Texturing

Height-Based Material Blending

Blending materials using their height maps

Also known as: Height blend · Height lerp · Height-based blending · Material height blend · Heightmap blend · Layer blend height

Environment Texturing Technique

Definition

Height-based material blending mixes two materials using their height maps, so the blend follows the shape of the surface instead of fading evenly. Where the blend value is low, the material with the higher surface at that point shows through, so soil settles in the cracks of a stone wall, moss grows in the gaps of cobblestones and snow collects on the high points. It gives much more natural transitions than a plain gradient, and it is widely used with vertex painting and landscape layers.

In production

Provide a good height map for each material, from Substance Designer or Painter, and a blend mask, such as vertex color or a landscape weight, then add a contrast value to control how sharp the edge is. In Unreal Engine the Layer Blend and height lerp functions do this, and in Unity Shader Graph a custom blend setup. Check that heights are balanced between materials, since a flat height map gives a plain fade.