00:00 Ready to unlock the true power of
00:03 

00:03 terrain shaping? The modify nodes in
00:05 

00:05 Gaia are your secret weapon. And today
00:08 

00:08 we're diving deep. And finally, by
00:11 

00:11 building a landscape with the new nodes,
00:13 

00:13 we'll do a practice exercise together.
00:16 

00:16 The adjust node. The adjust node is a
00:19 

00:19 lightweight and flexible tool used to
00:21 

00:21 quickly fine-tune the shape and volume
00:23 

00:23 of your terrain. It allows you to subtly
00:25 

00:25 reduce or enhance the overall bulk of a
00:28 

00:28 terrain without altering its
00:30 

00:30 foundational structure. This is
00:32 

00:32 especially useful during the early
00:34 

00:34 stages of landscape design when you need
00:36 

00:36 quick corrections without redoing your
00:38 

00:38 entire node setup. For example, if we
00:41 

00:41 add the adjust node to the mountain
00:43 

00:43 node, we can control the amount of
00:45 

00:45 elevation and give it some interesting
00:47 

00:47 variations.
00:49 

00:49 [Music]
01:08 

01:08 The auto level node. The auto level node
01:11 

01:11 automatically remaps the height values
01:13 

01:13 of your terrain to use the full zero to
01:16 

01:16 one elevation range. This enhances
01:18 

01:18 contrast, detail, visibility, and helps
01:21 

01:21 normalize terrains after combining or
01:24 

01:24 distorting them. For example, let's add
01:26 

01:26 a mountain range and then apply the
01:29 

01:29 autole node to it. As you can see, it
01:31 

01:31 makes all the details extremely sharp.
01:34 

01:34 Of course, in the settings, you can
01:36 

01:36 control this by adjusting the influence
01:38 

01:38 value. The clamp node. The clamp node
01:41 

01:41 limits the height values of your terrain
01:43 

01:43 within a specific minimum and maximum
01:46 

01:46 range. It essentially clips the
01:48 

01:48 elevation to prevent unwanted spikes or
01:50 

01:50 deep pits.
02:02 

02:02 The clip node. The clip node removes all
02:05 

02:05 height data below or above a specific
02:07 

02:07 threshold, essentially cutting off parts
02:10 

02:10 of the terrain. Unlike clamp which
02:12 

02:12 limits values, clip completely deletes
02:15 

02:15 everything outside the chosen range. The
02:18 

02:18 way this node works is that by lowering
02:20 

02:20 the max value, it cuts down the higher
02:22 

02:22 elevations and by raising the min value,
02:25 

02:25 it clips the lower areas.
02:28 

02:28 For example, you can combine it with a
02:30 

02:30 lake node to achieve this kind of
02:32 

02:32 result.
02:37 

02:37 The denoise node. The den noiseise node
02:40 

02:40 smooths out unwanted noise and
02:42 

02:42 highfrequency artifact from your
02:44 

02:44 terrain, making the surface cleaner and
02:46 

02:46 more natural. It's like a terrain
02:48 

02:48 softener without losing too much detail.
02:51 

02:51 Let's say you've created a scene with
02:53 

02:53 noise and now you want to smooth or
02:55 

02:55 soften that noise. This node allows you
02:58 

02:58 to achieve exactly that.
03:02 

03:02 The next node is equalize. The equalize
03:05 

03:05 node redistributes elevation values
03:08 

03:08 across your terrain to create a more
03:10 

03:10 balanced, even spread of heights. It's
03:13 

03:13 useful for enhancing midtones and making
03:16 

03:16 terrains look more uniform without
03:18 

03:18 flattening. As you can see, you can
03:20 

03:20 either reduce or amplify the existing
03:23 

03:23 details, giving you solid control over
03:25 

03:25 the scene.
03:29 

03:29 The extend node. The extend node
03:31 

03:31 increases the terrain size by
03:33 

03:33 duplicating and blending its edges
03:35 

03:35 outward. It's useful for filling gaps,
03:38 

03:38 extending borders, or preparing terrains
03:41 

03:41 for tiling. Overall, it's a strange
03:43 

03:43 node. It randomly adds height while also
03:46 

03:46 flattening the surface at the same time.
03:49 

03:49 The flip node. The flip node mirrors
03:51 

03:51 your terrain along the X or Y-axis. It's
03:54 

03:54 a quick way to reverse layouts or create
03:57 

03:57 symmetrical designs without manually
03:59 

03:59 rebuilding terrain shapes. Let's say
04:02 

04:02 you've created a mountain range with a
04:03 

04:03 mountain node and now you want to invert
04:05 

04:05 it. With the flip node, you can easily
04:08 

04:08 flip it along the x-axis, y-axis, or
04:11 

04:11 even both. You can also combine two
04:13 

04:13 nodes to have them mirrored in different
04:15 

04:15 directions at the same time. The match
04:18 

04:18 node aligns the elevation range of one
04:21 

04:21 terrain to match another. It's perfect
04:23 

04:23 when blending multiple terrains and you
04:26 

04:26 want their heights to be consistent. For
04:28 

04:28 example, let's create two mountains with
04:30 

04:30 different heights and shapes, one on the
04:32 

04:32 left and one on the right. Now, if we
04:35 

04:35 want both to match in height, we can
04:37 

04:37 simply add a match node. Connect the
04:39 

04:39 first mountain to the main input and the
04:42 

04:42 second mountain to the reference input.
04:44 

04:44 And now they're aligned at the same
04:46 

04:46 height. To better visualize the result,
04:49 

04:49 we can combine them.
04:51 

04:51 [Music]
05:01 

05:01 The sharpen node. The sharpen node
05:03 

05:03 enhances the edges and fine details of
05:06 

05:06 your terrain, making features like
05:08 

05:08 ridges, cliffs, and slopes appear more
05:11 

05:11 defined and dramatic.
05:14 

05:14 The next node is transpose, which also
05:17 

05:17 works by combining two nodes. For
05:19 

05:19 example, if we feed it two different
05:21 

05:21 mountain types, then adjust the amount,
05:24 

05:24 it tries to blend the shapes of the
05:26 

05:26 second mountain into the first one. To
05:28 

05:28 make this effect clearer, we can also
05:30 

05:30 add a crater node, which really shows
05:32 

05:32 the difference.
05:53 

05:53 [Music]
06:04 

06:04 Now let's move on to the blur subgroup.
06:09 

06:09 The first node is blur. Overall, it
06:13 

06:13 smooths out the terrain and essentially
06:15 

06:15 removes some of the finer details.
06:20 

06:20 The median node. The median node smooths
06:23 

06:23 your terrain by replacing each point's
06:25 

06:25 height with a median value of its
06:27 

06:27 neighbors. Overall, it's a heavy node,
06:30 

06:30 and it might even cause your system to
06:31 

06:31 crash.
06:33 

06:33 The slope blur. The slope blur node
06:36 

06:36 blurs your terrain along the slope
06:38 

06:38 direction rather than uniformly. It adds
06:41 

06:41 a natural eroded look by pushing the
06:43 

06:43 blur based on terrain angles. Perfect
06:46 

06:46 for stylized erosion effects.
06:56 

06:56 [Music]
07:10 

07:10 The variable blur. The variable blur
07:12 

07:12 node applies a blur with varying
07:14 

07:14 intensity across the terrain based on a
07:17 

07:17 mask or secondary input. This gives you
07:19 

07:19 localized control. Some areas stay
07:22 

07:22 sharp, others get blurred. For example,
07:25 

07:25 let's mix it with pllin to see it more
07:27 

07:27 clearly. We press F to lock the viewport
07:30 

07:30 onto it. As you can see, in some areas,
07:33 

07:33 the blur takes effect, while in others,
07:35 

07:35 the pearl and noise is layered on top.
07:51 

07:51 Now, let's move on to the effects
07:53 

07:53 subgroup. The first node is origami. It
07:56 

07:56 gives us an origami- like effect and is
07:58 

07:58 mostly useful for stylized or more
08:01 

08:01 unique projects. The next node is
08:04 

08:04 pixelate. This node transforms the
08:06 

08:06 entire terrain into a pixelated or
08:09 

08:09 blocky form, reminding us of Minecraft.
08:12 

08:12 You can increase or decrease the size of
08:15 

08:15 the pixels. And by using anti-alias, you
08:18 

08:18 can break up the uniformity of the
08:19 

08:19 blocks. The next node is swirl. It adds
08:22 

08:22 a twisting effect to the terrain and by
08:25 

08:25 adjusting the scale or shifting it
08:27 

08:27 around, you can achieve some really
08:29 

08:29 interesting results.
08:33 

08:33 The world node. The whirl node creates
08:36 

08:36 swirling spiral-like distortions in your
08:39 

08:39 terrain, similar to a vortex effect.
08:42 

08:42 It's ideal for fantasy style landscapes,
08:44 

08:44 alien worlds, or adding dramatic twists
08:47 

08:47 to otherwise natural terrains.
09:01 

09:01 The next node is curve, which you'll
09:03 

09:03 also find in most other programs. Here
09:06 

09:06 we can use control points along the axis
09:08 

09:08 to decrease or increase height or even
09:10 

09:10 add more points along the line to give
09:12 

09:12 the terrain different shapes.
09:16 

09:16 [Music]
09:21 

09:21 The filter node. The filter node is a
09:23 

09:23 flexible post-processing tool that
09:25 

09:25 allows you to apply a variety of effects
09:28 

09:28 like smoothing, sharpening, or contrast
09:31 

09:31 adjustment to your terrain using a
09:33 

09:33 single node.
09:43 

09:43 The fold node bends and compresses
09:46 

09:46 terrain features to simulate geological
09:49 

09:49 folding like layered rock formations or
09:51 

09:51 compacted mountains. It gives a natural
09:54 

09:54 organic deformation to the terrain. As
09:57 

09:57 you can see, it turns a mountain into a
09:59 

09:59 layered formation and it gives us three
10:02 

10:02 different modes to choose from.
10:08 

10:08 The graphic EQ node. The graphic EQ node
10:11 

10:11 applies frequency based adjustments to
10:13 

10:13 the terrain's height data. Acting much
10:16 

10:16 like an audio equalizer, but for
10:18 

10:18 elevation. It allows you to amplify or
10:20 

10:20 attenuate specific elevation frequencies
10:23 

10:23 such as small bumps, rolling hills, or
10:26 

10:26 broad mountain forms by adjusting them
10:28 

10:28 via a graphical equalizer interface.
10:33 

10:33 The next node is recurve. As you can
10:36 

10:36 see, it affects the details along the
10:38 

10:38 edges, allowing you to make them
10:40 

10:40 sharper, stretched, or even wider by
10:43 

10:43 lowering its strength. You can also
10:45 

10:45 achieve some interesting results.
10:59 

10:59 The sharper node. The sharper node
11:01 

11:01 increases the definition and contrast of
11:03 

11:03 your terrain by boosting mid to high
11:06 

11:06 frequency details. As you can see, this
11:09 

11:09 node either intensifies or softens the
11:12 

11:12 details. You can also use local area to
11:14 

11:14 sharpen the terrain overall. And with
11:17 

11:17 detail size, you can control the scale
11:19 

11:19 of the details. The next node is soft
11:22 

11:22 clip. Imagine you want to carve a flat
11:24 

11:24 cut into the side of a mountain, but
11:26 

11:26 still keep the details.
11:29 

11:29 So you could design a village on top of
11:30 

11:30 it. This node works perfectly for that.
11:33 

11:33 You can even use the below mode to
11:35 

11:35 reduce the slope as well.
11:44 

11:44 [Music]
11:51 

11:51 The thermal sharpen node enhances
11:53 

11:53 terrain details specifically in areas
11:56 

11:56 affected by thermal erosion. As you can
11:59 

11:59 see with its useful features, this node
12:01 

12:01 can really help in creating eroded
12:03 

12:03 surfaces. The Meshify node. The Meshify
12:07 

12:07 node converts your terrain height map
12:09 

12:09 into a 3D mesh within GIA. This is
12:12 

12:12 useful for exporting terrains as
12:14 

12:14 geometry for use in external 3D
12:17 

12:17 applications or game engines. As you can
12:19 

12:19 see, with its useful features, this node
12:22 

12:22 can really help in creating eroded
12:24 

12:24 surfaces.
12:29 

12:29 Now let's move on to the transform
12:31 

12:31 subgroup. The next node is aperture
12:34 

12:34 which comes with five modes. The first
12:36 

12:36 one is disk where adjusting the size
12:39 

12:39 gives us different results.
12:45 

12:45 The second is polygon which transforms
12:48 

12:48 the surface into a polygonal shape. You
12:51 

12:51 can control it by changing the vertex
12:53 

12:53 count and direction.
12:56 

12:56 The third is stricks which by default
12:59 

12:59 divides the surface into four corners
13:02 

13:02 though you can increase that number.
13:07 

13:07 If you've enjoyed the video so far and
13:09 

13:09 found it useful, don't forget to support
13:11 

13:11 us with a like and a comment. It really
13:13 

13:13 helps the channel grow.
13:20 

13:20 The fourth mode is line which stretches
13:23 

13:23 the surface in a linear way and the
13:25 

13:25 fifth turns the surface into corners
13:28 

13:28 where you can control the angle and even
13:30 

13:30 rotate it.
13:34 

13:34 At first glance, these modes might not
13:37 

13:37 seem very practical, but if you combine
13:39 

13:39 them with nodes like adjust, you can
13:41 

13:41 achieve some really interesting results.
13:49 

13:49 The dilate node. The dilate node expands
13:52 

13:52 or grows features in your terrain by
13:54 

13:54 spreading out high areas into lower
13:56 

13:56 ones. It's often used to enlarge masks,
13:59 

13:59 flatten narrow gaps, or merge
14:01 

14:01 disconnected features. As you can see,
14:04 

14:04 it offers features similar to the
14:06 

14:06 previous node. The distance node. The
14:09 

14:09 distance node calculates the distance of
14:11 

14:11 each point in your terrain from a
14:13 

14:13 specific feature, like a mask or shape,
14:16 

14:16 and outputs a grayscale gradient based
14:18 

14:18 on that distance. It's commonly used for
14:20 

14:20 fall-offs, blending, or terrain effects
14:23 

14:23 based on proximity. For example, it can
14:26 

14:26 be very useful when working with masks.
14:29 

14:29 The next node is transform. It allows us
14:32 

14:32 to move the terrain along the X, Y, and
14:35 

14:35 Z axis, rotate it, or even scale it.
14:42 

14:42 The next node is heel. Imagine you've
14:45 

14:45 created an effect with a node like
14:46 

14:46 whirl, but along the edges or raised
14:49 

14:49 surfaces, the details don't look right,
14:51 

14:51 and in some spots, you're even getting
14:53 

14:53 artifacts. To fix those issues, you can
14:55 

14:55 use the heel node. Now, let's move on to
14:58 

14:58 the warp subgroup, the directional warp.
15:00 

15:00 The directional warp node distorts your
15:03 

15:03 terrain in a specific direction using
15:05 

15:05 another input as a guide. It creates
15:08 

15:08 stretched, twisted or wind eroded
15:10 

15:10 effects based on directional flow. For
15:13 

15:13 example, if we run it once with a
15:15 

15:15 gradient, we get stretching and shifting
15:18 

15:18 as we adjust the values. Now, if we feed
15:20 

15:20 it a pearl instead, we'll get a
15:22 

15:22 completely different type of
15:24 

15:24 displacement.
15:27 

15:27 [Music]
15:49 

15:49 Heat. Hey, Heat.
15:53 

15:53 [Music]
16:00 

16:00 The slope warp. The slope warp node
16:03 

16:03 distorts terrain based on its slope
16:05 

16:05 angle. Warping features more strongly in
16:08 

16:08 steeper areas. It adds natural weathered
16:11 

16:11 irregularities to cliffs, ridges, and
16:14 

16:14 slopes. For example, if we add a voronoi
16:17 

16:17 to it, we'll get these fractured rock
16:19 

16:19 formations. And we can control their
16:21 

16:21 intensity as well. Next, we'll also test
16:24 

16:24 the noise node. The last node is warp.
16:28 

16:28 As you can see, it distorts the
16:30 

16:30 surfaces, shifting or warping them into
16:33 

16:33 wavy patterns. With its options, you can
16:36 

16:36 generate all kinds of detail variations
16:38 

16:38 across your terrain.
17:01 

17:01 Now, let's build a simple landscape
17:03 

17:03 using the nodes we've learned so far.
17:06 

17:06 First, we'll create a mountain and then
17:08 

17:08 use the adjust node to increase its
17:10 

17:10 intensity. Now, we can use either the
17:13 

17:13 transform or transform 3D node to move
17:16 

17:16 it over to the corner.
17:19 

17:19 [Music]
17:44 

17:44 Now using the flip node, we can
17:46 

17:46 duplicate the same mountain and place it
17:48 

17:48 on The opposite corner.
18:29 

18:29 Now I'll add a canyon node and using a
18:32 

18:32 transform combine into our scene. As you
18:35 

18:35 can see, the transform node is extremely
18:38 

18:38 useful.
19:11 

19:11 Now I want to add a shorter mountain
19:13 

19:13 with a soft cut. So I'll use the soft
19:15 

19:15 clip node and place in the corner.
19:29 

19:29 [Music]
19:53 

19:53 [Music]
19:59 

19:59 [Music]
20:10 

20:10 [Music]
20:33 

20:33 [Music]
21:03 

21:03 As you can see, our river path is
21:05 

21:05 blocked. To preserve the original flow,
21:08 

21:08 we'll create a heightened mask from the
21:10 

21:10 canyon and subtract it from the new
21:12 

21:12 mountain.
21:34 

21:34 [Music]
21:42 

21:42 [Music]
21:46 

21:46 Now to make the edges look more natural,
21:49 

21:49 we'll use the slope blur node. Then by
21:52 

21:52 adding Voronoi and applying wizard 2,
21:54 

21:54 which we'll cover more detail in future
21:56 

21:56 tutorials, we can give the edges a much
21:59 

21:59 better effect.
22:09 

22:09 [Music]
22:12 

22:12 Finally, by adding a lake, we'll wrap up
22:14 

22:14 this example.
22:21 

22:21 [Music]
22:25 

22:25 Thanks so much for watching. If you
22:27 

22:27 enjoyed this video and found it helpful,
22:30 

22:30 please support the channel by liking,
22:32 

22:32 commenting, and subscribing. Your
22:34 

22:34 support really keeps me motivated to
22:36 

22:36 make more tutorials like this.