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A gradient noise function that produces smooth, natural-looking randomness for procedural textures and terrain generation.
Invented by Ken Perlin in 1983 for the movie Tron, Perlin noise generates smooth pseudorandom values by interpolating between gradient vectors placed on a regular grid. Each grid point is assigned a random gradient, and the noise value at any point is computed by blending contributions from surrounding grid corners.
Core Algorithm
For each point P, compute the dot product between each corner's gradient and the vector from that corner to P, then interpolate using a smooth fade curve: 6t⁵ − 15t⁴ + 10t³
Unlike white noise, Perlin noise has spatial coherence — nearby points produce similar values. This property makes it ideal for simulating natural phenomena: clouds, terrain height maps, marble textures, and organic flow fields.
// Perlin noise pseudocode
for each point (x, y):
x0, y0 = floor(x), floor(y)
g00, g10, g01, g11 = gradients at corners
d00 = dot(g00, (x-x0, y-y0))
d10 = dot(g10, (x-x0-1, y-y0))
// ... blend with fade curve
return lerp(fade(x-x0), lerp(...), lerp(...))In algorithmic art, Perlin noise serves as a foundational building block. Multiple octaves can be layered — each at double the frequency and half the amplitude — a technique called fractal Brownian motion (fBm). This creates rich, detailed textures with structure at every scale, from rolling hills to fine surface grain.
Use these sections to discover artworks, read technical context, and navigate the full algorithmic art ecosystem.
