A single tooth turned into a ring of ten around a hub, as one field rather than ten objects. Drag the count and watch the gear fill in without the shader being rebuilt.
geo/SDFPolarRepeat
Documentation / Node reference / geo nodes
geo/SDFPolarRepeat
Arrays an SDF object around an axis, the whole way round or over a run of sectors.
Sdf Operations
Wraps each input SDF object so its field repeats `count` times around `axis`, turning about `center`. The copies are one field rather than N objects, so the cost of the array does not grow with the count: it is two child evaluations whether you ask for 6 copies or 60. That is the difference from geo/Copy, which duplicates the objects themselves.
The distance stays EXACT. A rotation moves a shape without stretching it, so the distance to a copy is the input's own distance measured from the turned sample, with nothing to correct. The one thing to know is that the array tests the two nearest sectors only: an input that stays inside its own wedge is exact everywhere, and one that spills across several sectors reads a little far from the copies on the other side.
Turn `limited` on to keep only the sectors between `limitMin` and `limitMax`, which gives a fan rather than a full ring. Bounds come from the input swept around the axis either way, so nothing has to be declared by hand.
`center` is the pivot the copies turn about, not a position for the ring: the input stays where it is and the copies swing around it. It works with the input anywhere, on any axis.
A 2D tree turns about its own normal, so `axis` is ignored there and `center` reads its x and y. Non-SDF objects pass through unchanged.
Parameters
| Name | Type | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| center | Vector3 | The point the axis passes through, so the point the copies turn about. The input stays where it is and the copies swing around this point, so moving it re-places the ring rather than sliding it. A 2D tree reads its x and y. |
| axis | UInt8 X · Y · Z | Which world axis the copies turn about. Ignored by a 2D tree, whose only axis is its own normal; for a tilted axis, wrap this node in a geo/Transform in GEOMETRY mode. |
| count | UInt32 | How many copies fit in a full turn. 1 is the input unchanged. |
| offset | Float | Turns the whole array, in degrees, so the first copy sits here rather than on the axis the count starts from. |
| limited | Bool | Keep only a run of sectors instead of the whole ring, which turns the array into a fan. |
| limitMin | SInt32 | First sector kept, counting from the one the offset places. Read only when `limited` is on. |
| limitMax | SInt32 | Last sector kept, included. Read only when `limited` is on. |
Examples
Scenes you can open in the editor that teach this node.
See also
- geo/SDFRepeat
- geo/SDFMirror
- geo/SDFBoolean
- geo/PolarTransform
This page is generated from the engine, so it describes the release you can download. The same text is in the editor's Help panel next to the node itself.