Translated by the club Translated by everyone
So now we know how to create terrains in GAI, then let's improve our terrain
we will combine, correct and mask different parts of the landscape
Well, then at the end we will paint
build and export our landscape
I started a new scene again
and in this example we will start with the canyon primitive
the canyons already have a lot of details
but also note that they start above zero
look
so here we turn on drop to floor and lower them again
why is this necessary? this is because when we combine with another node
let's say with the range node
we will have a terrain at the bottom
that is, we will have a small height, we can do remapping
but if we immediately lower it by turning on drop to floor, we will immediately simplify the task
now to connect them, we drag the connection like this and connect
and immediately it turns out pretty good, but something can be changed
very often here the combine node is used
it has familiar overlay modes like photoshop or other program for compositing
for example, a good option is blend
or with the help of a mouse wheel you can change different options
screen, subtract and add
and when we connected the combine, we can discuss the input and output options at the same time
in the combine node we have the opportunity to add a mask
if I pull it out like this
we can add a mask to the main node
and when we connect the main node
we can also add a mask to the main node
and when we connect the main node
we can add a mask to the main node
and we can also add a mask to the main node
if I pull it out like this and in the selected one I will take a mask
or you could take it in the primitive menu
I will immediately open 2d view
and now I can edit this mask
it will be like in Houdini
here we start to draw
and in the end we see the area where the canyon is added
since the canyon is connected to the second input
in this mode we see how the height map is changed
if you want to see only the mask, then press F
and as in Houdini it will be red
that is, we see it well
you can also fix the combine by selecting pin as underlay
and when we work in this node
we will immediately see this selected area
although I will change the mask a little more
above you can change the size of the brush
the force of pressing
you can erase the place of drawing
that is, you can delete something
in general, this is how you work with the mask
I will unhook the node
and look, our canyon appears only in certain places
super
now I will switch to blend mode again
and we got such a good deep canyon
but maybe you want to move it somewhere
for this you need the transform node
this time I will press TAB and enter the transform
I will delete this connection
and connect here
and so now we have a transform here
you can press B and skip this transform
here we can turn it on and off
and compare the result before and after
however, with the transform we have one problem here
when we move something, we have zero here in the end
so we have to go back to the mask
and of course we have to fix it
to fix this, you can turn on fill edges
and everything will be fine
if we go to the node combine
then this problem will not be
we have a small gap
but this, in principle, should have been expected
because here we have this mountain ridge
and so again returning to the masks
maybe we want to use
at the exit of the mask
to see the result
you can add the FX node
we connect it here
and I will show only the unprocessed data
so we can see
how this mask would look
it would be possible to connect only it
and the canyon we see only where it is displayed
on this map
and of course it will become even more obvious
when we use snow and rivers
but in the end the mask will be where there is snow or water
and we can use it when coloring
and processing the surface
and we can change the relief in any convenient way
and this is the result
we have a mask
and we can use it when coloring
and processing the surface
and we can change the relief in any convenient way
and the last thing to say about the Combine node
here you can change the ratio
you can make more or less canyons
or change the input data in places
here it is not particularly noticeable
but here it simply changes
what you connect
to the first input, and what to the second
with this mask it would be clearer
see, it disappears now
remember in one of the previous lessons
we discussed
satellite data
that is, real high-altitude maps
that can be used in Houdini
I think it would be great to try to use them
here too
of course it is quite possible
here you need to add a node file
and now open the guide
and find the file
I will take the high-altitude map
that we took in Houdini
first of all, of course,
something is not clear
but it's okay
it can be fixed
instead of RAV here I will change to remap
and the scale will immediately decrease
you can also turn on drop to floor
if the field was a little above zero
but I'm fine
everything is fine
and everything immediately turns out as it should be
but maybe it doesn't look
exactly as you want
if you
adjust the level
some information will return
or you can add a node for
gamma correction
it will change the curve
and I will return some details
and then you can
add a curve node
and again
balance a little
the upper part
becomes too big
compared to the lower one
but in my opinion it looks good, I like it
just a little more
remove the mountain
I will lower it a little
here you can correct this curve
super
looks a little blurred because we have a very low resolution
if you change to 1k
more details appear
2k
and so on
more information appears from the map
looks cool
and of course
you can use any nodes
you can add erosion
I don't want to change too much
but you can try
erosion
you can add rivers, lakes
let's see what happens
I will add lakes
lakes
lower a little lower
super
of course I can add and add
something else, but I think
it's too much, you already understood the idea
before we move on to
surface processing
I want to show how to create
more high quality terrain for large plans
in this example we will start with the node
slope noise
it is perfect for creating
any terrain
and you can add a rocky node
I will reduce the scale
make it more relief
and increase the displacement
and so I get a lot of information
that will be useful to us
when we move on to erosion
and this time I want to add
stratify
it will do all the basic work
only instead of normal I will choose the slant style
great
and I will increase stratification
and so I get a lot of information
that will be useful to us
when we move on to
surface processing
and so I get a lot of information
that will be useful to us
when we move on to stratification
now we can add erosion
great
but I want to increase
sediment removal
I want these channels to be more obvious
I want to make
a more interesting base
so I will add
the node badlands
and so we will have such interesting
rocky details
then we combine
and use the mask
here
no, not there
here
so we have
such interesting forms
in the base
I will increase it to 2k
and if we make 4k
we will have
much more details
ok, let's move on to
surface processing
of course, work on the surface
is also a special kind of art
and it can also be as
complex as you need it
and there are two approaches to this
we can add
information to GAIA and export
the albedo map
or we can just export
masks from here, which then
use in another 3d program
it all depends on
what the landscape will be like
if it's a front or a middle plan
I would use masks
and then I would work with them in Houdini
but if it's just the background
then the options for
surface processing that is in GAIA
are also quite suitable
and now we move on to
the second part of the tool set
starting with the data section
data is the data
that can be used to
generate all the masks
for both export and use
here, for example, slope
great example
just before adding
these nodes, I will reduce the resolution
to 1k so that it is faster
and look, if I
show the rough data here
you see
what is happening here and how
it can be changed
we only need steep slopes
something like that
in many landscapes
there are rocks
so you can export such a mask in Houdini
and thus
use displacement and create
rocks or you can invert
in general, creating
landscape textures
and for organic breeds
is not so easy
there is a lot of information
that is very difficult to use
and reproduce intuitively
especially when you need to create
something realistic
and in my opinion the best resource
for this, including for references
when you create maps
albedo for landscapes
is Megascans
if you have Megascans
Bridge
you can open it and here
turn on the whole screen
and switch to albedo
and here you can see how
PBR scan of the landscape looks
these are the details
need to be added in your
landscape
in the past I used this
to create a rock, for example
look how the rock scan looks
these are the details
need to be added
some of them will be difficult to add
in Gaia, but you can add
them in Substance or in Houdini
for example
but you can at least create
masks in Gaia to simplify
this process
so let's go back to Gaia
and I will show you maps
that I use most often
this is slope
flow
curvature
height
angle
and soil
let's quickly
look at them
this is curvature
if you have seen
the curvature map before
then you should know it
of course you can change
the minimum and maximum values
and the fall between them
it works with bulges and curved edges
then flow
I showed it before
here I usually
turn on primary and secondary
and turn off the rest
so you get larger flows
and here you can
increase the quality by reducing the ratio
then height
it's very convenient to create
gradients
so you get
such a transition from top to bottom
you can invert it either here
or in another program
where you will work further
there is also angle
and the same thing
you can also invert it here
or in another program
where you will work further
here you can also invert it here
there is also angle
it's very useful
for creating atmospheric effects
very often when you create
a rocky surface
moisture accumulates
or something like that
so this node is very useful
again you can invert it
if you need another side
and finally soil
it shows where you have soil
it looks like a flow map
except that we have
lags in some difficult places
so you can use it in GAIA
or export it for use
in another program
so we move on to work on the surface
we will use setmaps nodes
these are gorgeous nodes
for this reason
I used quadspinner for the first time
I used their color nodes
in world machine
these gradients are created
based on satellite data
so you can be sure that you will get
accurate information about the color of the surface
very realistic
if I connect
and we choose something more suitable
and turn off the rough data filter
let's say this one
we will get a very interesting color
this is only thanks to setmaps nodes
and then we will distribute these colors
in layers using masks
but so far it turns out very cool
you can choose something else
I have a rock color
it's quite suitable for me
and here you can change the color ratio
you can move these points
you can change the bias shift
from left to right
you can even add a little noise
so you add additional information
and for mixing we again take the combine node
and we will add a little noise
and now let's say
we want to use flow
and create a mask
for creating a mask
I will take the color node
although you can also take the clutter
although quick color also works well
and see what happens
let's say we want here a light orange color
and we will add a little noise
and now let's see what happens
and then we connect to the second input
and take the mask
let's make it so that it is clearly visible
I will choose something more obvious
cool
and see what happens
it's hard to see because of the shadows
in general, this is how you can work
on Albedo's map in Gaia
and of course the result will be more obvious
if you use snowfall
for example
I will try to add
and adjust as we did before
super
and then again add the combine node
I'll take another quick color
and connect a snow mask here
and so
and here on the peaks we will have snow
and then
and here
and there
and it will be more obvious
ok, I think that's enough
so we'll stop
I think we have already
studied enough tools
to create something cool
and in conclusion
of course you need to export all this
to use in another program
but before we get so far
I want to show the last node
This is a node from the rendering tab, the Light node.
We have in the viewport settings for changing lighting.
But in my opinion they are not particularly predictable, with the Light node it will be much more convenient.
Let me connect it.
And you also need to transfer the geometry here.
And color.
Super, now we can move the sun.
And you can move it so that we have shadows, like this, for example.
Well, plus you can turn on the perspective here.
This is this button.
And there is an atmosphere tab.
You can change the aerial perspective.
And you can also change the light.
In the Light node you can change the direct lighting, turn it off, turn it on.
You can change the surrounding lighting, change the exposure and so on.
All this should be familiar to you.
Okay, now we go to the Build menu.
You probably noticed that here in the upper right corner is the Build menu.
And from here we start to export all these nodes.
And in the next section of the parameters window we have the Output nodes.
I will add a Mesher and Output.
Mesher, as you know, is used to create a mesh, and the Output node is used to save maps.
For the mesh I will take the last node of the height.
I'll connect it to this one.
And for the map I need the last pass of Albedo.
Here you can rename them.
Let's call it Terrain.
Of course, you can call it whatever you want.
And this is Albedo.
Now I will open the Mesher properties.
Here you can select the type of file.
OBJ is suitable.
You can increase the number of vertices.
Probably I will do it.
Here you can select triangles or quad.
And you can configure the LODs.
The Output node is a little easier.
Here you just choose what format you need.
For Albedo, I usually choose PNG.
I'm quite tired.
And in the Build menu you choose either Normal Build and change the resolution.
It all depends on how much memory you have.
It's quite a lot if you have 16K.
And of course you will need to calculate all these nodes, and for this you need the appropriate amount of memory.
Here you change the color space and the range.
Next, you need to indicate the path to save the file and start the Build.
We export everything we have.
And we also need masks.
The easiest way to export them is to click with the right button on any node you want to export.
And choose Mark for Export.
And you can see that the mask is already there.
And now I will show you how to export the mask.
You need to click with the right button on any node you want to export.
And select Mark for Export.
It should appear here.
You can rename it here, change the type of file.
And you can view all of them and mark them in this way.
Of course, you can export only the high card.
You can add another Output node.
And connect the last node.
Which will work with the high card.
So we export only the high card.
And then we use it for displacement.
And the last, but very important, is the normal cards.
I create them quite often.
You need to add Normal Map.
Connect the high.
And again, connect the Output.
Or to this one or to the new one.
And just in case, you can invert Y here.
And that's it, we're done.
But I would like to mention a few more things.
First of all, I would like to mention that the mask is already there.
And I would like to mention a few more things.
First of all, from the point of view of the organization, it is recommended to divide the graphs where you build the geometry and where you process the surface.
It will be more neat and convenient.
You create a new graph, call it Surfacing.
And here, after you finish with the surface, you can export everything from here.
And import using portals.
So you create portals here to export these nodes.
And here too.
And then in this graph Surfacing, you again import everything back with portals.
Another thing I wanted to draw your attention to is these little icons at the bottom.
Here is a screenshot, I think it's clear what it is.
There is also a Sample Height.
So you can check the height of the mesh.
You type in the cursor and it says that it is 1000 meters.
Sometimes it is useful to know.
This is if you want to do the same in another 3D program.
You can stop the build with Spend Build.
This is like if you transferred the Houdini to manual mode and then turned it on again.
Here you can view the statistics and just check what took the most time.
And you can also clear the cache.
You can click or clear both the landscape and the cache viewport.
And the last thing I would like to say is vegetation.
I left it last because I usually draw all the vegetation in Houdini.
But if you wanted to add it here, there is a special option.
I personally chose only shrubs in the bushes.
Here will be such a ground coating.
The problem is that we are losing a lot of important information about lighting.
So I will not show you the details of the lighting.
I will show you the details of the lighting.
Here you can see the grass.
I wanted to do a breakdown with you.
No message was put in the chat, so I deleted the rest.
Now you can see all the names,
ildings we have identified.
But it was not very small.
Then you can choose the name of supermajor in the past,
so I decided to omit that name.
I wanted a small picture,
Okay, let's finish it. I think that's enough.
It was a pretty detailed review of this program.
I think it's time for us to return to Houdini.