Import a Gaea terrain into Blender

Assumptions:

• Terrain footprint = 5000 m × 5000 m
• Heightmap is 0..1, where black = 0 m and white = 2500 m
• Blender units = meters

Import as a displacement map (heightfield)

1. Export from Gaea

• Export a Height map (prefer 32-bit EXR, otherwise 16-bit PNG).

2. Set Blender units to meters

• Scene Properties → Units

  • Unit System: Metric
  • Length: Meters

3. Create a 5000 m plane

1. Shift+A → Mesh → Plane
2. Press N → Item → Dimensions
   • Set X = 5000
   • Set Y = 5000
3. Ctrl+A → Scale

4. Add geometry

• Add Subdivision Surface (or Adaptive Subdivision in Cycles) until you have enough detail.

5. Displace using the heightmap (material-based)

1. Create a material → Shader Editor:
   • Image Texture → load heightmap → set Color Space = Non-Color
   • Connect: Image Texture → Displacement (Height) → Material Output (Displacement)
2. Material Properties → Settings:
   • Displacement: Displacement and Bump (Cycles)

6. Set height exactly to 2500 m

• On the Displacement node:
  • Midlevel = 0.0
  • Scale = 2500

Result: black stays at 0 m, white becomes 2500 m.

Import as a mesh (OBJ/FBX)

1. Import

• File → Import → OBJ/FBX

2. Scale to 5000 m footprint

1. Select the imported terrain.
2. Press N → Item → Dimensions
3. If X/Y are ~1.0 (the typical 0..1 mesh):
   • Set Scale X = 5000
   • Set Scale Y = 5000

3. Scale height to 2500 m

• If the mesh Z is also ~1.0:
  • Set Scale Z = 2500

4. Apply

• Ctrl+A → Scale

That’s it: footprint becomes 5000 m, and elevation range becomes 0..2500 m.