diff --git a/src/mol-util/array.ts b/src/mol-util/array.ts
index d9c19419b1ee4a0f91f79f54033f72ee1c56e65e..fae588111095541e1614aca6a6b40b0010602c7a 100644
--- a/src/mol-util/array.ts
+++ b/src/mol-util/array.ts
@@ -54,7 +54,13 @@ export function arrayRms(array: ArrayLike<number>) {
 
 /** Fill an array with serial numbers starting from 0 until n - 1 (defaults to array.length) */
 export function fillSerial<T extends NumberArray> (array: T, n?: number) {
-    for (let i = 0, il = n ? Math.min(n, array.length) : array.length; i < il; ++i) array[ i ] = i
+    for (let i = 0, il = n ? Math.min(n, array.length) : array.length; i < il; ++i) array[i] = i
+    return array
+}
+
+/** Fill an array with value starting from index 0 until n - 1 (defaults to array.length) */
+export function fillUniform<T extends NumberArray> (array: T, v: number, n?: number) {
+    for (let i = 0, il = n ? Math.min(n, array.length) : array.length; i < il; ++i) array[i] = v
     return array
 }