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I'm looking for a solution to a problem where I need to use just a part of a procedural texture, specifically a single ring from a Wave texture, instead of the infinitely outgoing rings.

Enter image description here

There are solutions like using various masks to limit a procedural texture to a specific area, but I need something along the lines that sort of takes the type of texture I'm using into consideration. As in my example, to limit a Wave texture to a single ring or band, or a like a Voronoi texture which would use a single "shard", or a cluster of them, and to not go on forever.

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  • $\begingroup$ if you would show us your procedural modifier ...we could help you. Best would be a blend file so we don't have to recreate all ourselves. Which you should do because you want our help, right? So make it easy for us to help. $\endgroup$
    – Chris
    Commented Jun 30, 2021 at 19:03
  • $\begingroup$ Can you elaborate a little on why masks don't suffice in your situation? What does success/failure look like? $\endgroup$
    – Allen Simpson
    Commented Jun 30, 2021 at 19:14
  • $\begingroup$ Added a picture and a .blend. Masks would be super finicky to set up in my case, but I'm open to ideas. $\endgroup$
    – Geri
    Commented Jun 30, 2021 at 19:20
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    $\begingroup$ Radial mask is the same as a linear gradient mask, you have to know that the equation of a circle of radius r is x²+y² = r². Or even easier, use a Vector math node set to length and a math node set to compare $\endgroup$
    – Gorgious
    Commented Jun 30, 2021 at 19:24
  • $\begingroup$ @Gorgious How could I make a radial mask? Feel free to write it as an answer. Vector length may just work though. $\endgroup$
    – Geri
    Commented Jun 30, 2021 at 19:47

3 Answers 3

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I'm afraid it does come down to masking, on a case-by-case basis. As Gorgious comments, by the time you've masked a Wave texture, you may as well have rolled-your-own rings... maybe something like:

enter image description here

Voronoi gives you a handle to make a mask to cell boundaries, here, around an origin of your choice:

enter image description here

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    $\begingroup$ Hey, that Voronoi screenshot just changed my brain. $\endgroup$
    – Allen Simpson
    Commented Jun 30, 2021 at 22:09
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    $\begingroup$ Thanks! That voronoi example may just be the most useful thing I've learnt about blender yet. I wish you could do that sort of thing with every procedural texture. $\endgroup$
    – Geri
    Commented Jul 1, 2021 at 13:12
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    $\begingroup$ @Geri Thanks! The reason you can do it with Voronoi is that it's fundamentally based on points (random per cell) in a grid, and it knows where those points are. The others tend to be continuous functions of the whole, undivided space. You can often assemble your own versions, for more control. $\endgroup$
    – Robin Betts ♦
    Commented Jul 1, 2021 at 14:09
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There is no common interface of texture nodes with "start at" and "end at" inputs. Therefore you need to limit the influence of each node with a method specific to that particular node. There's no general trick that I'm aware of, other than "masking".

In case of your particular problem:

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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks! I really wish procedural textures had a "start at" and "end at" values. They could maybe even accept BW values, so it wouldn't a simple radial thing. $\endgroup$
    – Geri
    Commented Jul 1, 2021 at 13:47
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Since you need only one ring, maybe a "ring shader node" is the right solution for you:

enter image description here

enter image description here

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    $\begingroup$ 😜 i.imgur.com/9dtG65A.png $\endgroup$
    – Markus von Broady
    Commented Jun 30, 2021 at 23:48
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks! It's a good solution, but I need the feathered edges as well. $\endgroup$
    – Geri
    Commented Jul 1, 2021 at 13:14
  • $\begingroup$ @Geri Do min(0, -abs(sqrt(x**2+y**2)-ringradius)+ringthickness)/ringthickness instead then. It will give you a normalized linear feather, like the wave shader, to which you can also apply a root or exponent. …I don't think there's a "Min" option for the Math node, so you'll have to emulate it with "Greater Than" or a MixRGB/"Lighten" instead. $\endgroup$
    – Will Chen
    Commented Jul 1, 2021 at 16:41
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks! .. Uhm.. could you show that with nodes? xD $\endgroup$
    – Geri
    Commented Jul 1, 2021 at 17:05
  • $\begingroup$ @Geri just use the setup Robin Betts presented, if you don't like color ramps, you can use math>ping-pong instead. $\endgroup$
    – Markus von Broady
    Commented Jul 1, 2021 at 17:38

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