One of the features that makes Octane so powerful is the ability to handle a very large number of instances. Generating instances is usually done via third party tools which generate scatter data that can be imported into Octane.
Octane 2020.2 adds the node Scatter in Volume which generates an arbitrary number of instances according to various patterns and distributes them through the volume of an object (figure 1).
Figure 1: Using the Scatter in Volume node to scatter cube instances inside a cube shape.
Scatter in Volume Parameters
Object Selection Method - The method for scattering the connected objects. The available scattering methods are Sequential, Random, and Selection Map.
Shape- Determines the shape to use for the scatter volume.
Orientation Priority - If the Up and Front Vector are not orthogonal, this parameter determines which one has priority.
Up Direction Mode - Selects between the use of a reference direction or a reference point. Reference point allows for finer (more localized) control over the orientation of the scatter objects.
Front Direction Mode - Selects between the use of a reference direction or a reference point for the front direction of the scattered objects.
Rotation Mode - Determines how the rotation parameters will affect the instanced geometry.
Scale Mode - Determines how the scale parameters will affect the instanced geometry.
Translation Mode - Determines how the translation parameters will affect the instanced geometry.
Scattered Object (1,2,3,4) - The objects to be scattered.
Object Selection Seed - Seed value used to randomize the selection of source objects.
Object Selection Map - The texture map used to associate each instance with a source object. This is only applicable when Selection Map is selected as the Object Selection Method.
Dimension X, Y, Z - Determines the number of instances along each dimension (x,y,z).
Offsets X, Y, Z - Determines the offset between the instances along each dimension (x,y,z).
Culling Map - Texture map used to associate each instance with a value to control culling where instances in darker areas are more likely to be culled.
Culling Min - All instances in areas of the map that have a value below this threshold are removed.
Culling Max - All instances in areas of the map that have a value above this threshold are removed.
Reference Up Point - When Up mode is set to Point, the reference up vector will point towards this location.
Reference Up Direction - This parameter provides an interactive sphere for determining the reference up direction.
Reference Front Point - When Front mode is set to Point, the reference front vector will point towards this location.
Rotation Min - Specifies the minimum rotation value for the instances.
Rotation Max - Specifies the maximum rotation value for the instances.
Rotation Step - When the Rotation mode is set to Random or Map and this parameter is non-zero, the values will be aliased to the nearest step.
Rotation Map - The texture map used to associate each instance with a factor to control rotation.
Scale Min - Specifies the minimum scale value for the instances.
Scale Max - Specifies the maximum scale value for the instances.
Scale Step - When the Scale mode is set to Random or Map and this parameter is non-zero, the values will be aliased to the nearest step.
Scale Map - The texture map used to associate each instance with a factor to control scale.
Translation Min - Specifies the minimum translation value for the instances.
Translation Max - Specifies the maximum translation value for the instances.
Translation Step - When the Translation mode is set to Random or Map and this parameter is non-zero, the values will be aliased to the nearest step.
Translation Map - The texture map used to associate each instance with a factor to control translation.