Effective Texturing of Terrains

The Problem:

You've just carefully modelled your site terrain but when you apply your projected texture, the undulating character of the terrain loses its definition. You feel frustrated! Image One illustrates the problem.

The Solution:

One approach that can be tried is illustrated by Image Two. Contours can be added to provide some visual clues about the character of the terrain. [I added the contours by drawing a rectangular face parallel to the ground plane. I copied it a few times vertically with the desired contour interval. I made that series of faces a group and moved it so it intersected the softened terrain. I then selected only the softened terrain and used the Intersect with modelcommand from the right-click context menu. The group of faces was deleted and I was left with contour lines on the terrain.] In many models these contours can be a very effective addition. In others, and its a question of judgement, contours add a level of complexity that may be undesirable. If you are looking for a more realistic rendering they might not be appropriate. They can also bunch up and get blobby when seen from a low camera location. Don't fret my friends! There is another approach...

Instead of using contours you can try painting your softened terrain with a projected texture that features a repeating pattern. Image Three illustrates what happens when a texture that looks like a cross-mowed golf course fairway is used. Note how there are significantly more visual clues about the undulating character of the terrain. Even lay people not familiar with the concept of contours "get" this approach. Image Four shows how the texture looks from a lower camera location. [ The golf course modelled is The Links at Crowbush Cove not far from my home]. ~;^)

The Tip:

If your textured terrain looks lifeless, consider a texture that features a strong repeating pattern.

The References:

The John Deere lawn tractor and boy with balloons used in the example images are by FormFonts. Free grass textures similar to what I used can be found here. If you are having trouble painting textures on a smoothed terrain search for projected texture in the help files. You can also see an example of projected texture application in the SketchUp Tutorial Movies. You can also find information about projected textures on this page from the on-line help for GoogleSketchUp.

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Regards, Ross from the Land of Lawn Tractors--- I'm listening to this local radio station right now.

Here's the other two supporting images...