Sphere SOP

Summary

The Sphere SOP generates spherical objects of different geometry types. It is capable of creating non-uniform scalable spheres of all geometry types.

If an input is provided, the sphere's radius is automatically determined as a function of the input's bounding geometry.

Parameters

Primitive Type /type - Select from the following types. For information on the different types, see the Geometry category articles. Depending on the primitive type chosen, some SOP options may not apply.

• Primitive -
• Polygon -
• Mesh -
• NURBS -
• Bezier -

Connectivity /surftype - This option is used to select the type of surface, when using a Mesh Primitive Type.

• Rows - Creates horizontal lines.
• Columns - Creates vertical lines.
• Rows & Cols - Both Rows and Columns. Looks like Quads in wire frame display, but all polygons are open (if the primitive type is polygon).
• Triangles - Build the grid with Triangles.
• Quadrilaterals - Generates sides composed of quadrilaterals (default).
• Alternating Triangles - Generates triangles that are opposed; similar to the Triangles option.

Radius /radx /rady /radz - The radius of the sphere in X, Y and Z.

Center /tx /ty /tz - Offset of sphere center from object center.

Orientation /orient - Determines axis for sphere. Poles of sphere align with orientation axis.

Frequency /freq - This controls the level of polygons used to create the sphere, when using the Polygon Primitive Type.

Rows / Columns /rows /cols - Number of rows and columns in a sphere when using the mesh, imperfect NURBS and imperfect Bzier.

U / V Order /orderu /orderv - If a spline curve is selected, it is built at this order for U and V.

Imperfect /imperfect - This option applies only to Bzier and NURBS spheres. If selected, the spheres are approximated nonrational curves, otherwise they are perfect rational curves.

Unique Points Per Pole /upole - Applies to Mesh, NURBS and Bzier surfaces only. This option determines whether points at the poles are shared or are individual to the columns.

Accurate Bounds /accurate - If the SOP is being used to generate a bounding sphere for it's input geometry, this parameter tells the SOP to use a more accurate (but slower) bounding sphere calculation.

Texture Coordinates /texture - Adds UV texture coordinates to the sphere.

• Off - No UV coordinates added to surface.
• Natural - Adds vertex UV coordinates.

Geometry Types

Primitive, Polygon, Mesh, NURBS, Bzier.