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Using Terrain Editor Tools
The Editing tools are organized in three tabs:
- Elevation - contains tools for generating terrains, and applying effects.
- Filtering - contains tools for fine-tuning the gray levels in your Terrain Canvas.
- Pictures - contains tools for importing a picture to use as a height map.
To access a tab:
- Click the tab label. The tools associated with that tab move to the front. By default, the Elevation tools are in front.
Most of the tools in the Terrain Editor are displayed as control dots. These dots let you apply an effect or operation to the terrain gradually or at 100%.
To apply an editing tool to the Terrain Canvas:
1 Move the cursor over the tool you want to use.
Starting a New Terrain
By default, when you open the Terrain Editor, the terrain you selected in the Working window appears in the Terrain Canvas. If you want to begin with a new, flat Terrain Canvas, use the New button.
To create a new Terrain Canvas:
A flat black image appears in the Terrain Canvas.
To gradually flatten your terrain:
The existing Terrain Canvas gradually fades to black.
Many of the effects in the Elevation tab require grayscale values. If you apply these effects to a black map they may have no effect.
To reset your terrain:
The Terrain Canvas is reset to the terrain that appeared when you first opened the editor.
Inverting Terrains
Since the Terrain Editor uses brightness to determine altitude, you can change mountains into canyons by inverting the black and white values in your image.
To invert your terrain image:
2 Click the Invert button, or press Command/Ctrl+I.
All the black areas of your image become white and white areas become black.
To gradually invert your terrain image:
The black areas in the Terrain Canvas progressively turn white.
Undoing Operations
You can reverse any effect you apply to your terrain using the Undo button. You can toggle between Undo and Redo by clicking the Undo button repeatedly.
To undo operations in the Terrain Editor:
1 On the Elevation tab, click the Undo button, or press Command/Ctrl+Z
The last operation you applied is undone.
Eroding Terrains
Erosion simulates the effects of water erosion on your terrain objects. The calculations simulate rainfall and runoff based on the shades of gray progressing towards black. This effect works best on terrains that have large sloping areas.
The Erode button simulates the effects of erosion over relatively short periods of time, like decades. To simulate the effects of centuries of erosion, use the Eroded tool.
To erode terrains:
2 Click the Erode button. To gradually apply erosion, click and drag while the pointer is over the Erode button.
Using the Zoom Area
When the Zoom Area is active, only a small portion of your terrain is displayed in the 3D Preview. The 3D Preview displays the zoomed-in portion of your Terrain Canvas. You can use this feature to see small variations in the surface of your terrain. The Zoom Area can be moved to any point on your Terrain Canvas.
You can always paint while the Zoom Area is active; in fact this is a nice way to paint in the Terrain Canvas while previewing a small section in the 3D Preview to observe details.
To turn the Zoom Area on or off:
This toggles a marquee on your Terrain Canvas.
To move the Zoom area:
1 Move your pointer over an edge of the Zoom Area marquee. The pointer changes to a hand tool.
2 Drag the marquee to an area in the Terrain Canvas.
To resize the Zoom area:
1 Move the pointer over a corner of the Zoom Area marquee. The pointer changes to an arrowhead cursor.
2 Drag away from the center of the marquee to enlarge the Zoom Area, or towards the center to shrink the area.
To scale the zoom area to fill the Terrain Canvas:
The contents of your Zoom Area are scaled to fill the entire Terrain Canvas area. The Zoom Area contents replace the existing contents of the Terrain Canvas.
This feature can be useful for creating new terrains from larger high-resolution terrains.
To fit the contents of the Terrain Canvas into the Zoom Area:
The entire contents of your Terrain Canvas are scaled down to fit into the Zoom Area marquee. The rest of the Terrain Canvas is filled with black.
Elevation Tools
The Elevation tools are preset effects that apply calculations to your Terrain Canvas. The tools are divided into three categories on the tab: Source Generator, Basic Tools, and Special Effects.
Source Generators create basic terrain surfaces. The Basic Tools edit the overall shape of your terrain, and Special Effects add realism to your terrain's surface.
You can create a terrain by combining effects. For example, you can start off creating a basic terrain using the Fractal tool, then create realistic ridges by applying the Erode tool. From there you can fine-tune your terrain by applying Spikes, creating Mounds or adding Cross Ridges. Finally, you can define the basic shape of your terrain by blurring the edges.
To use an elevation tool:
2 Click an effect tool. 100% of the effect is applied to the Terrain Canvas.
3 Click the tool again to increase the intensity of the effect.
Most elevation effects can also be applied gradually.
To apply an elevation effect gradually:
1 Move the pointer over an Elevation tool. The pointer changes to a two-headed arrow.
2 Click and drag to the left to increase the effect or click and drag to the right to decrease it.
Fractal
The Fractal tool creates terrains based on fractal patterns. It can be applied to an existing image and it can be applied gradually.
Eroded
This tool applies natural erosion to your terrain. It can be applied to either a blank image or an existing image. You can also gradually apply erosion to an image. The Eroded tool is a more intense version of the Erode tool.
Notice that when animating this type of terrain, material is actually added to the terrain, not removed from it as you might expect.
Picture
This tool creates terrains from imported images. When you click this tool, the Open dialog appears. You can use this dialog to locate and load a picture to use as a Terrain Canvas. Refer to "Working with Pictures" for more information.
Using this tool you can import an image map created in another application like Painter or Photoshop.
Raise/Lower
This tool adjusts the brightness of your Terrain Canvas. Click and drag to the right to lower your height map or click and drag to the left to raise it. Single clicks gradually lower the map.
Sharpening
This tool sharpens the gray values in your Terrain Canvas. Click and drag left to increase sharpening and right to decrease it.
Smoothing
This tool blurs the Terrain Canvas. Click and drag right to decrease the blurring effect or left to increase it.
Smoothing is especially effective prior to using the Erode button, since the Erode algorithm works best when there are shades of gray in an image. If your canvas has too many sharp black to white transitions, the Erode may not be as effective.
Gaussian Edges
This tool does not blur your map. It creates a "Gaussian curve" from dark to light, starting from the edges of your Terrain Canvas. This creates edges that gradually transition from dark to light, or start at the lowest possible altitude, and gradually progress into higher altitudes.
Gaussian Edges eliminates the seams between ground and terrain objects, when the ground plane and the terrain have the same surface material. You should apply this tool to any terrain that is going to be sitting on a ground plane in your scene.
Square Edges
This tool creates an abrupt drop at the edges of your terrain. Use this tool when you have a terrain whose edges are not level, and you do not wish to use the Gaussian Edges tool for soft transitions.
You can add a slope to the square edges of your terrain by applying this tool gradually. Click and drag left to increase the slope and right to decrease it.
Round Edges
This tool creates an abrupt circular drop at the edges of your terrain. You can add a slope to the round edges of your terrain by applying this tool gradually. Click and drag left to increase the slope and right to decrease it.
Basic Noise
This tool adds roughness to your terrain's surface by adding noise to the Terrain Canvas. Click and drag left to increase the noise and right to decrease it.
Slope Noise
This tool adds roughness to any sloping surfaces in your terrain. Click and drag left to increase the noise and right to decrease it.
Slope Noise has no effect on flat surfaces. More noise is added to steep slopes.
Height Noise
This tool adds small amounts of noise at lower altitudes and more noise at higher altitudes. Click and drag left to increase the noise and right to decrease it.
Image Filtering Effects
These tools, located below the Noise tool, apply filters to your terrain that act like image filters. They can change the look of the terrain without altering its basic shape.
Spikes
This tool adds spiky structures to your map. When you apply the right material to these structures they can look remarkably like trees when viewed from a distance.
Mounds
This tool adds midsized splotches to your canvas. You can use this tool to create the appearance of stones or boulders under transparent water planes.
Dampen
This tool works like a contrast control. It will push gray values towards either black or white depending on where the gray value falls in the black/white range. Less than 50% goes to black, greater than 50% goes to white.
Equalize
This tool acts like the Equalize function you may have seen in 2D image editing applications. It redistributes gray values in your Terrain Canvas such that a full range from black to white is present in your canvas.
Posterize
This tool stratifies the gray levels in your Terrain Canvas, resulting in stair-stepped terrain structures. This is a good tool for creating desert plateaus.
Mosaic
This tool is not a button on the Elevation tab. To use this tool, hold down Opt/Alt as you drag over the Posterize button.
Mosaic creates highly pixelated square structures based on the gray content of your canvas.
This tool is excellent for instant cityscapes. Try adding one of the sci-fi city materials from the Preset Materials Library to a Mosaic terrain.
Sawtooth
This tool modifies your Terrain Canvas based on a sawtooth waveform structure. The results look like desert canyons and icebergs.
Subcontours
This tool works like a contrast control with the threshold set almost at white. Most values are pushed to black while only the very lightest are pushed to white. Subcontours produces spiky peaks with very low, gently sloping contours.
Blob Maker
This tool creates a smooth, circular structure within your existing Terrain Canvas. Click and drag left or right to change the size of the structure. Click and drag up and down to set the vertical location of the structure.
Relief Noise
This tool acts like an emboss effect. It will emboss the grayscale data in your canvas and convert it to height information.
Raise Edges
This tool acts like an inverted version of the Square Edges tool. It creates abrupt increases in altitude at the edges of your terrain.
Subplateaus
This tool smears your grayscale data in one direction while averaging the gray values. The result is natural structures not unlike those created by the Mounds effect, except that these structures are more directly related to your original gray data.
Because it creates boulder-like structures, this tool is good for making tidepools.
Cross Ridges
This tool creates sharp ridges in a cross pattern. It creates very interesting canal-like structures.
Cross Ridges 2
This tool is the inverse of the Cross Ridges tool. Instead of creating canals, it creates peaks.
Bubble Ridges
Similar to the Blob Maker, the spherical structure this tool creates is of a consistent size. Dragging this button allows you to place the structure anywhere you like in your canvas.
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