Messing with Volcanos

[Karro]

Okay...

Just a quickie. This didn't take a lot of effort. Took something like RobA's mountain tutorial, then used a burn tool to hollow out a crater at the top. Messed a bit with the side, and added a low-depth noise bump map, then created a bump map from the gray-scale image.

Added a second layer of colors for the lava with yellow and oranges and reds blended and blurred a little.

I can provide a more detailed process if requested... but it's far from perfect, just a quick test to see if the concept works.

quick volcano.jpg

[Steel General]

Well since I'm partly responsible for this "mess" , I'd love to see a step-by-step process for how its done, but I can wait until you refine it a little more.

[jfrazierjr]

purdddy.....

I really like how you got the texture on all sides of the cone. I assume you have picked up on using the smudge tool on the base texture used for the bumpmap?

[Karro]

Well since I'm partly responsible for this "mess" , I'd love to see a step-by-step process for how its done, but I can wait until you refine it a little more.

I will try to get some snap-shots of the in-progress later today. I think this was relatively simple...

purdddy.....

I really like how you got the texture on all sides of the cone. I assume you have picked up on using the smudge tool on the base texture used for the bumpmap?

You assume correct. I like the effect it has on mountains, and I appreciate the tip! (i.e. thanks for pioneering it)

[jfrazierjr]

I will try to get some snap-shots of the in-progress later today. I think this was relatively simple...



You assume correct. I like the effect it has on mountains, and I appreciate the tip! (i.e. thanks for pioneering it)

Cool... glad you like it. I can't say I really pioneered it, I am sure others were doing it before I tried it, I just keep pushing it cause I like the effect so darn much. Of course, if you are really thankful, you could also send me some money(PM me for the address)... or rep at least.

Oh, and btw, I would probably also think about using the smudge tool to draw the cone color down the slope side to try to blend in more with the underlying grass coloration....

Joe

[Karro]

Cool... glad you like it. I can't say I really pioneered it, I am sure others were doing it before I tried it, I just keep pushing it cause I like the effect so darn much. Of course, if you are really thankful, you could also send me some money(PM me for the address)... or rep at least.

Oh, and btw, I would probably also think about using the smudge tool to draw the cone color down the slope side to try to blend in more with the underlying grass coloration....

Joe

Rep I can handle... (at least now I can...). Money... well... I'm out of a job as of tomorrow, so I don't think that's in the cards.

Yeah, I'm not satisfied with the hard-line of mountain color, but it was late when I did this, and I wanted to see what I could do quickly. I will be going back to refine it...

[Karro]

So... as promised, a quick step-by-step of the volcano:

Each of these images represents a different layer/step in the process. Generally, I copied a layer to make the changes necessary for the next step. The green part is just a layer in the background... I don't do anything with it, and most everything else is on a transparent layer over that (it's there in the image for contrast).


So, started with a blob of 50% gray where I'm putting my volcano:

quick volcano-step1.jpg

I use the Alpha select on the layer to get the whole blob, then I perform an angular gradient fill with black and white.

quick volcano-step2.jpg

I make a copy of this, and redo the angular gradient with two mountain colors (I'm mostly using colors from the city-map-palette available for DL in RobA's regional map GIMP tutorial). I keep both layers, but leave the B&W layer invisible.

quick volcano-step3.jpg

Then, using a copy of the B&W layer (which, to work on, now has to be visible, but it will be invisible in the final image), I use Joe's method of using the smudge tool to smudge up and down along the outside of the mountain cone. This will make those ridge ripples on the cone later. Then I use the dodge/burn tool, set to burn, and burn a small, darkened spot at the tip in the midst of the white. The burn is subtle, but I think you want it subtle, because too much will appear too deep on the bumpmap. I also went back around the edge of what will be our crater with the dodge tool (set to dodge) to lighten it up a teensy bit. I also did some Noise>Spreads and Gaussian Blurs at some point around here. You just kind of get used to doing those two, in that order, after going through RobA's tutorial.

quick volcano-step4.jpg

Then, I made a copy of the original gray blob (I kept a copy of it hidden in the background), and applied a bump-map filter using the previous layer.

quick volcano-step4-1.jpg

Set this layer to overlay, and hide all the other layers except this, the mountain color, and the green background. However, I didn't totally like the results of this (I think this is partially the source of the "floating mountain" phenomenon), so I went back to the B&W gradient. I'll show what I did next in the next post.