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code/SDFMandelbulb

The distance to a Mandelbulb fractal.

Sdf3d

Returns the estimated distance from a sampled position to a Mandelbulb: the 3D fractal found by repeatedly raising a point to a power in spherical coordinates and adding it back. Power 8 gives the classic bulb, and julia gives the Julia bulb of a fixed point instead. The twin of geo/SDFMandelbulb, for use inside a geo/SDFBuilder sub-network. The value is an estimate, so the raymarcher takes shorter steps where it is used.

Parameters

Name Type What it does
P Vector3 Position to sample the field at. Left unwired it reads the builder's own sample position.
t Vector3 Center of the bulb.
scale Float Overall size. At 1 the power 8 bulb is a little over 2 units across.
power Float Exponent the point is raised to at each step. 8 is the classic bulb, 2 a smooth and lumpy blob, and higher powers add more, thinner lobes.
iterations UInt8 How many steps each point is followed for. More steps reveal finer detail and cost more per sample. A wired value is capped at 32.
thetaShift Float Angle, in degrees, added to the vertical angle at each step. Wire a time value into it for a breathing bulb.
phiShift Float Angle, in degrees, added to the horizontal angle at each step. Small values swirl the lobes around the vertical axis.
julia Bool Add the fixed point below at each step instead of the sampled point, which gives the Julia bulb of that point.
juliaC Vector3 The fixed point added at each step when julia is on, in bulb units.

See also

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