Topo Lines
AmbientDescription
Animated topographic contour map: a slowly-morphing terrain height field rendered as crisp anti-aliased isolines with heavier index contours every Nth line, hypsometric tint bands between index levels, soft hillshade relief, and paper-fibre texture. Moving the cursor raises a smooth hill under the pointer and concentric contour rings bloom outward around it. Swiss cartography meets a Field Notes notebook.
What is the topographic background?
Topo Lines is a free topographic background that renders in real time with WebGL, so it stays sharp on any screen without shipping a heavy video file or GIF — and it pauses while off-screen to keep pages fast.
Use it as visual inspiration for a hero or section background on a landing page, portfolio, SaaS site or app. Every parameter — colors, speed and intensity — is adjustable in the remix playground. No account is needed to preview it.
Make it yours
Every knob below is tuned by the AI to match your design — or ask for changes in plain language, like “slower and more blue.”
colorsPaletteElevation tint ramp from lowlands to peaks (2-5 hexes). Keep the first color close to the bg paper so plains stay clean; later colors set the highland mood — warm tans/terracottas for vintage maps, deep greens for phosphor terminals, navy steps for nautical charts.
inkPaletteContour line ink: first hex = regular lines, optional second = heavier index lines. One color auto-derives the index ink (darker on light paper, lighter on dark). High contrast vs bg = bold drafting look; low contrast = faint ghost survey.
bgPaletteThe paper color the whole map sits on. Warm cream = vintage field map, near-black green = phosphor radar, deep navy = blueprint chart.
bg-alpha0–1Backdrop opacity. 1 = opaque map sheet; 0 = transparent ghost isolines floating over the host section (only ink lines and faint tint bands show).
speed0.02–2How fast the terrain morphs. Higher = ridges visibly reshaping, restless; lower = near-still survey sheet that only drifts over minutes. Keep <= 0.5 for hero backgrounds.
density6–60Number of contour elevation intervals. Higher = many fine tightly-packed lines (dense engineering chart); lower = a few sweeping lines with lots of open paper.
index-every0–10Every Nth contour is drawn heavier and bounds a tint band, like real survey maps. 5 = classic cartography rhythm; 0 = uniform lines with per-line micro tint steps.
index-weight0–2Extra thickness of index contours. Higher = bold confident map hierarchy; 0 = all lines equal hairlines.
line-weight0.4–2.5Base stroke width of all contour lines. ~1 = crisp 1-1.5px pen lines; higher = marker-like bold strokes; lower = ultra-fine etching.
tint0–1Strength of the hypsometric fill bands between index contours. Higher = clearly layered colored elevation zones; 0 = pure line work on plain paper.
relief0–1Hillshade strength (light from the upper-left). Higher = embossed 3D terrain relief; 0 = perfectly flat printed sheet.
scale0.4–4Terrain zoom. Higher = more, smaller landforms crowded into frame; lower = one vast continental sweep with broad calm areas.
warp0–1.5Domain-warp meander of the contour shapes. Higher = wilder serpentine coastline-like wiggle; 0 = smoother, rounder blob contours.
paper0–1Paper fibre mottle and grain. Higher = tactile notebook stock texture; 0 = clean digital flat fill.
mouse0–1Cursor terrain-raise strength. The pointer grows a smooth hill and contour rings bloom outward around it, with slightly darkened survey ink nearby; 0 = no interaction, pure ambient map.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. You can preview the topographic background for free in the AIDesigner effects library — no watermark and no sign-up required to try it.
Use "Remix this effect" to tune the colors, speed, and parameters, then use the preview as a reference for your website background implementation.
It renders on the GPU through WebGL at a capped frame rate, so it is far lighter than a background video and automatically stops drawing when it scrolls out of view — keeping load and battery impact low.
Yes. Every knob in the "Make it yours" section is adjustable, and you can also just ask the AI in plain language — for example "slower and more blue" — and it retunes the topographic background to match.
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