Circular Pattern Generator X1 2D


  • Where to find it:


    • Add Procedural Layer / Procedural / Extension Pack / Generators


    • NodeGraph / Right Mouse Click / Add Nodes / Procedurals / Extension Pack / Generators

This Node is also available as a Triplanar Version





The Circular Pattern Generator allows you to create complex patterns using either an Input Image or a procedural Pattern.



Video



Pattern Engine


Pattern Engine Overview


This Node is part of a collection of Nodes making up the Pattern Engine:


Node Overview


Node Ports
  • Output

The Default Output


  • Pattern UVs

Outputs the UV coordinates of the cells

Additional Information such as pattern rotation is encoded in the Blue and Alpha channel that might make this output appear transparent. The UV information is unaffected.


Example of using the Pattern UVs with an image Node




  • Pattern Index

Outputs a R,G,B packed Index



    • R - Cell Index


Outputs a unique value per cell


       


    • G - Ring Index


Outputs a unique value per ring



    • B - Pattern Index


Outputs a unique value per angle inside the circle.

       The value will be identical per angle across all rings, but unique per slice of the circle.





  • Pattern Manifold

Outputs Manifold Data from the node that can be used to drive other nodes.


A simple example of a Pattern Generator Node driving another node via the Manifold Output

In the below example a HDRI is placed inside the Image Node. 
You can see how the Manifold Data forces a radial image, resampling each cell of the Pattern Generator with

a value from a row of the HDRI



  • Bake Point Image

The Bake Point Image Port allows you to feed data into the Node from upstream nodes that have been baked via a bake point into the Node.

When the node is evaluated, the Bake Point attached to the Port will be sampled and the UDIM 1001 Image will be transferred into

the Image Attribute of the Node.


This allows you to create patterns and textures via a nodegraph and use them directly inside this node with an element of non-destructivness


Example of using a Nodegraph and a Bake Point to dynamically feed a Pattern Generator Node with Node Inputs


  • Pattern Mask

Outputs the pure pattern result as a mask without the Background Color applied


  • Pattern Random

Outputs the random signal used inside the node to randomize elements


  • Manifold UV

Allows you to overwrite the UV Settings of the Node with a manifold node


  • Pattern Specific 1

An option to change the look of the generated Pattern. Varies based on Patttern. Overwrites Pattern Specific 1 Slider (Pattern Group) if mapped,.


  • Pattern Specific 2

An option to change the look of the generated Pattern. Varies based on Patttern. Overwrites Pattern Specific 2 Slider (Pattern Group) if mapped,.


  • Edge Falloff

Allows you to overwrite the Edge Falloff Attribute in the Pattern Group



  • Edge Softness

Allows you to overwrite the Edge Softness Attribute (Pattern Group) with a Node Connection


  • Edge Roundness

Allows you to overwrite the Edge Roundness (Pattern Group) Attribute with a Node Connection

Any value fed in through the Edge Ports on the Node is still multiplied

against the corresponding Edge Slider  in the Texture Groups of the Node.




  • Opacity

Allows changing the opacity of the Pattern with a Node Input.


Can be controlled via the Opacity Intensity Slider in the Color Group.



  • Background

Allows for setting a Pattern Background. Fill Background needs to be turned on in the Color Group




Node Properties


MAIN TAB


  • Seed

A value to randomize certain elements.

Some examples of randomization are Random Spread, Random Spacing etc.



  • Pattern Amount

The absolute number of cells per ring



  • Ring Amount

The absolute number of Rings to generate



  • Repeat

The number of times to repeat the pattern. This is a very simple tiling operation and does not affect performance.



  • Repeat U

The number of times to repeat the pattern horizontally. This gets multiplied with the Repeat and is a very simple tiling operation and does not affect performance.


  • Repeat V

The number of times to repeat the pattern vertically. This gets multiplied with the Repeat and is a very simple tiling operation and does not affect performance.



The Ring Control Groups allows you to modify rings separately in order to not have the exact same amount of cells per ring.


  • Pattern Amount Offset

A value to add or subtract from the Pattern Amount. This is basically the same as changing the Amount.



  • Pattern Amount Offset per Ring

A value to add or subtract from the Pattern Amount per ring. This can help to have a less crowded appeareance to patterns in the center of the pattern.



  • Add | Subtract Ring Amount

Subtracts the unique number of a ring from the Pattern Amount.

The final pattern amount for each ring is then


PatternAmount + (ring Number * Add|Subtract Ring Amount)


  • Implicit per Ring Amounts


If on, the "Pattern Amount" in the "amount" group is ignored and each ring uses the fixed Amounts specified in the per-ring field (see below).

Pattern Amount offset and Add | Subtract Ring Amount are still evaluated


Example of implicit Pattern Amounts for different rings




  • Ring 1 / 2 / /3 / /4 etc.


The Pattern Amount for the specific Ring Numbers to use, if Implicit per Ring Amount checkbox is on


  • Pattern

Determines what pattern is used to fill each cell.

Options are


    • A File Texture (Input Image)


Supply a Texture in the Input Image Section



    • One of 23 procedurally generated Patterns


For a complete overview of all procedural patterns visit the Shape Node Help 



  • Pattern Specific 1

An Option to change the look of procedurally generated Patterns. Varies based on Patttern

This Setting has no effect if Input Image has been chosen under "Pattern"


  • Pattern Specific 2

An Option to change the look of procedurally generated Patterns. Varies based on Patttern

This Setting has no effect if Input Image has been chosen under "Pattern"



  • Pattern Size

Determines the size of the procedurally generated Pattern within a cell.


Please note this works together with any size/scale specified in the Size Group.

This Setting has no effect if Input Image has been chosen under "Pattern"



  • Pattern Rotate

Determines the rotation of the procedurally generated Pattern within a cell

This Setting has no effect if Input Image has been chosen under "Pattern"


  • Pattern Alpha Intensity

Determines the processing of the Alpha Channel of a procedurally generated pattern.


Example of reducing the Alpha Intensity from 1 to 0 on a large Hemisphere pattern

This Setting has no effect if Input Image has been chosen under "Pattern"



  • Pattern Repeat U

Repeats the pattern or input image x-amount of times horizontally in each cell.


Example of increasing Pattern Repeat U and V one after another



  • Pattern Repeat V

Repeats the pattern or input image x-amount of times vertically in each cell.


Example of increasing Pattern Repeat U and V one after another



  • Invert Pattern

Invert pattern or Input Image


  • Blend Mode

The Blend Mode used to overlay a cell over other cells


Example of different effects achieved by changing the blend mode




  • Edge Controls

The Edge Controls give you control over the edge transparency of the generated pattern, allowing you to create 'Brush Effects'


    • Edge Falloff

Will contract the edges of your loaded textures. This parameter can also be mapped via the Nodegraph


    • Edge Softness

Will feather the edges of your loaded textures from the start of the Edge Falloff to the centre of your texture.

This parameter can also be mapped via the Nodegraph


    • Edge Roundness

Switches the Falloff from Square (0.0) to Radial (1.0).

This parameter can also be mapped via the Nodegraph




    • Edge Distortion

The Edge Distortion is distorting the alpha in the softened areas based on the luminance of the pattern.


If Edge Distortion is 1.0 black parts of the pattern inside the cell will be hidden in the area of Edge Softness.

If Edge Distortion is -1.0 white parts of the pattern inside the cell will be hidden in the area of Edge Softness.


Example of raising Edge Distortion from 0 to 1



  • Rotation

Pre-rotates the Input Image or Pattern by either 90, 180 or 270 degrees



  • Random Rotation

Applies a random rotation in 90 degree increments



The Pattern Crop options allow to 'cut' the edges of a patterns or input images, allowing even more variation


Example of using the Pattern Crop to generate a triangle from a square


  • Top

Control the Crop from Top to Bottom per Shape


  • Bottom

Control the Crop from Bottom to Top per Shape


  • Left

Control the Crop from Left to Right per Shape


  • Right

Control the Crop from Right to Left per Shape


  • Rotate

Rotate the Crop 'Frame' around its center



  • Map

Supply a texture map to use in the processing.

This setting is only evaluated if Pattern is set to 'Input Image'


  • Mipmap Blur

Allows you to blur the input image. This feature requires Mari 4.6v2.


  • Image Type



If an image is specified as a Normal Map, rotating images recalculates normal vectors for correct lighting results.


Below you can see an example of this. The Material and its normal map was rotated 90 degrees from its original output.


    • With the Normal Map specified in the Image Type, Mari correctly recalculate the normal map vectors for rotation changes resulting in consistent lighting in viewport & render.
    • If the Normal Map is treated as a 'Standard Texture', no normal orientation is recalcuated, resulting in incorrect lighting in viewport & render



  • Alpha

Configure the Alpha Handling of the supplied image.


    • From Map

The Transparency in your loaded texture map is used


    • Alpha is Luminance

The Luminance of your loaded texture map is used as Alpha.

Black is transparent.


    • Alpha is Inverted Luminance

The inverted Luminance of your loaded texture map is used as Alpha.

White is transparent.


    • White

The Alpha of the loaded map is set to white resulting in the image being 100% opaque.

This setting is only evaluated if Pattern is set to 'Input Image'




  • Radius

Determines the Radius of the circular pattern



  • Force Tiling (expensive)

Off by default, when on the calculation of the pattern will be completely tileable


WARNING:

Force Tiling makes the node up to 8 times more expensive to calculate ! 


Examples of Force Tiling off (left) and Force Tiling on (right)


  • Spread

Defines the distribution of the pattern in the 360 degrees of the circle



  • Random Spread

Randomly distributes the pattern in the 360 degrees of the circle



  • Explode Rings

Offsets the rings




  • Random Explode Rings

Offsets the rings randomly. Affected by Random Seed




  • Spiral Factor

Forces the pattern into a spiral



  • Reverse Spiral Direction

Inverts the direction of the spiral


  • Global Offset X/Y

Offsets the entire pattern in X or Y



  • Size X/Y

Scales each Cell in X or Y



  • Random SIze X/Y

Randomly scales the size in X or Y. Affected by Random Seed.



  • Scale

Changes the scale of each cell uniformly



  • Random Scale

Changes the scale of each cell randomly



  • Scale by Pattern Number

Applies a scale factor based on the unique cell id. Lower cell id numbers receive higher scaling



  • Reverse Pattern Number

Reverses the calculation for Scale by Pattern Number, meaning higher cell id numbers receive higher scaling


  • Scale by Ring Number

Applies a scale factor based on the unique ring id. Lower cell id numbers receive higher scaling



  • Reverse Ring Number

Reverses the calculation for Scale by Ring Number, meaning higher ring id numbers receive higher scaling




  • Global Rotation

Rotates the entire pattern


  • Local Rotation

Rotates each cell



  • Random Rotation

Rotates each cell randomly. Affected by global seed.



  • Ring Rotation

Very similar to Global Rotation, rotates each ring separately but not affected by

"Center Global Pivot"


  • Random Ring Rotation

Rotates each ring randomly. Affected by global seed.




  • Ring Rotation Offset

Rotates each ring while applying an angle offset per ring



  • Center Global Pivot

Changes the Pivot for the "Global Rotation" option.
When on, the pivot is centered at each UDIM or at 0.5/0.5 (triplanar version).

When off the pivot is centered at the lower left corner (0.0 / 0.0)


  • Center Local Pivot

Changes the Pivot for the Local Rotation option.
When on, the pivot is centered at each cells center.

When off the pivot is centered at the lower left corner of each cell




  • Masking

Randomly hides pattern cells.

Affected by both global seed and seed below.



  • Seed

Additional Seed affecting the "Masking" option.

This works together with the Global Seed option.




Shape Masking applies a mask to all cells of the Node. The Mask is applied in binary mode - a cell is either fully visible or hidden. 
Other than for example using a Probability Mask attached to the Node Input Port, a Mask will never "cut through" a cell.


  • Use Shape Mask

Activate Shape Mask Mode


  • Shape Mask

The Image to use as Shape Mask


  • MipMap Blur

A blur applied to the Shape Mask Image


  • Shape Threshold

The value of the map representing the pivot point between "hidden" and "visible"


  • Mask Repeat

THe number of times the Mask Image is repeated


  • Mask Repeat U

The number of times the Mask Image is repeated horizontally. Multiplies against the "Mask Repeat"


  • Mask Repeat V

The number of times the Mask Image is repeated vertically. Multiplies against the "Mask Repeat"


  • Mask Rotation

Rotation of the Mask Image


  • Rotation Pivot Centered

If on, rotation is evaluated against the center position (0.5 / 0.5) of the UVs. 

If a 2D Node is used (as opposed to a triplanar node), this will mean a unique rotation pivot in the center of each udim.


  • Mask Offset U/V

Translation values for the Mask in U and V 



  • Fill Background

If on, the background of the generated pattern will be filled with the background color


  • Background Color

The color to fill the background with, if "Fill Background" is turned on. This color can be overwritten

via a Node Port



If using a procedural pattern, play around with the 'Alpha Intensity' in the Patter Group for best effects on a transparent background


  • Tint

A color or value to tint the result of the node with.

Tinting is performed before any color randomization and therefore can be used to apply color to other wise

gray scale patterns, after which color randomization can be applied.


Tinting is a multiplication operation. 


  • Opacity

The global Opacity of the Pattern. Can be overwritten via the Opacity Node Port.




  • Luminance by Ring

Applies an incremental luminance shift per ring of the generated pattern


  • Invert Luminance by Ring

Inverts the order of Rings for the Luminance by Ring Operation


  • Luminance by Angle

Applies an incremental luminance shift per slice of the generated pattern


  • Invert Luminance by Angle

Inverts the order of slices for the Luminance by Angle Operation


  • Random Luminance Multiplier

Affects how much the Luminance is randomized in between cells


  • Random Luminance Min/Max

Sets the Min and Max Range for Random Luminance changes in between cells


  • Random Hue Multiplier

Affects how much the Hue is randomized in between cells


  • Random Hue Min/Max

Sets the Min and Max Range for Random Hue changes in between cells


  • Random Saturation Multiplier

Affects how much the Saturation is randomized in between cells


  • Random Saturation Min/Max

Sets the Min and Max Range for Random Saturation changes in between cells


  • Random Opacity Multiplier

Affects how much the Opacity is randomized in between cells


  • Random Opacity Min/Max

Sets the Min and Max Range for Random Opacity changes in between cells



The Settings found in the Output Alphas Group determine how transparency of cell content is treated in the additional Output Ports of the Node 


(Pattern UVs, Pattern Index, Pattern Manifold and Pattern Random)


  • Alpha Clip Value

The Alpha Clip Value determines the minimum value the alpha of the generated pattern is allowed to have.

Values below the clip value will automatically be set to 0.


This value can be useful to change if you are seeing slight artifacts around patterns.


The Alpha Clip Value will affect all Outputs.


  • UVs premultiply

Premultiplies the transparency of cell content returned on the Pattern UVs output Port


  • Index/Manifold premultiply

Premultiplies the transparency of cell content returned on the Pattern Index and Pattern Manifold output Ports


  • Random premultiply

Premultiplies the transparency of cell content returned on the Pattern Random output Port