Tutorial 4: Simple Pyramid

Now that you've made a cube, let's create a shape that changes size as it goes up: a pyramid. You'll use the For Z loop for fine-grained control and Map Range to shrink the rectangle from a wide base to a point at the top.

What you'll learn

How to use the For Z loop with loop variables (normZ)
How to make geometry shrink as height increases with Map Range
How to manually advance the Z axis with Travel (Relative) Z

Prerequisites

Completion of Tutorial 3 is recommended.

Step 1: Define your variables

We'll parameterise the base size and total height so they can be adjusted from the 3D viewport.

Set Variable

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Step 1

Create two variables

Add two Set Variable blocks to the top of your Path Group:

baseSize = 50

Enable Show in viewport on each one.

Step 2: Centre on the build plate

Translate

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Step 2

Add a Translate block

Drag a Translate block below the Set Variable blocks.
Set X to Bed Size X / 2 and Y to Bed Size Y / 2.
All remaining blocks go inside the Translate body.

Step 3: Add the For Z loop

The For Z block iterates from a start height to an end height and gives you access to z, normZ, and layerIndex inside the loop. Unlike Stack Layers, it does not move the nozzle automatically — you control Z yourself.

For Z

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Step 3

Add For Z

From the Structure category, drag a For Z block into the Translate body.
Set Start to Layer Height (the printer-setting block), End to the variable pyramidHeight, and Step to the Layer Height printer-setting block.

Step 4: Draw a shrinking Rectangle

Inside each iteration we draw a square whose size decreases from baseSize at the bottom to 0 at the top.

Map Range

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Step 4

Add a Rectangle with Map Range

Drag a Rectangle block into the For Z body.

Step 5: Move up one layer

Since For Z doesn't advance the nozzle automatically, we must add a relative Z move after each rectangle.

Step 5

Add Travel (Relative) Z

Drag a Travel (Relative) Z block after the Rectangle (still inside the For Z body).
Set Z to the Layer Height printer-setting block.

Complete block program

Full program — Tutorial 4

Interactive preview is available in the interactive reader.

Final block structure

#	Block	Where	Values
1	Set Variable `baseSize`	Path Group	50 · Show in viewport
2	Set Variable `pyramidHeight`	Path Group	50 · Show in viewport
3	Translate	Path Group	X = Bed Size X / 2, Y = Bed Size Y / 2
4	↳ For Z	Inside Translate	Start = Layer Height, End = pyramidHeight, Step = Layer Height
5	↳ Rectangle	Inside For Z
6	↳ Map Range	Width	In 0–1, Out baseSize–0
7	↳ Map Range	Height	In 0–1, Out baseSize–0
8	↳ Variable	Map Inputs	`normZ`
9	↳ Travel (Relative) Z	Inside For Z	Z = Layer Height

Outcome

You have created a fully parametric pyramid! It starts as a 50×50 mm square at the bottom and linearly shrinks to a point at the configured pyramid height. Drag the sliders in the viewport to try different proportions instantly.

Load this tutorial

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What's Next

Tutorial 5: Twisted Prism — Add a twist! Learn how to use the Rotate block with height-driven variables.