Shape 3D Node

Shape 3D is Fusion's most versatile primitive. A single node can produce a plane, a cube, a sphere, a cylinder, a cone or a torus. The Shape menu sets the active primitive and dynamically updates the available controls.

Compared with Cube 3D: Cube 3D is dedicated to the cube only and offers six separate material inputs (one per face) + Cube Mapping. Shape 3D in Cube mode is less flexible with materials (a single MaterialInput), but can become any other primitive. Only use Cube 3D if you need the 6 texturable faces.

• Effects Library: Tools > 3D > Shape 3D
• Quick add: right-click in the Node Editor → Add Tool > 3D > Shape 3D

• SceneInput (orange) - optional. Combines another scene or geometry with the primitive.
• MaterialInput (green) - optional. A 2D image used as diffuse, or a full 3D material. A single material input - the primitive gets this material on all its faces.

Shape 3D is a geometry source, to be connected to a Merge 3D:

MediaIn (texture) ──→ Shape 3D (green input)
                         ↓
                    Merge 3D ← Camera 3D
                         ↓
                    Renderer 3D

A single dropdown menu at the top of the controls that picks the primitive. It radically changes the available parameters.

A rectangular 2D plane in 3D space.

Width / Height

Plane dimensions in Fusion units.

Subdivision Width / Height

Number of subdivisions per axis. Essential for any deformation (Displace, Bender, Custom Vertex). Typical value: 20-50 per axis for a wave/flag.

Lock Width/Height

Links both dimensions for a square.

Width / Height / Depth

Dimensions on all three axes.

Lock Width/Height/Depth

Links the three dimensions through a single Size slider.

Subdivision Level

Number of subdivisions per face.

Cube Mapping

Wraps a single texture over the six faces using a cross layout. See the dedicated Cube 3D page for details (same principle).

Radius

Sphere radius in Fusion units.

Subdivision Level

Longitudinal and latitudinal subdivisions. The higher it is, the smoother the sphere. The default value is often enough (20+).

Start / End Angle (in degrees, default: 0° - 360°)

Portion of the sphere to draw. 0°-180° = half-sphere. 0°-90° = quarter sphere.

Start / End Latitude (default: -90° - 90°)

Cuts the sphere vertically. Start Latitude = 0° + End Latitude = 90° = upper cap. Useful to create domes.

Radius

Cylinder radius.

Height

Cylinder height.

Start / End Angle (default: 0° - 360°)

Portion of the cylinder. Lets you make an open half-cylinder (gutter).

Subdivision Level

Radial and height subdivisions.

Bottom Cap / Top Cap (default: all checked)

Checkboxes to include the caps (discs at the ends) or not. Uncheck both = a tube open at both ends.

Bottom Radius

Radius of the base.

Top Radius (default: 0)

Radius of the tip. At 0 = a classic cone. At > 0 = a truncated cone (a cylinder with different top/bottom radii).

Height

Cone height.

Start / End Angle

Radial portion, as for the cylinder.

Bottom Cap / Top Cap

Disc caps. For a classic cone (Top Radius = 0), Top Cap makes no sense.

Radius

Torus radius (distance from the center to the center of the tube).

Section

Tube radius (thickness). A Section = 0.5×Radius gives a standard torus. High Section → a chunky "donut". Very low Section → a thin ring.

Subdivision Level

Subdivisions along the large circle and the small circle (section).

Start / End Angle

Lets you draw an arc of the torus instead of the full torus (useful for animated energy rings).

Wireframe (default: off)

Wireframe render. Requires a Renderer 3D in OpenGL mode.

The Materials, Transform and Settings tabs share the options common to all 3D nodes.

When you apply an equirectangular (LatLong) texture - 360° HDRI, panorama - to a partial sphere (Start Angle/Latitude ≠ defaults), the result can be unexpected:

• Direct connection (texture → Shape 3D): the texture is stretched to fill the portion of the sphere.
• Through a Sphere Map node: the texture is cropped correctly - the piece of sphere shows exactly the matching part of the LatLong.

Rule: for a correct render on half-spheres or caps, always route the LatLong through a Sphere Map before the Shape 3D.

• Minimal 3D set - several Shape 3D nodes (ground plane, cube for a wall, cylinders for columns) + Projector 3D for the textures = a quick set with no external modeling.
• Environment dome - Sphere with Latitude 0°-90° + HDRI texture through Sphere Map = a sky dome visible from the scene.
• Open cylinder (tube) - Cylinder without caps = pipe, duct, glowing neon.
• Truncated cone - Top Radius > 0 = lamp shade, wine glass, cup.
• Energy ring - Torus with partial Start/End Angle + an animated End Angle = a ring that draws itself progressively.
• Plane for a flag - a highly subdivided Plane (40×40) + Custom Vertex 3D with a wave formula = an animated flag.
• Tracking placeholder - a Cube or Sphere on the ground of a filmed shot to validate a camera tracker solve.

• Default subdivision is enough - for a clean sphere/cylinder render, the default values (12-24) work for 90% of uses. Only raise them if:
  • you are going to deform the primitive (Displace, Bender)
  • the object fills a lot of the screen in the render (large sphere in the foreground)
• Partial angles - all angles (Start/End Angle, Start/End Latitude) are signed degrees. 0° = positive X axis, 90° = positive Y axis (OpenGL convention).
• Cube Mapping vs 6 inputs - Shape 3D in Cube mode only offers one material input. For different textures per face, use Cube 3D instead, which has 6 dedicated inputs.
• Sphere = UV pole singularity - all the vertices at a sphere's poles share the same UV point. Textures can look "pinched" at the poles. This is normal, and there is no simple workaround without rethinking the UV mapping.
• Torus with Section = 0 - don't try it, the geometry becomes degenerate. Keep Section > 0.01 at least.
• Animating the End Angle of a torus or cylinder from 0° to 360° gives a nice progressive build effect (like After Effects' "Radial Wipe").