Reference/Release Notes/3.4/Nodes Physics

= Geometry Nodes =

Viewer Node

 * The Viewer Node now has the ability to preview geometry and attributes in the viewport as well as the spreadsheet.
 * When a field is linked to the second input of the viewer node it is displayed as an overlay in the viewport.
 * A viewer node is activated by clicking on it.
 * The attribute overlay opacity can be controlled with the "Viewer Node" setting in the overlays popover.
 * A viewport can be configured not to show intermediate viewer-geometry by disabling the "Viewer Node" option in the "View" menu.
 * Viewer nodes now have a domain dropdown. It determines which domain the field will be evaluated on.

General

 * The Self Object retrieves the current modifier object for retrieving transforms.
 * The Transfer Attribute node has been removed and split into multiple more specific nodes.
 * The Sample Index node retrieves data from specific geometry elements by index.
 * The Sample Nearest node retrieves the indices from the closest geometry elements
 * The Sample Nearest Surface node interpolates a field input to the closest location on a mesh surface.

Meshes

 * The new Face Set Boundaries node finds the edges between different patches of faces.
 * Access to mesh topology information has been improved, with new nodes and other changes.
 * Corners of Face Retrieves corners that make up a face.
 * Corners of Vertex Retrieves face corners connected to vertices.
 * Edges of Corner Retrieves the edges on boths sides of a face corner.
 * Edges of Vertex Retrieves the edges connected to each vertex.
 * Face of Corner Retrieves the face each face corner is part of.
 * Offset Corner in Face Retrieves neighboring corners within a face.
 * Vertex of Corner Retrieves the vertex each face corner is attached to.
 * The Edge Vertices node now has an index input so it can be more easily combined with the other nodes.
 * The new Sample UV Surface node allows getting an attribute value based on a UV coordinate.

Curves

 * The Trim Curves node now supports cyclic curves.
 * New nodes give access to topology information about the mapping between curves and points.
 * Curve of Point Retrieves the curve a control point is part of.
 * Points of Curve Retrieves a point index within a curve.
 * Offset Point in Curve Offset a control point index within its curve (, ).
 * The Set Curve Normal allows choosing the normal evaluation mode for curves.
 * The Sample Curve node now has inputs for the curve index and a custom value to sample.

Volumes

 * The Distribute Points in Volume node creates points inside of volume grids.

Instances

 * Attributes of instances created via geometry nodes are now accessible from materials through the Instancer mode of the Attribute node.

Performance

 * Geometry nodes has a new evaluation system.
 * The evaluator can provide better performance when many complex node groups are used.
 * Performance can be increased when there are very many small nodes.
 * The Trim Curves node has been ported to the new data-block and can be 3-4 times faster than in 3.2 or 3.3.
 * Mesh and curve domain interpolation can be skipped for single values.

Assets

 * Node group assets are visible in the add menus of the node editor.

User Interface

 * Show data-block use count in the Context Path and Group node header.




 * Node links have been tweaked to make them fit better with the overall look of the node editor.
 * Link curving has been adjusted to make vertical links look better.
 * Input sockets are reused when creating new node groups.

Duplicate Linked

 * Duplicate Linked operator and user Preference option for Node Tree data duplication.