Download three free assets from terrain kitbash library Terra xL
New online asset library Terra xL has released three free 3D scans of mountains.
The assets in the Freebie Pack, which are licensed for commercial use, are provided in OBJ format with 4K and 8K PBR textures in JPG format.
The content is a sample of the scans available from Terra xL, which provides artists with high-fidelity assets for kitbashing environments for VFX, matte painting or virtual production.
Doing for terrain what KitBash3D does for cities
Founded by concept artist Logan Turner, Terra xL aims to do for terrain what asset libraries like KitBash3D do for built environments.
The site provides a library of 3D scans that artists can use to kitbash natural environments, by importing them into DCC apps or game engines, and simply dragging them around.
The workflow provides an alternative to both custom scanning and terrain-generation software for creating environments for VFX, motion graphics, matte painting, concept art and illustration.
“Terra xL came about because, in my work, I often found there wasn’t a 3D solution for natural terrains that satisfied the time-versus-quality equation,” Turner told CG Channel.
“I wanted a library of assets from different biomes that I could drop in to quickly create entire background environments – fast, flexible, and great-looking”.
Based on aerial scans of mountain ranges in Europe and North America
The Terra xL library includes collections of scans of mountain ranges in Europe and Canada, at scales of 500m to 2km, captured from different elevations in the biome.
For the scanning, Turner used a DJI drone, flown from the summit of every mountain scanned, which led to “some adventures” during the capture process, including being caught in a whiteout on the top of a 7,800-foot peak in Greece.
The assets are provided in OBJ format, so they should be compatible with almost any DCC application, including Blender, Cinema 4D, Maya, Houdini, and Unreal Engine.
Blender users also get the assets as readymade libraries if they buy an entire collection.
Can also be used as hero assets in conventional environment workflows
As well as kitbashing, the scans can be used as individual hero assets, or to add extra realism to terrains created from heightmaps generated in software like Gaea or World Machine.
Although the assets come with LODs, Turner says that he expects them to be primarily used for offline work, although they could also be used as dynamic backgrounds for virtual production.
Free Terra xL Freebie Pack comprises three high-res scans with 8K PBR textures
At the time of writing, prices for the commercial assets in the library range from $10 for the smaller individual scans to just over $100 for the complete asset collections.
However, you can try a sample for free: the Freebie Pack comprises three scans of mountains and mountain ranges, at a range of scales, each provided with three LODs.
The base OBJ files come with PBR textures, including albedo, occlusion, roughness, specular and normal maps, provided as 4,096 x 4,096px and 8,192 x 8,192px JPG files.
License and system requirements
The assets in Terra xL’s Freebie Pack are provided in OBJ format, so they should be compatible with any modern DCC application or game engine. The textures are provided in JPG format.
The assets are available under Terra xL’s Single Artist License, which permits commercial use.
Download three free 3D scans of mountains from Terra xL
(Requires registering on the site)
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