Heightmap creation - Deterasse Layers

[roman_triller]

Hey, guys!

Trying to make my first heightmap with GIMP. I set up some contour layers (each grayscale color is a single layer), but what's the best option for deterasse them? I tried using the smudge tool in gimp and the Gaussian blur, but I don't like the results and the terasses are still visible.

[Redrobes]

There isn't any special method you just need a lot of contours to start with. You need to smooth them out using the gaussian blur but your blur size will have to be larger than the bands used which means that it can get quite smooth. Then you can add in some more fractal noise on top of the base smooth land that you have to make it more realistic. After that you can use programs which do erosion passes and other geo-morphological simulations to make it look more realistic.

Here are the steps I use. See the post a few down as #4
https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=33666

[waldronate]

For best results, you will also need to use greater than eight grayscale bits per pixel if you don't want to see terracing. Your eye can easily see terracing with eight bit data (especially when the gradient is smooth), but you usually can't see the same effect with 16-bit or greater data as long as the renderer does suitable dithering to break up the Mach bands.

[johnvanvliet]

as waldronate stated use 16 bit or 32 bit image depth for making a height map

your attached image is a good start

i find that about 60% of my " good starts" i just end up deleting and starting all over again
practice is what it takes and that will just take some time on your part