Skip Talbot <ski### [at] aolcom> wrote:
> Hey guys, I'm looking for a function or pigment function that creates a single
> bump when added to an isosurface.  I've been tinkering with the spherical
> pigment but of course that adds or subtracts a full hemisphere of a sphere onto
> the surface.  Is there a way to modify this pigment or is there another function
> that creates a more bump like feature where the protrusion smoothly blends into
> the underlying surface?  I'd like a single occurence of the pattern because I'd
> like to control the placement of it, and I've been trying to avoid multiplying
> sphere functions together to create a blob like effect because it kills the
> rendering time and alters my surface in too many ways.  Any suggestions would
> be appreciated.

  From 1-dimensional functions the most typical "single smooth bump"
function is f(x) = exp(-x*x). Try plotting that with any function plotter
to see it in action.

  I'm certain the same concept can be extended to 3-dimensional functions.
I guess, although I can't be sure, that f(x,y,z) = exp(-x*x-y*y-z*z) might
do the trick. However, without testing I can't know.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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