Terrain Synthesis from Crude Heightmaps

This paper presents an approach to terrain synthesis from minimal-detail user-provided heightmaps. There is no assumption regarding the level of detail provided, in order to allow users without access to powerful heightmap tools and/or resources to generate useable terrain based on a self-provided crude feature plan. We present the issues stemming from a lack of detail in user input, notably sharp altitude increases and oversimplified feature edges, and proceed to elaborate on using the terrain synthesis algorithm to solve the issues and create a level of detail that more closely resembles realistic terrain models. The algorithm pipeline is presented and parametrized to show how the user can influence the resulting model. Author