How do I use the Multiply combine mode to fade a texture into a dish or bowl shape cleanly?

The Multiply combine mode is a powerful and often overlooked mode. Instead of adding, subtracting, or keeping the higher or lower value, Multiply multiplies the result of everything below it by the heights in the Multiply component. That makes it a good way to fade a texture smoothly into a carved dish.

How Multiply Works

In the official documentation's words, where there is an overlap, Multiply multiplies the result of all the previous components in the list by the heights in this component. In practice the Multiply component acts like a mask over everything below it:

• Where the Multiply component is high, the components below keep a strong effect.
• Where the Multiply component is at zero height, the result below is pulled to zero (flat).
• Where it has in-between heights, the result below is scaled down in proportion.

The Multiply component therefore controls the strength of everything below it at each point on the surface. The exact scaling depends on the heights involved, so judge the result in the 3D view and test on scrap.

The Classic Use Case: Texture in a Dish

Problem: you have a circular dish (a concave area) with a texture inside it. The texture looks fine in the center but has a hard edge where it meets the wall of the dish.

Solution using Multiply:

1. Create the dish with a dome-shaped component set to Subtract, with Base Height left at 0, on a lower Level.
2. Create the texture component (Add) on a Level above the dish.
3. Create a gradient dome: draw a circle the same size as the dish interior and make a dome from it (a Round shape in Aspire). It is highest in the center and falls to zero at the edges.
4. Put the dome on the same Level as the texture, directly above the texture, and set its Combine Mode to Multiply. If the dome is placed above the dish as well, it also scales the dish below it.
5. At the center, where the dome is high, the texture keeps its strength. At the edges, where the dome falls to zero, the texture fades to nothing.

The result is a texture that fades into the walls of the dish without a hard transition line.

Other Multiply Applications

• Vignetting a background texture: fade a pattern from strong in the center to zero at the edges of a sign.
• Depth-aware overlays: use a Multiply component shaped like your subject to make background detail recede where the foreground is strong.
• Soft edge blending: anywhere you need a component to gradually disappear rather than cut off sharply.

Step-by-Step: Texture Fade in a Dish

1. Draw a circle matching the dish interior diameter.
2. Create a Round shape from it with a moderate height (this is your gradient dome).
3. In the Component Tree, place the dome directly above the texture, on the same Level as the texture.
4. Set its Combine Mode to Multiply (double-click the component to open Component Properties, or use the right-click menu).
5. Adjust the dome height to change the fade. A taller dome keeps the texture strong across more of the dish before it fades.
6. Preview in 3D. The texture should fade smoothly at the dish edges.

Common Mistakes

• Using a Multiply component with no zero regions. If it never reaches zero it does not fade anything.
• Placing the Multiply component below the texture in the tree. Multiply scales everything below it, so the texture must be below the Multiply component.
• Letting the Multiply dome also sit above the dish, so the dish is scaled too. Keep the dish on a lower Level.
• Confusing Multiply with Low. They give very different results.

For all five combine modes and when to use each, see the entry on how the Combine Modes work.