# Can Hoops Communicator be used to achieve pipeline flow effects

**URL:** <https://forum.techsoft3d.com/t/can-hoops-communicator-be-used-to-achieve-pipeline-flow-effects/1992>\
**Category:** HOOPS Visualize Web\
**Created:** [May 6, 2023, 6:00am UTC](https://forum.techsoft3d.com/t/can-hoops-communicator-be-used-to-achieve-pipeline-flow-effects/1992 "2023-05-06T06:00:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![619944680](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.techsoft3d.com/619944680/32/516_2.png) [@619944680](https://forum.techsoft3d.com/u/619944680)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2023, 6:00am UTC](https://forum.techsoft3d.com/t/can-hoops-communicator-be-used-to-achieve-pipeline-flow-effects/1992/1 "2023-05-06T06:00:49Z")

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![20210310222234178](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/techsoft3d/original/2X/a/a355fb45977e7f113e3edc0de8f6315a47a06f7e.gif)  
The flow effect shown in the above image.Can it be implemented using Hoops?  
Thanks.

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**Author:** ![guido](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.techsoft3d.com/guido/32/115_2.png) [@guido](https://forum.techsoft3d.com/u/guido)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://forum.techsoft3d.com/t/can-hoops-communicator-be-used-to-achieve-pipeline-flow-effects/1992/2 "2023-05-06T14:05:06Z")

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Hi,

as HOOPS Communicator currently does not support custom shaders (this feature is on our roadmap), you would instead have to manipulate the texture coordinates of the mesh representing this “pipe hull”. Basically you would pick an appropriate arrow texture with transparency and then for every animation frame adjust the texture coordinates of the mesh and then replace the existing mesh via the [replaceMesh](https://docs.techsoft3d.com/communicator/latest/api_ref/viewing/classes/Communicator.Model.html#Communicator.Communicator.Model.replaceMesh) function. Alternatively you could precompute the meshes and flip between them or just switch between different textures with the animation steps already precomputed/predrawn.

We are working on a spline utility library that will make it easy to define this type to curved tube mesh, which also comes with some animation capabilities mainly for flowlines but it is not using textures. For a sneak peek of that new toolkit please see here:  
[https://3dsandbox.techsoft3d.com/?snippet=8mzzhb7cowgrUlja2H7gpm&autorun=true](https://3dsandbox.techsoft3d.com/?snippet=8mzzhb7cowgrUlja2H7gpm&autorun=true)