Model land in 3D from a 2D site plan
Lan3D is terrain modelling software that runs in your browser. Draw the site once and get ground that slopes, contour maps you can read, cut-and-fill volumes you can quote, and renders you can send.
No install · Runs in the browser · Free to start
From a blank plan to a costed site in three steps
- 01
Draw the site plan in 2D
Trace the outline with live dimensions, or lay a survey drawing underneath and trace over it at true scale. Snapping keeps corners honest.
- 02
Set elevations and slopes
Give each area a height to the centimetre. The ground grades between them — tilt a plateau by angle, or from two measured heights.
- 03
Read volumes, contours and renders
Get cut-and-fill in cubic metres, a contour map, a cross-section under any line, and a photoreal image to send on.
Everything a site needs, in one drawing
Draw in 2D, read in 3D
Sketch the site plan with live dimensions. The plan becomes solid ground as you draw — no separate modelling step, no CAD training.
Ground that actually grades
Give areas an elevation and the terrain slopes between them. Tilt a plateau by angle, or from two measured heights, and check the grade anywhere.
Contour maps and cross-sections
Switch to a topographic contour view with labelled heights, or draw a line and read the ground profile beneath it.
Cut-and-fill volumes
Select an area and get the volume in cubic metres — pond capacity, excavation spoil, or the fill a level platform needs.
Photorealistic renders
Turn a viewport frame into a photoreal image that keeps your geometry intact, and keep every result against the version it came from.
Desktop and iPad
Runs in the browser with Apple Pencil support, and syncs live — draw on the tablet on site, review on the desktop.
Anyone who has to move ground and defend the number
Landscape and garden designers
Show a client the garden in 3D from the plan you were drawing anyway — levels, terraces, planting beds and steps.
Groundworks and excavation
Price a dig before it starts. Cut-and-fill in cubic metres tells you the lorry loads, not a guess.
Pool, pond and water features
Model the basin, read its capacity in m³, and check how the surround sits against the existing ground.
Architects and self-builders
Set a house platform on a sloping plot, work out the retaining you need, and see it before anyone digs.
Surveyors and site engineers
Turn measured spot heights into a contour map and cross-sections, on site, on a tablet.
Sports turf, paddocks and drainage
Grade a pitch, arena or field for fall and drainage, and confirm the levels hold along any line you draw.
Learn it in an afternoon
Short lessons — from your first outline to cut-and-fill volumes and photoreal renders.
Draw your first area
Place vertices, close the ring, and read live edge lengths as you go. Covers the line and wall tools.
6 minRaise your first plateau
Give an area an elevation and watch the ground grade up to meet it. Explains the datum and ground zero.
6 minTexture and colour surfaces
Assign materials to areas and terrain, and paint regions that recolour the ground without raising it.
5 min3 featured · 17 min
What people ask before they start
- What is Lan3D?
- Lan3D is a 3D terrain and site-plan editor that runs in the browser. Draw the site in 2D with live dimensions, give each area an elevation, and the ground grades between them in 3D as you work. The same drawing gives you contour maps, cut-and-fill volumes in cubic metres, and photorealistic renders.
- Do I need to install any software?
- No. Lan3D runs in a modern browser on macOS, Windows, Linux, iPadOS and Android — there is nothing to download, licence or keep updated. Your sites sync across every device you sign in on.
- Can Lan3D calculate cut-and-fill volumes?
- Yes. Select an area and Lan3D reports the volume in cubic metres between that area and the ground the rest of the site forms beneath it. That is your pond or pool capacity, the spoil an excavation produces, or the fill a level platform needs.
- Can I generate a topographic contour map?
- Yes. Switch the plan to contour view and Lan3D traces minor and major contour lines with labelled heights straight from the terrain. Draw a line anywhere on the plan to graph the ground profile beneath it as a cross-section.
- Can I trace an existing survey or aerial photo?
- Yes. Drop a survey drawing, plot plan or aerial photo in as a reference image, calibrate it by drawing over one known distance, and trace the site outline on top of it at true scale.
- How precise are the heights?
- Elevations are set to the centimetre. Tilt a plateau by an angle and a direction, or let Lan3D work the slope out for you from two measured heights, then check it against a cross-section or a spot height anywhere on the ground.
- Does it work on an iPad with Apple Pencil?
- Yes. Draw with the Pencil, pan and pinch with your fingers, and long-press for the radial menu. A plan drawn on the tablet on site shows up on the desktop live, so you can survey with the iPad and present from the laptop.
- Can I export the model to other software?
- Yes. Export the geometry as an OBJ file for other 3D packages, download a whole site as a self-contained file to archive or hand over, or save the 2D plan and any 3D view as an image for a report.
- Is there a free version?
- Yes. The free plan gives you three sites and the full terrain editor — drawing, grading, contours, cross-sections and volume calculation — with no card. The paid plan is $19 a month billed yearly and adds photorealistic renders, version history and live sync across your devices.
Open the editor and draw something
Three sites on the free plan, no card. Bring a survey or start from a blank plot.