Quick Tip: Shift Random Using Sine Function

One of the most useful features in Cycles in the “Random” object property. One common use for this is to change the color of instances and objects randomly. Using in conjunction with a ramp, a high degree of control is achieved.

Sometimes, however, it is useful to reassign the color assignment while still maintaining randomness.

Simply using a using a math function like multiply and add will at first appear to do the trick. However, this will skew the distribution of colors.

To solve this, I used an absolute sine function multipled to the random property to offset the value. This will essentially cause each color to cycle through the range of colors provided in a round-robin sort of fashion: