Interactive demo
Noise Functions
Noise is controlled randomness: smooth where nature is smooth, rough where it is rough. These demos show how the most common noise functions work, from simple lattice noise to flowing particles.
Lattice noise
Value Noise
Random values at the grid points, smoothly blended. The simplest lattice noise, with a visible blocky structure.
Perlin Noise
Random gradients instead of values at the grid points: softer shapes without blocks. The classic since 1983.
Simplex Noise
Ken Perlin's successor on a triangle grid: only three corners per point and fewer artifacts along the grid.
Cells and points
Fractals and spectra
Fractal Noise
Octaves of the same noise added up with rising frequency, for detail at every scale.
Diamond-Square
A heightmap refined step by step: every new point is the average of its neighbors plus a shrinking random offset.
Colors of Noise
White, pink, brown, blue and violet noise: compare their spectra and listen to how they sound.
Applications
Domain Warping
Noise read at positions that are themselves moved by noise: marbled, flowing patterns, drawn by a shader.
Curl Noise
The curl of a noise field is a flow without sources or sinks. Thousands of particles follow it like smoke.
Noise Terrain Generator
Stack and blend layers of different noise types into 3D landscapes.
Noise types compared
| Noise | Output | Built from | Work per sample | Smooth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value Noise | Scalar field | Random values on a grid | 4 grid points | Yes |
| Perlin Noise | Scalar field | Random gradients on a grid | 4 grid points | Yes |
| Simplex Noise | Scalar field | Gradients on a triangle grid | 3 corners | Yes |
| Worley Noise | Scalar field | Random feature points | 9 to 25 cells | No |
| Blue Noise | Point set | Random candidates around existing points | Up to 30 tries per point | – |
| Fractal Noise | Scalar field | Octaves of a base noise | 1 base noise per octave | Yes |
| Diamond-Square | Heightmap | Displaced midpoints of a grid | 4 neighbors per point | No |
| Colors of Noise | Signal or image | White noise filtered by frequency | 1 FFT for all samples | – |
| Domain Warping | Scalar field | Fractal noise at warped positions | Up to 5 fractal noises | Yes |
| Curl Noise | Vector field | Derivatives of a noise field | 4 noise samples | Yes |
| Noise Terrain Generator | Heightmap | Stacked noise layers | Layers × octaves | – |