00:00 You've shaped the land. Now it's time to
00:03 

00:03 bring it to life. Welcome to the world
00:05 

00:05 of surface nodes in Gaia. Hello friends.
00:09 

00:09 In this lesson, we're going to focus on
00:11 

00:11 the surface category where you'll get
00:13 

00:13 familiar with the nodes and we'll go
00:15 

00:15 through real examples for them.
00:21 

00:21 The contours node. The contours node
00:23 

00:23 generates stylized contour lines based
00:26 

00:26 on terrain elevation. It's often used to
00:29 

00:29 create layered map-like visuals or to
00:32 

00:32 drive masks and texturing based on
00:34 

00:34 elevation steps. As always, we create a
00:37 

00:37 mountain for testing and by adding an
00:40 

00:40 adjust node, we increase its strength.
00:43 

00:43 Now, we add the contours node. As you
00:46 

00:46 can see, it generates a layered mask for
00:48 

00:48 us. We can increase the count, subdivide
00:51 

00:51 it, raise the accuracy, adjust the
00:54 

00:54 number of main layers, and also control
00:56 

00:56 the secondary layers. To get better
00:58 

00:58 layers, we can add some blur to it. And
01:01 

01:01 after combining it with our mountain, we
01:03 

01:03 subtract it from the mountain to achieve
01:05 

01:05 the result you see.
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01:08 [Music]
01:16 

01:16 [Music]
01:25 

01:25 With this method, we can achieve a
01:27 

01:27 realistic example like the image you
01:29 

01:29 see. And it's better to create our first
01:32 

01:32 example. So we can also review the
01:34 

01:34 previous nodes. In this example, we make
01:37 

01:37 a copy of our mountain and by changing
01:39 

01:39 its position, combine it with the first
01:41 

01:41 mountain. Then we apply adjust to both.
01:44 

01:44 Now by adding the soft clip node which
01:46 

01:46 we learned in the third tutorial, we
01:48 

01:48 smooth the surface and afterward we
01:50 

01:50 apply a new node to reach a result close
01:53 

01:53 to the image we saw.
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02:06 [Music]
02:21 

02:21 The grid node. The grid node generates a
02:24 

02:24 regular grid pattern across your
02:26 

02:26 terrain. It's mainly used for debugging,
02:28 

02:28 alignment, or creating stylized/
02:32 

02:32 artificial terrain features.
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02:41 [Music]
02:52 

02:52 Let's move on to the rocky subgroup,
02:56 

02:56 the craggy node. The craggy node adds
02:59 

02:59 rough, jagged, fractured details to your
03:02 

03:02 terrain surface, simulating sharp rock
03:04 

03:04 formations, cracks, or crumbling cliffs.
03:07 

03:07 It's designed to enhance natural
03:09 

03:09 realism, especially in rocky or eroded
03:12 

03:12 areas.
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03:22 So even if your surface is blurry, this
03:25 

03:25 node can add sharp details to the scene.
03:30 

03:30 Now let's make a real example of it and
03:32 

03:32 create this surface where we want the
03:34 

03:34 effect to be absent in some areas. So we
03:37 

03:37 had a pla node and with some adjustments
03:40 

03:40 combine and subtract it.
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03:51 [Music]
04:07 

04:07 [Music]
04:10 

04:10 The outcrops node. The outcrops node
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04:12 creates rocky surface protrusions that
04:14 

04:14 resemble natural stone formations
04:17 

04:17 jutting out from terrain like cliffs,
04:19 

04:19 ledges, or broken rock layers. It's
04:22 

04:22 perfect for adding geological complexity
04:25 

04:25 and breaking up smooth surfaces. As you
04:27 

04:27 can see, it can easily create excellent
04:30 

04:30 rocky details for us with controls for
04:32 

04:32 size, volume, and rotation.
04:50 

04:50 The rock noise. The rock noise node
04:52 

04:52 generates sharp rocky surface patterns
04:55 

04:55 using specialized highfrequency noise.
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04:58 It's designed to simulate natural rock
05:00 

05:00 textures, cracks, and fragmented
05:03 

05:03 geological details across your terrain.
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05:05 As you can see, it can on its own
05:07 

05:07 recreate the previous example or even
05:10 

05:10 simulate eroded terrain.
05:24 

05:24 The rockscape node. The rockscape node
05:26 

05:26 generates large scale rocky formations
05:29 

05:29 and layers that resemble natural rock
05:31 

05:31 fields, boulder zones, or stratified
05:34 

05:34 rock beds. It gives your terrain a
05:36 

05:36 chunky layered rocky structure. Ideal
05:40 

05:40 for creating dramatic and cinematic
05:42 

05:42 environments.
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05:46 [Music]
05:51 

05:51 The bomber node. The bomber node is a
05:54 

05:54 scattering and stamping system that lets
05:56 

05:56 you bomb or scatter patterns called
05:59 

05:59 stamps across your terrain. It's used to
06:01 

06:01 add repeated features like rocks,
06:03 

06:03 craters, dunes, vegetation patches, and
06:07 

06:07 more based on any input shape. Imagine
06:09 

06:09 you've created a small mountain and want
06:11 

06:11 to scatter taller mountains around it.
06:13 

06:13 With this node, you can do that.
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06:34 [Music]
06:52 

06:52 the Pockmarks node. The Pockmarks node
06:54 

06:54 creates scattered tiny impact-like holes
06:57 

06:57 or eroded pits across your terrain
06:59 

06:59 surface. These formations resemble
07:02 

07:02 weathered surfaces, cratered ground, or
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07:05 biological erosion. Perfect for adding
07:07 

07:07 fine detail and realism. The next node
07:11 

07:11 is stones, which scatters rocks across
07:13 

07:13 the ground.
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07:18 [Music]
07:28 

07:28 [Music]
07:34 

07:34 The next node is bulbous, which I tested
07:37 

07:37 on two nodes. It softens the details and
07:40 

07:40 makes the bumps a bit more stretched.
07:45 

07:45 The shatter node. The shatter node
07:48 

07:48 breaks up your terrain into fractured
07:50 

07:50 platelike segments, simulating the look
07:52 

07:52 of shattered stone, tectonic breakage,
07:55 

07:55 or dry, cracked earth. It's ideal for
07:57 

07:57 creating dramatic broken surfaces with a
07:60 

07:60 strong stylized or natural feel. For
08:03 

08:03 example, you can apply this node to a
08:05 

08:05 hillside and by adding a lake, you'll
08:08 

08:08 get a hillside next to the water.
08:22 

08:22 The shear node. The shear node distorts
08:25 

08:25 your terrain by sliding parts of it
08:27 

08:27 horizontally or vertically. Similar to a
08:30 

08:30 tectonic shear shift or tilting effect,
08:32 

08:32 it stretches and offsets elevation data
08:35 

08:35 in a specific direction, creating
08:38 

08:38 dynamic slanted formations.
08:43 

08:43 The next node is ground texture, which
08:46 

08:46 adds a texture to the surface and can be
08:48 

08:48 useful in some cases.
08:56 

08:56 The roughen node. The roughen node
08:58 

08:58 introduces subtle to intense surface
09:01 

09:01 irregularities, simulating natural
09:03 

09:03 surface wear, erosion, or uneven
09:06 

09:06 textures. It's perfect for breaking up
09:09 

09:09 overly smooth terrains and giving them a
09:12 

09:12 more believable, gritty appearance. The
09:15 

09:15 next node is sand, which creates
09:17 

09:17 wavelike patterns similar to sand dunes.
09:20 

09:20 If the scale is too low, you can
09:22 

09:22 increase it with the transform node and
09:24 

09:24 then combine it with a hill.
09:35 

09:35 [Music]
09:58 

09:58 The fractal terraces. The fractal
10:00 

10:00 terraces node creates naturally broken
10:04 

10:04 irregular terrace formations by applying
10:06 

10:06 fractal logic to elevation steps.
10:17 

10:17 Now I want to create this same image
10:19 

10:19 with the same generated mountain range.
10:21 

10:21 I need to make another mountain and move
10:23 

10:23 it to the corner. Now it's enough to
10:25 

10:25 simply combine these two and set them to
10:27 

10:27 ad mode.
10:44 

10:44 The sandstone node. The sandstone node
10:46 

10:46 is like a fractal that generates surface
10:49 

10:49 layers, but it differs in some features.
10:52 

10:52 By default, it seems to affect finer
10:54 

10:54 details more. And another distinctive
10:57 

10:57 option is that it can be rotated.
11:04 

11:04 [Music]
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11:11 [Music]
11:20 

11:20 The other nodes in this category work in
11:22 

11:22 a similar way. So to save time, we'll
11:24 

11:24 just take a quick look at them.
11:38 

11:38 If you enjoyed this tutorial and learned
11:40 

11:40 something new, don't forget to like the
11:42 

11:42 video and leave a comment to share your
11:43 

11:43 thoughts. Your support really helps the
11:46 

11:46 channel grow and keeps me motivated to
11:48 

11:48 create more tutorials for