VEX·2025·ONGOING
Reaction–Diffusion in VEX
A study in growing pattern directly on geometry rather than in a texture. Running Gray-Scott reaction–diffusion over point attributes lets the pattern follow curvature and flow, which reads very differently from a flat UV solve.
WRITE-UP
Approach
Two chemical concentrations stored as point attributes; each step diffuses them across the connectivity graph and applies the Gray-Scott feed/kill reaction in VEX. Diffusion uses a simple neighbour average weighted by edge length.
Findings
Feed and kill rates map cleanly onto pattern families — spots, stripes, mazes. Driving them with a curvature attribute keeps the pattern denser where the surface pinches, which is the effect I was after.
NOTES
- Runs on the geometry graph, so resolution follows the mesh — remesh first for even patterns.
- Stable at dt ≈ 1.0 with feed 0.037 / kill 0.06 as a starting point.