Stadium Stairs Procedural Geometry Node For Blender 3.1+

This procedural geometry node was inspired by Blender tutorials on YouTube, especially a procedural stairs geometry node tutorial by Blender Bash. A special staircase type called stadium or bleacher stairs is something I am focused on for ArchViz so I thought I'd give creating a geometry node for it a try. Presently, you see these "stadium stairs" in more places than older stadiums. They are in museums, tech offices, libraries, schools, outdoor parks, etc. Check out my Pinterest board -> MultiFunction Stadium Stairs to see architectural examples of them around the world. Make stairs a more creative design element in interior spaces with this procedural geometry node in Blender. Use this Stadium Stairs geometry node as a start, then model spaces with them. Try adding built-in bookcases or storage compartments or integrating a minimal kitchen underneath. Previously, I modeled stadium stairs using ArchiMesh or ArchiPack or just with the array modifier but this geometry node might shave off some time in creating them. You can easily modify the geometry node to fit your needs, perhaps adding your own design options to share. To download it for free just enter 0 for the price, although I wouldn't mind some beer funds thrown my way if you find it useful later.

Usage

If you download and drop the stadium stairs blend file into your asset folder, an asset called "StadiumStairs" should show up in the unassigned category. You can then drag it into your 3D view and play with the geometry node modifier properties to create your stadium stairs.

Drag and append from Asset Browser if blend file copied to a configured assets folder.

Alternatively, you can use the "Append..." menu item under the "File" menu, open the blend file, navigate down to the "Objects" folder and choose the "StadiumStairs" mesh object to "Append" to your current session.

Append the "Stadium Stairs" located in the "Objects" folder within the blend file.

Core Stadium Stairs Input Fields

The core input fields are the number of "Number of Stadium Steps", the "Stadium Step Tread" for depth, the "Stadium Rise" for height, and the "Width (Center Blocks)". The "Number of Center Blocks" field allows you to create blocks of stadium stairs that are adjacent to each other. The blocks of stairs come in handy when you want to carve out extra features like bookcases or shelves into your stadium stairs. If you don't need this array just set it to 1.

Main stadium stair input fields. The example above has 4 stadium blocks and no options for the middle staircase and right and left sides.

Adding Staircase Options to Stadium Stair Blocks

With stadium stairs, you usually need commonly scaled stairs which I will to refer as "staircases" to climb up and down them. The main goal of this geometry node is to offer options to add these normal staircases embedded within the stadium stairs or on either side. I also added some options to have stadium stairs configured in a corner or pyramidal shape which can be added to either side of the main stadium stairs.

Embedded Middle Staircase Options

Options to add a movable embedded staircase to your stadium stairs are selected by using the "Middle Options (0 - 3)" field. This field takes an integer value from 0 to 3 and the type of staircase added for each value is depicted below. The two other middle option fields can be used to set the width of the embedded staircase and an offset distance from the center of the main stadium blocks.

Middle input Fields - option type, width, and offset from the center

Right or Left Side Options

There are 6 types of optional elements to add on the right and/or left side of the main stadium stair blocks. The side options field takes an integer value from 0 to 6 and the types of available sides for each integer value are depicted below. Each side has an input field for the total width of the side option.

The staircase options (1 or 2) are created by halving the rise and tread dimensions and then doubling the number of stairs of the stadium stairs inputs. The "Inset" staircase has one less stair than the "Flush" and starts inward 1/2 the tread depth of a stadium stair. The "Flush" staircase's 1st step is flush with the stadium stairs.

For the pyramid and corner options, the dimension for the rise or height is automatically set to be the same as the main stadium stair rise height. The width and tread dimensions for elements of each row are automatically calculated and set based on the total width set for the side and the number of stadium steps. You will need to play around with the total side widths to make the pyramid and corners look proportional.

Option 4 (Pyramid Blocks) and Option 6 (Corner Blocks) Stadium Stairs Limit of 12.

If you chose option 4 or 6 there is a limit on the number of stadium stairs that you can set. For any stadium stairs count greater than 12, these options will not create the side stadium blocks after 12. If you want something greater than 12 stadium steps, use option 3 instead of 4 for a pyramid side and option 5 instead of 6 for a corner side. The implementation for Options 4 and 6 are hardcoded and not really procedural. If you really need to create stadium stairs greater than 12 for Option 4 or 6, you can easily modify the geometry node group for Option 4 by doing some copying, pasting, and connecting geometry nodes for the amount greater than 12 stadium stairs you need.

Imperial Units

The last field allows the interpretation of width, tread, rise, and offset parameters as imperial units for us guys and gals living in the U.S. Set this field to "1" for imperial units or keep it at the default "0" for metric units.

Stadium Stairs Blend File

If you open the StadiumStairs blend file in Blender, it will have two collections called "StadiumStairsGroups" and "SideOptionsGroups". Within these two collections are geometry node groups with a descriptive name corresponding to a mesh object to illustrate how everything came together. These smaller geometry node groups are used to build the main "StadiumStairs" asset to make things more modular. The geometry node groups in the "StadiumStairsGroup" collection can also be used individually, instead of using the main "StadiumStairs" asset, or can be used to create your own stadium stair options or features with geometry nodes. The side options for the corner types were easily built by transforming or inverting the pyramid types (the corners are upside-down pyramids!).

Two collections with meshes of each geometry node group.

A YouTube tutorial on using the "Stadium Stairs" procedural geometry node is in the making. A second YouTube will cover the contents of the blend file and explain the geometry node structure and groups. Stayed tuned.

Ideas for more options and improvements:

• landings at top of stairs
• three steps for each stadium stair for staircases (currently two steps are created for each stadium stair.
• reduce or merge un-needed and hidden faces
• handrails? (or recommend using ArchPack instead)

Website: https://unstableorder.art