Kōtuku Manual

Signed distance field colour gradient paint server.

GradientDistal shades inward and outward from the target vector path outline. The path outline is pinned to the centre of the colour ramp, Radius controls exterior padding, and InnerRadius controls interior fade-out.

The base Gradient⇒SpreadMethod field selects how the exterior fade behaves beyond the first cycle, where one cycle spans the Radius distance:

PAD (the default) fades once over the Radius distance and then stops, producing the classic glow or halo.
REPEAT tiles the fade outward as a sawtooth: at the end of each Radius cycle the alpha and colour restart at full strength, repeating until the parent area is filled.
REFLECT tiles the fade outward as a triangle wave: each cycle alternates direction, ramping the alpha back up from zero before fading again, repeating until the parent area is filled.

Setting OuterFall to GFALL::OPAQUE holds the exterior alpha at full strength rather than tapering it, so with REPEAT or REFLECT the full colour ramp is painted solidly out to the parent edge with no fade between tiles. Under PAD the alpha still cuts to transparent at the padding edge as usual.

This gradient operates exclusively in BOUNDING_BOX space. If Gradient⇒Units is set to USERSPACE it will be reset to BOUNDING_BOX during initialisation.

Structure

The GradientDistal class consists of the following fields:

Access	Name	Type	Comment
	Floor	DOUBLE	Colour ramp floor for distal gradients.
The Floor value is used as the floor for distal gradient colour values. It has a valid range of `0 <= Floor < Multiplier`; the constraint against Multiplier is enforced at initialisation.
	InnerFall	INT	Selects the alpha fall-off curve for the interior fade.
InnerFall controls the shape of the interior alpha fade that runs from the path outline inward to `InnerRadius`. The default is `GFALL::SMOOTHSTEP`. The fade is only visible when `InnerRadius` is non-zero; with a zero InnerRadius the interior remains fully opaque and the curve has no effect. Setting InnerFall to `GFALL::CLEAR` disables the interior entirely, rendering it fully transparent irrespective of `InnerRadius`. This is useful for producing an exterior-only halo with no fill inside the path outline.
	InnerRadius	UNIT	The size of the inner radius for distal gradients.
The InnerRadius defines the extent of the interior fade-out for distal gradients. If zero, the interior of the target shape is fully rendered.
	Multiplier	DOUBLE	Colour ramp multiplier for distal gradients.
The Multiplier value acts as a multiplier for distal gradient colour values. It has a valid range of `.01 < Multiplier < 10`.
	OuterFall	INT	Selects the alpha fall-off curve for the exterior fade.
OuterFall controls the shape of the exterior alpha fade that runs from the path outline outward to the padding edge defined by `Radius`. The default is `GFALL::SMOOTHSTEP`. Faster curves such as `GFALL::QUADRATIC` and `GFALL::CUBIC` produce a tighter halo, while `GFALL::SMOOTHSTEP` holds the inner half bright for a wider glow. Setting OuterFall to `GFALL::CLEAR` disables the exterior entirely, rendering it fully transparent so that only the interior half of the gradient is drawn.
	Radius	UNIT	Exterior margin around the target path.
The Radius value controls how much exterior padding is added around the target path so that the exterior half of the signed distance colour ramp remains visible.
	XMLDef	STRING	Returns an SVG compliant XML string that describes the effect.

Name	Description
GFALL::CLEAR	Disables the gradient.
GFALL::CUBIC	Cubic fall-off - very tight glow hugging the outline.
GFALL::LINEAR	Linear fall-off (even taper).
GFALL::OPAQUE	No fall-off.
GFALL::QUADRATIC	Quadratic fall-off - fast drop, thin tail — natural glow.
GFALL::SMOOTHSTEP	Smoothstep fall-off - S-curve; brightest, holds the inner half.

GradientDistal Class

Structure

GFALL Type