Tutorial 24: Lace Fade Vase

Create a vase that's solid at the bottom and gradually fades to translucent lace at the top. Use Conditional with Set Flow to reduce extrusion in the upper portion, creating a gossamer, ethereal effect.

A vase that fades from solid walls at the bottom to transparent lace at the top preview

What you'll learn

How to use the Conditional (If/Else) block
How to build conditions using Max (non-zero = true)
How Set Flow controls extrusion amount mid-print
How to create zone-based effects with normZ thresholds

Prerequisites

Completion of Tutorial 2 (Spiral Vase with Dynamic Radius) is recommended.

Step 1: Define variables

Step 1

Create four slider variables

Add four Set Variable blocks with Show in Viewport enabled:

vaseRadius = 25 — wall radius

Step 2: Center and add Spiral Up

Step 2

Add Translate and Spiral Up

Add Translate (center on bed). Inside the body, add Spiral Up with Start Z = Layer Height, End Z = vaseHeight, Rotations = vaseHeight / Layer Height.

Step 3: Build the Conditional for zone detection

Conditional

Interactive preview is available in the interactive reader.

Step 3

Add Conditional with Max-based condition

Inside the Spiral Up body, add a Conditional block. For the Condition, build: max(0, normZ − fadeStart).

Max block with A = 0, B = Arithmetic (−) with Variable (normZ) minus Get Variable (fadeStart)

When normZ is below fadeStart, the result is 0 (false → Else branch). When above, the result is positive (true → Then branch).

Step 4: Set Flow in both branches

Set Flow

Interactive preview is available in the interactive reader.

Step 4

Fade flow in Then, full flow in Else

In the Then body (above fade zone): add Set Flow with Value = Map Range: Input = normZ, In Min = fadeStart, In Max = 1, Out Min = 1 (full flow at fade start), Out Max = minFlow (reduced at top).

In the Else body (below fade zone): add Set Flow with Value = 1 (100% normal extrusion).

Step 5: Add the Circle

Step 5

Draw the vase wall after the Conditional

After the Conditional block (via next), add a Circle with CX = 0, CY = 0, Radius = vaseRadius. The circle draws at whatever flow rate was just set by the Conditional branches.

Complete block program

Full program — Tutorial 24

Interactive preview is available in the interactive reader.

Final block structure

#	Block	Where	Values
1–4	Set Variable	Path Group	vaseRadius=25, vaseHeight=60, fadeStart=0.6, minFlow=0.3
5	Translate	Path Group	X = bedsize_x/2, Y = bedsize_y/2
6	↳ Spiral Up	Inside Translate	Start Z, End Z, Rotations
7	Conditional	Inside Spiral Up	Condition = max(0, normZ − fadeStart)
8	↳ Then: Set Flow	Then branch	mapRange(normZ, fadeStart→1, 1→minFlow)
9	↳ Else: Set Flow	Else branch	1 (full flow)
10	Circle	After Conditional	Radius = vaseRadius

Outcome

You should see a vase that's solid and opaque in the lower 60%, then gradually fades to a lace-like transparency in the top 40%. The under-extrusion creates beautiful gaps and a gossamer, ethereal quality.

Load this tutorial

Interactive preview is available in the interactive reader.

What's Next

You've completed all intermediate SynthBlocks tutorials! You now know how to use every major block type. Ready for more advanced patterns? Explore the Difficult category for complex multi-module workflows and advanced parametric designs.