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Perlin Noise

Math Chaos

Perlin Noise Generation

Section titled “Perlin Noise Generation”

Perlin noise is a type of gradient noise used by visual artists to increase the appearance of realism in computer graphics. This header-only C++ library provides an efficient implementation based on Ken Perlin’s “Improved Noise” algorithm.

Key Features

Section titled “Key Features”

Multi-Dimensional

Support for 1D, 2D, and 3D noise generation.

Octave Noise

Generate fractal noise by layering multiple octaves of Perlin noise at different frequencies and amplitudes.

Header-Only

Zero-dependency, single-header library for easy integration into any C++ project.

Deterministic

Produces consistent results across different platforms for the same initial seed.

Basic Usage

Section titled “Basic Usage”

Integrating the library is as simple as including the header file and initializing the noise generator with a seed.

#include "PerlinNoise.hpp"


int main() {
    const siv::PerlinNoise::seed_type seed = 123456u;
    const siv::PerlinNoise perlin{ seed };


    // Generate a 2D noise value at (x, y)
    double val = perlin.noise2D_01(0.5, 0.8);


    // Generate 4 octaves of noise for a more complex texture
    double octVal = perlin.octave2D_01(0.5, 0.8, 4);
}

Advanced API

Section titled “Advanced API”

The library offers various methods for remapping and normalizing the output noise:

Noise Range Variants

Section titled “Noise Range Variants”
  • noiseXD: Returns values in the range [-1, 1].
  • noiseXD_01: Returns values remapped to the range [0, 1].

Octave Control

Section titled “Octave Control”

Octave functions allow for the creation of more detailed “cloud-like” textures by summing multiple noise layers:

  • octaveXD(x, y, octaves, persistence)
  • normalizedOctaveXD_01(...)

Implementation Details

Section titled “Implementation Details”
  • Language: Modern C++ (C++17/20 recommended).
  • Foundation: Based on the 2002 “Improved Noise” implementation by Ken Perlin.
  • Serialization: Supports serializing and deserializing the state of the noise generator.