Topo map on the ground
A pale street map with relief shading and labelled contour lines computed from the same elevation as the terrain, so every line sits on its height.
3D relief map maker
A relief map you can turn, light and render.
Pick an area up to 100 km across and Studio builds the real terrain, then dresses it as a topographic map with relief shading and labelled contours, a painted natural landscape or aerial imagery. Name a park, county or country and its border is drawn across the relief.
Real terrainTopo ground
Whole ranges and parks
Terrain-only imports reach 100 km a side on a computer. The grid coarsens to match, so a mountain range opens as fast as a valley.
Borders from the map
Name a country, state, county, city or park and its OpenStreetMap boundary is draped on the terrain as a ribbon, cut to your area.
Switch the look later
Topo, street map, aerial photo or painted natural ground: change it from the Real place panel without importing again.
From elevation to relief map
Street map or topo on the ground
Drape the OpenFreeMap street map, or a topographic version with relief shading and labelled contours from the terrain's own elevation, and switch grounds later without re-importing.
Draw a region's border
Name a country, state, county, city or park and its outline from OpenStreetMap is draped on the terrain as a ribbon.
Whole regions, up to 100 km
Terrain-only imports reach 100 km a side on a computer — a mountain range or a whole canyon system — with the grid coarsening to match.
Exaggerate the relief
One slider lifts gentle country into readable relief. Leave it at 1 for true scale, and say so on the map when it isn't.
Or the full street map
The Map ground lays the street map's own streets, names and water on the relief, in full colour.
Why Mixos
Relief maps used to take a GIS afternoon
A good relief map does two things at once: it shows the shape of the land, and it tells you where you are on it. Traditionally that meant a hillshade from GIS software, contours generated separately, a basemap aligned on top and a border layer clipped to the frame — and the result was still flat.
Studio does it in three dimensions in one place. The Real place import builds the terrain from open elevation data, then lays a ground over it. The Topo ground is the OpenFreeMap street map lightened, with relief shading and contour lines computed from the same elevation the mesh uses, labelled with their heights. The Map ground keeps the street map's full colours. Natural ground paints the landscape from ESA WorldCover land cover — forest, grass, scrub, bare rock, snow and water — and Photo drapes aerial imagery whose licence allows commercial use.
Borders come from OpenStreetMap too. Type a region in the Real place panel and its outline is draped on the terrain as a ribbon. A region larger than your box is cut to it, so a state shows as the part of its border inside your 100 km, not the whole outline.
From there the relief is a normal Studio scene. Raise the vertical exaggeration so gentle country reads, set a low sun for long shadows, put a camera on a slow orbit and render. If you want it in your hands rather than on a screen, the same import becomes a printable model.
Make a relief map in four steps
- 01
Choose the area
Open the Real place picker in terrain mode, search the place and drag a box — up to 100 km across on a computer.
- 02
Pick the ground
Choose Topo for contours and relief shading, Map for the street map, Photo for imagery, or leave the painted natural ground.
- 03
Add the border
In the Real place panel, type the park, county, state or country whose outline you want on the relief.
- 04
Exaggerate and render
Lift the relief until it reads, set a low sun and render a still or a slow orbit.
Ask mixos AI
Make a 3D relief map of Yosemite National Park: 80 km of terrain with the topo ground, the park border in orange, 1.5x exaggeration and a low afternoon sun.
Before you publish
- Say so on the map if the relief is exaggerated.
- Large areas are coarse: about 290 m per cell at 100 km, so contours are smooth rather than surveyed.
- Credit OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles and © OpenStreetMap contributors for the topo and border, and ESA WorldCover for painted ground.
Data and licences
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a 3D relief map?
Import the area in Studio's Real place picker in terrain mode, choose the Topo ground for contours and relief shading, add a border if you want one, and render. Importing, styling and rendering previews are free.
Are the contour lines real?
They are computed from the same open elevation data as the terrain, so they match the mesh exactly. They are as accurate as that data — about 30 m in most of the world — not a surveyed topographic sheet.
Can I make a relief map of a whole country or state?
Only part of a large one. Terrain imports are capped at 100 km a side on a computer (50 km on a tablet, 25 km on a phone), and a border is cut to the area you imported.
Can I use the map commercially?
Yes, with credit. The map data is © OpenStreetMap contributors under the ODbL, the map style is OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles, and WorldCover is CC BY 4.0. Mixos keeps those credits with the scene.
Can I print it?
Yes. Make printable closes the terrain into a watertight model for your slicer. The map drawn on the ground is a texture, so a single-colour print shows the relief, not the contour lines.
Read next
GLB, OBJ, FBX and STL compared
Which format keeps materials and which throws them away.
Inspect the GLB
Open the file in the browser — meshes, materials, triangle count.
How to make an STL file
Watertight remesh, thickened walls, and the checks that stop a bad print.
How to animate a 3D model
Key, retime and ease a move, step by step.
Keep exploring
3D map maker
3D map maker online — real places, styled your way
3D terrain generator
Real-world 3D terrain generator — free, in a browser
3D printed topographic map
3D printed topographic map maker — any place, free
GPX to 3D map
GPX to 3D map — your route on real terrain, online
Satellite imagery on terrain
