Perlin noise algorithm

Question

I'm having difficulty understanding a lot of the highly mathematical papers available online describing how Perlin noise generation works, and I'm wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of a more accessible introduction. I am looking to use Perlin noise in an application to create 2D textures.

score 9 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:31

9

It's worth noting that the original Perlin noise algorithm has been deprecated by the author. Ken Perlin designed a new version: Simplex Noise

There is a good explanation of Simplex Noise with Java implementation here.

edited May 23 '17 at 10:31

Community

1
1

answered Feb 19 '12 at 14:07

i_grok

638
7
9

3

please note that simplex noise is patented! So even if its better, you might not want to use it! – Piranha Jan 17 '15 at 11:58
It is only patented for texture generation in 3D and beyond which makes it suitable for terrain generation among other things. – Entalpi Apr 26 '17 at 07:34

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 21 '10 at 21:48

Look at the book Texturing and Modeling, A Procedural Approach, starting in page 67 there's a nice description and source code for gradient noises, perlin noise is just another gradient noise.

There's also a implementation in GPU Gems 2.

Perlin noise itself doesn't use much advanced math, you only need to know about linear interpolation, lattices and random values.

Perlin noise algorithm

2 Answers2