Terrain editor Featuring Node-Based Workflow and GPU Acceleration
Upgrading the A.N.T landscape addon would be great! Such as improving performance with higher res terrain and maybe making a node based approach would be ideal as this would provide flexibility. It would also be nice to integrate gpu acceleration into the A.N.T landscape addon, and also a seperate drop down menu like the shader editor, 3d viewport geometry nodes etc. or maybe making our own addon based on geometry nodes could also work. I may need help with more advanced features such as erosion or mask generation.
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You already have the 3d view, the Shader editor, the Geometry Node editor, and Eevee and Cycles to pick from to work up what you want. There is even an addon for landscape generation already. What else do you think you need? Did this proposal come out of an AI that doesn't know Blender?
Yes there is the A.N.T landscape addon but i think that a upgrade would be nice such as gpu acceleration, node based approach and a seperate editor such as shader editor, 3d viewport, and geometry nodes etc.
You want to make an Application Template around ANT Landscape addon then, because nobody is going to give you a new shader editor, 3d viewport and geometry nodes editor JUST for landscapes. Go for it, you can look up the Application templates and build your landscape environment pretty easily, even scripting what addons and what workspaces will be active while using the template. The templates are exactly what you are using if you go File> New> 2D Animation, Video Editing, etc. Just work up your own for your landscape work.
Why do I feel like I'm reading something that a bot wrote..
Because you are :D i updated the post though so now it is bot free.
Blender isn't really the software to implement tailored workspaces like this, it tends to avoid that sort of specificity. If it offers a workspace/panel it's usually for a nebulous task such as UV mapping, sculpting etc.
If making terrain could only be done in the way you mentioned that might be welcome but it's usually a combination of heightmaps, sculpted/modeled assets and texturing techniques that differ depending on the asset's use case. Even a software like Gaea only solves the heightmap aspect. Blender already offers all of this, although it's spread across many different panels and interfaces.
It would be more suitable to focus on existing solutions and offer terrain functionality via those. Maybe you could build a collection of geometry node networks/sculpt brushes intended for terrain creation that's part of the "essential asset pack" that can be downloaded on the official site. Or we could upgrade the A.N.T. landscape creator that currently exists to be faster and more full-featured. Better terrain tools would be very welcome but I feel a new workspace simply wouldn't fit within Blender's usage paradigm.
I think upgrading the A.N.T landscape addon would be a good idea. but it would also be nice to make it a official part of blender. What i mean by that is fully integrated and you wouldnt have to download it in the addons section
It seems to be a priority to keep the Blender default install clean and lightweight so I doubt that'll happen without cutting its functionality way down, especially since they've moved many crucial addons online. It's also a convenience feature that not everyone using Blender necessarily needs. If the goal is more comprehensive overall functionality it's probably best to give it the legroom it needs by being an optional addon.
Yes i can see why keeping it a seperate addon would prove beneficial. but i do not know how to do it. do you?
I think that making the terrain noise based with gemoetry nodes would be nice also with some erosion features but i will need help with some of the more complex functions.
I have started developing the geometry node system. Currently i have a mountain noise geometry node group and a basic erosion system