written attribute name; only the field for the current Output As mode is shown, and both names are kept.
Injecting Now	dyn_injecting	Live 0/1: an event is delivering energy right now. Gate an RBD solver's Overwrite Attributes list on it — see Driving an RBD solver. This is the v workflow specifically; driving the solve from Export Trigger instead means listing trigger in that same field and not v, never both.
Clamp Speed	out_clamp, out_clamp_min, out_clamp_max	Clamp the final speed into a range.

Ballistic Motion (output 2)

Parameter	Name	Description
Add Ballistic Motion	ballistic_enable	Header checkbox, on by default. Output 2 delivers the pieces advanced along the authored velocity — no solver. Output 1 is untouched; with the toggle off, output 2 is empty.
Include Rotation	ballistic_spin	Fold baked @w into each packed piece's transform, so the pieces tumble as they fly.
Display Offset	ballistic_offset	Slide the flying pieces sideways, in multiples of the object's width — an exploded-view shift, recorded as jv_preview_shift.
Return to Home	ballistic_return	0 = full flight, 1 = every piece back at exactly its input position. Keyframe it for a reassembly; the landing at 1 is exact by construction.
Return Shaping ▸ Return Profile	ballistic_return_ramp	Ramp over the return blend, for easing the approach.
Return Shaping ▸ Stagger / Return Order	ballistic_return_stagger, ballistic_return_order	Give each piece its own return window; Order picks who leads — Random, Nearest First, Farthest First. Everyone is home by 1.
Return Shaping ▸ Arc / Swirl / Swirl Axis	ballistic_arc, ballistic_swirl, ballistic_swirl_axis	Bow each return path sideways; Swirl blends the arcs toward a shared rotation about the axis — a vortex funnelling home.
Return Shaping ▸ Extra Turns / Seed	ballistic_turns, ballistic_arc_seed	Whole extra loops on the unwind (invisible at both ends), and the re-roll for the per-piece arc directions.
Return Shaping ▸ Show on Preview Ghost	ballistic_preview	Let the motion-preview ghost follow Return to Home too.
Return Shaping ▸ Return Paths	viz_arc, viz_arc_color	Draw each piece's route home as a guide curve — sampled from the same curve the blend walks.
Create Ballistic Return	make_ballistic_return	Builds a Ballistic Return node below this one — the same return, applied to a real simulation instead of the prediction.
Scale by Piece Size	out_piece_scale, out_piece_influence	Big chunks fly slower. Mass from a point mass attribute or the piece's size; Influence blends from uniform (0) to full inverse mass (1).
Additional Exports	out_basic, out_dir, out_exp, out_inherited, out_curl	Collapsed section — keep a sub-velocity on the output under its own name. In Timed Events the export carries the playing events' contribution (events baked before per-type storage need Update). Everything else is stripped.
Export Rest Position Attributes	output_rest	In Additional Exports — keep startframe_rest and every event's <name>_rest on the output, for reassembly or retargeting downstream.

Ballistic Return (the sidecar node)

Ballistic Motion returns the pieces home from a prediction. Often what you actually want is to reassemble a finished simulation — that has to happen downstream of the solver, on a node of its own. That node is Ballistic Return, and it ships in the same file: press Create Ballistic Return, or grab it from the JV tab menu.

It wires itself up: input 1 takes the simulated pieces (the RBD solver below your Advanced Velocity node, if there is one), input 2 takes the rest pose (Advanced Velocity's own first output — the geometry before anything moved it). Keyframe Return to Home from 0 to 1 and the pieces fly back together.

The landing is always exact because the blend's endpoint is absolute: at Return 1 the result is the rest pose, whatever the simulation was doing underneath, since the target isn't relative to the motion it replaces. Nothing is snapshotted either, so re-simulating upstream can never leave this node stale. Pieces are matched by point number, which a Bullet solve preserves.

Parameter	Name	Description
Return to Home	ballistic_return	0 leaves the sim alone, 1 puts every piece back at exactly its rest position and orientation. Keyframe this.
Rest Attribute	ballistic_rest_attrib	Which pose to return to. Empty uses the second input's positions — the usual case. Name a vector point attribute on the first input instead (that is what Export Rest Position Attributes writes) and the pieces return to that captured pose.
Include Rotation	ballistic_spin	Also unwind each packed piece's orientation. Reads the rest transforms from the second input, so keep it wired; only does anything on packed geometry.
Return Shaping	(same names as above)	Return Profile, Stagger, Return Order, Arc, Swirl, Swirl Axis, Extra Turns, Seed and Return Paths — identical to the Ballistic Motion folder.

If your input mesh is animated, the second input's positions have moved on by the time the return happens, so "home" is a moving target. That's what Rest Attribute is for — turn on Export Rest Position Attributes upstream and return to startframe_rest (or any event's captured pose) instead. On a static mesh, leave the field empty.

Visualization

Parameter	Name	Description
(top right, icon) Reset Visualization	viz_reset	Put every control on this tab back to its default. Guide Density is re-picked from the current input rather than left at 1.0.
Show Guides	viz_guides	Master switch for all velocity guides.
Guide Global Scale	viz_scale	Length multiplier for all guide trails.
Normalize Guide Length	viz_normalize, viz_normalize_amt	Blends every trail toward one uniform length — the joined 0-1 slider controls how much. At 1, every guide draws at exactly Guide Global Scale length; directions never change, and the output is untouched.
Guide Density	viz_density	Fraction of trails actually drawn, for viewport speed. Picked for you the first time geometry is connected to a fresh node, aiming at roughly 500 trails; after that it is yours and is never changed again. On dense inputs the trails also auto-cap at the Visualization Limit; Density scales within that budget.
Arc Density	viz_arc_density	Fraction of the Return to Home arc paths drawn, independent of Guide Density. The Visualization Limit still applies on top.
Enforce Visualization Limit	viz_limit_enable, viz_limit	Point budget (default 100,000) capping how many guide trails are drawn. Raise it or switch it off to draw everything regardless of cost. Guide trails only — Preview Motion is not affected.

The next two groups appear in Timed Events only.

Parameter	Name	Description
Timed Events ▸ Source	dyn_guide_source	Which stream the guides draw: Setup, Events, or Both.
Timed Events ▸ Preview Motion	dyn_preview, dyn_preview_ghost, dyn_ghost_color	Advance the baked guides to the predicted positions, with an optional ghost of the pieces. Off by default — the most expensive control here: the ghost redraws your pieces on every refresh, which slows scrubbing and parm edits on heavy or textured objects.
Timed Events ▸ Ghost Style	dyn_ghost_style	How the ghost draws: Full Wireframe (default), Bounding Boxes (one wire box per piece, cheap at any density), or Points. Drop to Bounding Boxes or Points on heavy input.
Timed Events ▸ Offset	dyn_preview_offset	Slide the preview sideways, in multiples of the object's width.
Timed Events ▸ Unify Baked Guides	viz_baked_yellow, viz_baked_tint	Draw every baked-event guide in one colour instead of per-type colours.
Timeline HUD ▸ Event Timeline / Scheme	viz_timeline, viz_timeline_scheme	The on-screen frame ruler with a marker per event; Dark or Light palette. Drawn by the viewer state rather than as guide geometry, so Show Guides and the Visualization Limit do not affect it.

Parameter	Name	Description
Per-type rows	viz_input, viz_basic, viz_dir, viz_exp, viz_inherited, viz_curl, viz_angular + _color + _scale	A toggle, colour and extra scale per stream, incoming velocity included.

Utilities

Parameter	Name	Description
Output Guides Only (No Geometry)	out_guides_only	Output the guide curves instead of the geometry — for rendering the guides as their own pass. In Timed Events it always emits the baked event trails, ignoring Show Guides and Source (so the pass can't be empty), and respects Preview Motion — on, the trails follow the predicted motion; off, they sit at rest. The ghost never enters the pass.
Restore Viewport HUD	util_restore_hud	Re-enter the node's viewer state, bringing the event timeline back after an asset refresh.
Re-bake All Events	rebake_events	Repair every event after the input's point count changed (a re-fracture, deleted geometry, a different scatter). Each event is replayed against its own stored snapshot at its own frame, so timings and settings survive — unlike pressing Update on each row, which re-bakes from the live Setup.
Copy Events	copy_events	Copy this node's entire event set — baked fields included — to a disk clipboard that survives a Houdini restart.
Paste Events	paste_events	Replace the target node's events with the clipboard's, byte for byte. Asks for confirmation if the destination already has events. Pasted bakes belong to the setup that made them, so pasting onto a different input point count leaves them stale — fix with Re-bake All Events.
Links	gumroad, docs, discord, youtube	This documentation, the store page, and the community.

About

Parameter	Name	Description
Current Version	version2	The product version installed. The node checks for updates when you press its action buttons and tells you when a newer one is on Gumroad.