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  • Published 9 Feb 2022

Use different noise basis functions in Noise and Musgrave nodes

The Musgrave and Noise nodes are currently limited to a single smooth noise basis function. This is in some respects a regression compared to the "legacy" texture interface, which lets the user choose among several noise basis functions in procedural textures. For example, the documentation for the legacy Musgrave texture ( docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/render/materials/legacy_textures/types/musgrave.html ) includes the following images showing what can be achieved using a Voronoi basis: Screenshot from 2022-02-10 13-36-53.png

But the legacy textures can only be used in limited places like brushes and modifiers; they can't be used in shaders. The equivalent functions in Material Nodes (i.e. in the Musgrave and Noise nodes) are limited to a single smooth noise function as a basis. So to create the above patterns with nodes, one would have to add together the output from a series of Voronoi nodes, or write a function in OSL (the latter option available only in cycles and only with CPU rendering).

Being able to change the noise basis function would make it possible to create a greater variety of patterns with the Musgrave and Noise nodes, including but not limited to the above examples.

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Development Status: Open

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jhaiduce
9 Feb 2022

5 Comments

modormoder

Can you immediately give an example of such noise and links to sources? I know that there is already such a proposal and there is also a code, but it seems it was abandoned

jhaiduce Author

I edited the proposal with a link to the legacy textures documentation.

jhaiduce Author

I didn't know there was a proposal for this before; it didn't show up in my search.

jhaiduce Author

I saw that one. There is some overlap between that proposal ( blender.community/c/rightclickselect/V8bbbc ) and this one, but that one doesn't mention noise basis functions specifically.