2024
 
1.0

Example - Monitor Screens

WIP
Last modified: 10 March 2025

A project requires you to have monitor screens showing different images. Using Instancing means it is simple to have a large quantity of monitor screens, but showing different images?

Instancing_screens_01_1.jpg

In order to show different images we will need to use the Node Editor for texturing. First we will create a Gradient with several entries. You do not need to change anything about these entries except to toggle Show Output on each key, change the Smoothing to Step and the Post Behavior to Repeat.

Instancing_screens_02_1.png

How many keys depends on how many different images you have. We are using four for this example, so we add five keys - one for each image and one for the repeat. This last one does not need its output shown.

Instancing_screens_03_1.png

Use a 2D Texture > Image node for each of your images and a Spot > Instance Info node. Put the ID Index output from Instance Info as the Input for the gradient and load an image into each Image node and send its Color output to appropriate Key Color node on the gradient. You can also use the Fixed Random output from Instance Info, but then you need to be sure the keys on your gradient are at integer values. You can of course use image sequences instead of still images to have a set of television screen in a department store, for example.

Instancing_screens_04_1.png