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Ridges & Grooves

Repeating ridges or grooves with adjustable waveform shape and orientation. A simple, direct effect for adding regular linear texture to a surface — like the grip ridges on a bottle cap or the corrugation on a sheet-metal panel.

Parameters

Amplitude
Height of the ridges in mm (0–10). Controls the depth of the pattern.
Frequency
Number of ridge repetitions (1–50). Higher values create tighter, more closely spaced ridges.
Shape
Waveform shape (0–1). At 0, ridges are smooth sine-wave bumps. At 1, ridges have a sharper, more sawtooth-like profile. Values in between blend the two.
Direction
0 = horizontal ridges (rings around the circumference). 1 = vertical ridges (lines along the height).

How It Works

Ridges & Grooves evaluates a periodic waveform at each vertex. The waveform shape is a blend between a pure sine wave and a sharper profile controlled by the Shape parameter. The Direction parameter selects which UV axis drives the repetition — horizontal ridges repeat along the V (height) axis, while vertical ridges repeat along the U (circumference) axis.

This effect is intentionally simple and predictable, making it ideal as a building block to combine with other effects.

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