Add Sand

To further polish our terrain, we now move on to Simulation Layers. Simulation Layers provide high quality physical simulations such as Sand, Fluid, Snow or Debris that work with simulated material on top of the filter stack. Since we want to create a desert canyon, we will use the sand simulation first.

After adding the Sand layer, click Edit and mask out the area where the sand will spawn. By default, each simulation layer comes with its own paintable mask.

Sand Mask

To texture our sand we create a new material, give it a sand like colour and drag the sand simulation layer into its distribution stack. This creates a simulation layer distribution that references the sand layer.

Sand Material

To further enhance the scene we then add a second sand simulation using a darker material. This time we do not mask it, instead we reduce the Spawn Amount, which then results in a nice global fade effect.

Dark Sand

Dark Sand Material