Version: 2018.3 (switch to 2019.1 )
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Brushes

When you apply a tool such as Paint Texture or Smooth Height to the TerrainThe landscape in your scene. A Terrain GameObject adds a large flat plane to your scene and you can use the Terrain’s Inspector window to create a detailed landscape. More info
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, Unity uses a brush, which is a ScriptableObject in the Terrain system. The brush defines the shape and strength of influence of the tool.

Built-in brushes

Unity comes with a collection of built-in brushes. They range from simple circles for quickly sketching designs, to more randomized scatter shapes that are good for creating detail and natural-looking features.

Built-in brushes in the Terrain Inspector
Built-in brushes in the Terrain Inspector

Custom brushes

It is possible to create your own custom brushes with unique shapes or specific parameters for your needs. For example, use the heightmap texture of a specific geological feature to define a brush, then use the Stamp Terrain tool to place that feature on your Terrain.

To create a new brush, click the New Brush button in the Terrain InspectorA Unity window that displays information about the currently selected GameObject, Asset or Project Settings, alowing you to inspect and edit the values. More info
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window.

New Brush button in the Terrain Inspector
New Brush button in the Terrain Inspector

After you click New Brush, the Select Texture2D window appears. Choose a texture to define the shape of your new brush, then use the Brush Inspector to adjust the Falloff and Radius Scale values.

Window for selecting brush texture
Window for selecting brush texture

Alternatively, right-click in the ProjectIn Unity, you use a Project to design and develop a game. A Project stores all of the files that are related to a game, such as the Asset and Scene files. More info
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window, and choose Create > Brush to create a new brush. The default brush shows a simple circle defined by a Falloff curve and a Radius Scale of 1. Use the Brush Inspector to change these values, or set a texture to define the shape of the brush.

Brush Inspector with default settings
Brush Inspector with default settings

Brush settings

Property: Function:
Mask Texture Defines the shape and strength of the brush. Select a texture in your project, and the system creates a grayscale mask from the texture. If the selected texture has multiple color channels, the brush uses the Red channel as its source.
Falloff Defines a curve that affects the strength of the brush in a circular fashion. Click the Falloff curve to open the Unity Curve Editor, where you can edit the curve to create effects ranging from smooth fades to sharp edges.
Radius Scale Affects the scale of the falloff curve. Use this option to increase or decrease the radius of the curve.

  • 2019–01–29 Page amended with editorial review

  • Updated functionality in 2018.3

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Terrain Layers
Trees