Length-based texture for color mapping curves based on their length?

Question

I am trying to colour curves of different lengths according to their length (ie short curves red, long curves blue). Here is my best attempt but it's really not what I am trying for. I need one solid colour per curve that denotes its length. (ie the length of the path if it were straightened out)

And here are the nodes for setting up my attempt.

I've searched extensively and have found a number of somewhat similar questions but mostly focused on scaling colour based on position. I expect there is an easy solution to this and I am just not using the right terminology in my searches.

Answer 1

Animation nodes can measure the length of a curve. The length can be passed to a shader node and used to set the color. The image below shows an animation where the curve color changes with the increase in length of the curve.

Details for Blender 2.93.4 + Animation Nodes 2.2

1. Download and install Animation Nodes 2.2 - see Animation Node Website
2. Add a curve to the scene
3. Create an animation nodes diagram like below. This node network will measure the curve length and assign a color to the viewport color. The viewport color will be used to get the color information to the shader.
4. Create a shader node like the one shown below for the curves. The color information from animation nodes color output is brought in through the 'Object Info' (viewport) color port.
5. Now as the curve is edited or modified, animation nodes will recalculate the curve length and update the color.

An example file for Blender 2.93.4 and Animation Nodes 2.2 is located here -