Cool new app FlowScape lets you paint landscapes in 3D
Originally posted on 23 January 2019. Scroll down for news of the 1.4 update.
One of the most enjoyable – if not the most practical – new products to check out this week has been FlowScape, a new 3D landscape painting app created by lone developer PixelForest.
Create 3D landcapes by painting in trees and rocks, or scattering them under gravity
The software enables users to customise one of 20 pre-built 3D terrains by painting in trees, plants, flowers, rocks, logs, and even animals, or dropping them into the scene under gravity.
Once populated, users can light a scene by selecting one of 12 readymade skies, and setting the sun or moon position via a set of simple slider controls.
FlowScape is presented as a game rather than a real art tool: there’s currently no way to export the 3D scene once you’re done, so you’re limited to screengrabbing the landscapes you create.
However, it has quite a sophisticated set of painting controls, and a set of post effects sliders that wouldn’t look out of place in a conventional DCC app.
Plus, it looks a hell of a lot of fun to play with: the way the animated deer pop into existence in the video above made me laugh out loud the first time I saw it.
Updated 25 July 2019: FlowScape 1.4 has been released. The update makes it possible to import your own custom models in OBJ format, and to capture 360-degree panoramas of scenes.
The previous update introduced basic terrain sculpting: essentially, just the option to raise or lower terrain.
Pricing and system requirements
FlowScape is available for Windows only. It costs $10.