Iso Surface Flow
Creates a continuous organic scalar field from two crossed sine waves, displacing the mesh along ring normals. The result is smooth, flowing bumps that blend naturally across the surface — like bubbles rising under a membrane or the soft undulations of a sea creature.
Parameters
Amplitude- Maximum displacement in mm (0–20). Controls the height of the flowing bumps.
Freq U- Wave frequency around the circumference (0.25–20). Lower values produce broader, fewer bumps.
Freq V- Wave frequency along the height (0.25–20). Controls the vertical spacing of the bumps.
Smoothing- Blends displacement toward zero (0–1). At 0, the full displacement is applied. Higher values soften the bumps, creating subtler, more gradual surface variation.
Phase U- Phase offset in the circumferential direction (0–2\u03C0).
Phase V- Phase offset in the height direction (0–2\u03C0).
How It Works
The effect computes a 2D scalar field by combining sine functions in the U and V directions. The field values represent a continuous "energy landscape" — peaks become bumps, valleys become dimples, and saddle points create smooth transitions between them.
The displacement is applied along the ring normal at each vertex, pushing the surface outward where the field is positive and inward where it is negative. The Smoothing parameter interpolates between the full field value and zero, allowing you to dial back the effect for subtle organic surface variation.
This is the same mathematical family as iso-surface visualization — the mesh surface traces a "level set" of the underlying field.