Distance Field

Generates a signed distance field from a shape input. Outputs scalar, vector, and color fields plus an optional GPU texture, with configurable falloff curves.

Category: Fields Menu path: Fields > Distance Field

Ports

Port	Type	Direction	Description
shape_in	shape	input	Source shape to compute distance from
out	imageRgba16f	output	GPU texture visualization (grayscale, only computed if connected)
scalarField	scalarField	output	Normalized [0, 1] distance field with falloff
vectorField	vectorField	output	Unit vector pointing toward the nearest boundary
colorField	colorField	output	Grayscale RGBA representation of the scalar field

Parameters

Param	Type	Default	Description
falloff	scalar	100	Distance in pixels from the shape boundary to zero
falloffType	enum	Smooth	Falloff curve: Linear, Smooth, Exponential, Quadratic, or Step
invert	boolean	false	Swap inside/outside (inverted: 0 at boundary, 1 at falloff distance)

Expose Channels

When enabled (E button on node header), adds input ports that override params via edge connections:

Port	Type	Overrides
falloff_in	scalar	falloff

How It Works

DistanceField computes the shortest distance from every point in space to the nearest edge of the input shape. The result is normalized through the falloff curve:

• Default behavior: 1.0 at and inside the boundary, falling to 0.0 at falloff distance from the boundary.
• Inverted: 0.0 at the boundary, rising to 1.0 at falloff distance.

Falloff types:

• Linear: Straight-line falloff
• Smooth: Smoothstep curve (default, gentle ease in/out)
• Exponential: Fast initial drop, slow tail
• Quadratic: Squared falloff
• Step: Binary -- 1 inside falloff range, 0 outside (hard edge)

SDF algorithm: Line segment projection for straight edges, cubic bezier sampling with Newton refinement for curves. Ray-cast winding number for inside/outside detection (even-odd, closed paths only). Per-segment AABB acceleration for performance.

Field outputs: All three field outputs share a single SdfEvaluator via Arc. The scalarField returns normalized [0, 1] values. The vectorField returns a unit vector pointing toward the nearest boundary segment. The colorField returns grayscale RGBA.

Lazy GPU texture: The out texture port is only computed if something is connected to it. The field outputs are always available at near-zero cost.

DistanceField is a terminal in chain walks -- it fills every pixel (like Noise and Gradient), so overscan does not pass through it.

Usage Examples

Basic: Proximity mask

Circle -> DistanceField (falloff: 200, Smooth) -> scalarField -> PointAttributes (target: Opacity). Points fade out as they move away from the circle.

Flow around geometry

Rectangle -> DistanceField -> vectorField -> PointAdvect. Points are pushed away from the rectangle along the nearest-boundary direction.

Shape glow

EditableShape -> DistanceField (falloff: 50, Exponential) -> out (texture) -> Colorize (ramp: transparent-to-white). A soft glow halo around the shape.

Composite field

DistanceField1.scalarField + DistanceField2.scalarField -> FieldMath (Screen). Combines two shape proximity fields into a soft union.

Animated falloff

Enable expose channels. Connect Time.seconds -> Math expression -> falloff_in. The glow radius pulses over time.

Tips

• The out texture is computed lazily -- if you only need the field outputs, leave it disconnected for better performance
• DistanceField works with any shape node: Rectangle, Circle, Polygon, EditableShape, TextToShape, etc.
• Use Remap downstream to reshape the falloff curve with more control than the built-in falloff types
• The vectorField output is ideal for PointAdvect -- points flow toward or away from the shape boundary
• Invert is useful for effects that should be strongest near the shape and fade at distance
• Bezier accuracy at high falloff: Shapes with few bezier segments (like Circle's 4 quadrant arcs) can show subtle radial artifacts at high falloff values. Insert a ResampleShape node before the DistanceField to add more segments — this produces a clean, smooth field

Related Nodes

• Noise -- procedural field source (vs. geometry-based)
• Remap -- reshape the distance field's value distribution via curve
• FieldMath -- combine multiple distance fields
• PointAdvect -- advect points using the vectorField output
• PointAttributes -- set per-point attributes based on proximity
• ShapeAttributes -- set per-vertex attributes based on proximity
• Colorize -- map the scalar field through a color ramp