Landscape Layers (Terrain Texturing)
Painting materials onto terrain
Also known as: Unreal Landscape layers · Unity Terrain layers · Landscape layer blend · Terrain painting · Landscape grass output · Weight blended layers
Definition
Landscape layers are the materials that are painted onto terrain, such as grass, rock, soil and snow, each with its own set of textures. In Unreal Engine the Landscape material uses a Layer Blend node, where each layer has a weight painted on the terrain, and the weights can be blended by simple weight or by height so rocks poke through soil. Unity Terrain uses terrain layers with painted masks. Layers can also drive the automatic spawning of grass and other foliage on top of them.
In production
Keep the layer count within the sampler and performance limits, usually a handful of layers per material, and share textures where possible. Use height-based blending for natural transitions, add macro variation to hide tiling, and use layer information to spawn grass and rocks. Paint with a mix of broad brushes and procedural masks from slope and height, and refine by hand in the visible areas.
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Tools that use Landscape Layers (Terrain Texturing)
See also
Landscape Texture Tiling Visible
Repeating patterns on terrain from a distance
Height-Based Material Blending
Blending materials using their height maps
Terrain Heightmap
Grayscale image that defines terrain elevation
Virtual Texture
Stream only the visible tiles of a texture
Anti-Tiling
Hide repetition in tileable textures
Vertex Painting
Painting blend masks directly on mesh vertices