Simulating landscapes using an FFT-based fractal filter
Holger M. Jaenisch, James W. Handley, Jim Scoggins, Marvin P. Carroll · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 1994
Fractal geometry provides the ideal paradigm for simulating and modeling natural terrain. Many outstanding examples of fractal terrain are found in the open literature. There is, however, an unfortunate false impression that such landscapes are difficult or complicated to create. Although the `rendering' process may be complex, the actual generation of fractal landscapes or the addition of fractal texture to existing elevation profiles is quite simple. This paper presents the code necessary to generate a detailed fractal landscape using MathCadTM ver. 5.0+ and the Signal Processing Function Pack. The resulting data array may be rendered for even higher realism by the investigator. In this case, a commercial- off-the-shelf package for the IBM PC called Vistapro Ver. 3.0 is used to render the synthetic landscape in even higher detail.