The radial pattern.

The radial pattern is a radial blend that wraps around the +Y axis. The color for value 0.0 starts at the +X direction and wraps the color map around from east to west with 0.25 in the -Z direction, 0.5 in -X, 0.75 at +Z and back to 1.0 at +X. Typically the pattern is used with a frequency modifier to create multiple bands that radiate from the Y axis.

The pattern uses the ramp_wave wave type by default but may use any wave type. The pattern may be used with color_map, pigment_map, normal_map, slope_map and texture_map.

The ripples pattern.

The ripples pattern was originally designed only to be used as a normal pattern. It makes the surface look like ripples of water. The ripples radiate from 10 random locations inside the unit cube area <0,0,0> to <1,1,1>. Scale the pattern to make the centers closer or farther apart.

Usually the ripples from any given center are about 1 unit apart. The frequency keyword changes the spacing between ripples. The phase keyword can be used to move the ripples outwards for realistic animation.

The spiral1 pattern.

The spiral1 pattern creates a spiral that winds around the y-axis similar to a screw. Its syntax is:

The NUMBER_OF_ARMS-value determins how may "arms" are winding around the y axis.

The pattern uses the triangle_wave wave type by default but may use any wave type. The pattern may be used with color_map, pigment_map, normal_map, slope_map and texture_map.

The spiral2 pattern.

The spiral2 pattern is a modification of the spiral2 pattern with an extraordinary look.

The pattern uses the triangle_wave wave type by default but may use any wave type. The pattern may be used with color_map, pigment_map, normal_map, slope_map and texture_map.

The waves pattern.

The waves pattern was originally designed only to be used as a normal pattern. The waves pattern looks similar to the ripples pattern except the features are rounder and broader. The effect is to make waves that look more like deep ocean waves. The waves radiate from 10 random locations inside the unit cube area <0,0,0> to <1,1,1>. Scale the pattern to make the centers closer or farther apart.

Usually the waves from any given center are about 1 unit apart. The frequency keyword changes the spacing between waves. The phase keyword can be used to move the waves outwards for realistic animation.

The wood pattern.

The wood pattern consists of concentric cylinders centered on the Z axis. When appropriately colored, the bands look like the growth rings and veins in real wood. Small amounts of turbulence should be added to make it look more realistic. By default, wood has no turbulence.

Unlike most patterns, the wood pattern uses the triangle_wave wave type by default. This means that like marble, wood uses color map values 0.0 to 1.0 then repeats the colors in reverse order from 1.0 to 0.0. However you may use any wave type. The pattern may be used with color_map, pigment_map, normal_map, slope_map and texture_map.

The wrinkles pattern.

The wrinkles pattern was originally designed only to be used as a normal pattern. It uses a 1/f noise pattern similar to granite but the features in wrinkles are sharper. The pattern can be used to simulate wrinkled cellophane or foil. It also makes an excellent stucco texture.

When used as a normal pattern it uses a specialized normal perturbation function. This means that the wrinkles pattern cannot be used with normal_map, slope_map, or wave type modifiers in a normal statement.

When used as a pigment pattern or texture pattern, the wrinkles pattern is similar to normal wrinkles but is not identical as are most normals when compared to pigments. When used in pigment or texture statements the wrinkles pattern uses the ramp_wave wave type by default but may use any wave type. The pattern may be used with color_map, pigment_map, and texture_map.

The frequency keyword adjusts the number of times that a color map repeats over one cycle of a pattern. For example gradient x covers color map values 0 to 1 over the range x=0 to x=1. By adding frequency 2.0 the color map repeats twice over that same range. The same effect can be achieved using scale x*0.5 so the frequency keyword isn't that useful for patterns like gradient.

However the radial pattern wraps the color map around the +Y axis once. If you wanted two copies of the map (or 3 or 10 or 100) you'd have to build a bigger map. Adding frequency 2.0 causes the color map to be used twice per revolution. Try this:

The result is 6 sets of red and white radial stripes evenly spaced around the object.

The float after frequency can be any value. Values greater than 1.0 causes more than one copy of the map to be used. Values from 0.0 to 1.0 cause a fraction of the map to be used. Negative values reverses the map.

The phase value causes the map entries to be shifted so that the map starts and ends at a different place. In the example above if you render successive frames at phase 0 then phase 0.1, phase 0.2 etc you could create an animation that rotates the stripes. The same effect can be easily achieved by rotating the radial pigment using rotate y*Angle but there are other uses where phase can be handy.

Sometimes you create a great looking gradient or wood color map but you want the grain slightly adjusted in or out. You could re-order the color map entries but that's a pain. A phase adjustment will shift everything but keep the same scale. Try animating a mandel pigment for a color palette rotation effect.

Frequency and phase have no effect on block patterns checker, brick and hexagon nor do they effect image_map, bump_map or material_map. They also have no effect in normal statements when used with bumps, dents, quilted, or wrinkles because these normal patterns cannot use normal_map or slope_map.

They can be used with normal patterns ripples and waves even though these two patterns cannot use normal_map or slope_map either. When used with ripples or waves, frequency adjusts the space between features and phase can be adjusted from 0.0 to 1.0 to cause the ripple or waves to move relative to their center for animating the features.

These values work by applying the following formula:

Now any pattern that takes a map can have the default wave type overridden. For example:

Also available are sine_wave and scallop_wave types. These types are of most use in normal patterns as a type of built-in slope map. The sine_wave takes the zig-zag of a ramp_wave and turns it into a gentle rolling wave with smooth transitions. The scallop_wave uses the absolute value of the sine wave which looks like corduroy when scaled small or like a stack of cylinders when scaled larger.

Although these any of these wave types can be used for pigments, normals or textures, the sine_wave and scallop_wave types are not as noticeable on pigments or textures as they are for normals.

Wave types have no effect on block patterns checker, brick and hexagon nor do they effect image_map, bump_map or material_map. They also have no effect in normal statements when used with bumps, dents, quilted, or wrinkles because these normal patterns cannot use normal_map or slope_map.

Typical turbulence values range from the default 0.0 which is no turbulence to 1.0 or more which is very turbulent. If a vector is specified then different amounts of turbulence are applied in the x, y and z directions. For example

has much turbulence in the x direction, a moderate amount in the y direction and a small amount in the z direction.

Turbulence uses a random noise function called DNoise. This is similar to the noise used in the bozo pattern except that instead of giving a single value it gives a direction. You can think of it as the direction that the wind is blowing at that spot. Points close together generate almost the same value but points far apart are randomly different.