[WIP] Caeruin XXL

[someguy]

massively cool!

Thou hath been repped.

[StillCypher]

I have to agree with everyone else -- really nice coloring, style, detail. I'm glad to see you've toned down the 'glow' around the town names -- I found that awfully distracting. I'm really looking forward to seeing your progress!

[Quabbe]

Hey there,

actually I'm only playing around with some different styles, like greyscale or tons of filters. Nothing yet what makes me happy, still experimenting a lot.

I have returned to a previous version (only 6,4k x 6,4k px) to continue the labeling, which is nearly finished. Since it is half the size of the original document, the working flow goes much faster and my laptop doesn't have to l........o..............a.............d........... . sooooooooooooooo long for each step. Still missing is only the eastern island and the rivers / mountains.

Oh, and I started with the decoration elements. All the 60 states and kingdoms will become a flag / crest. And in the four edges I want to show maps of the biggest cities. Lot of work still to do ... if I will ever finish this? I don't know. However, its still a lot of fun working on the map and seeing it growing bigger more and more.

Attached is a small image of the current state. I can't safe bigger documents than 2k x 2k px for web, dunno why ... photoshop says something about RAM and Memory ... but I should have enough ram (4 GB) and enough free GB on my hard disk (100+ GB). So whatever it is, I will have to find a way to safe bigger documents. My last documents larger than 3k px I had to safe in MS Paint, copying each cutting together. Pretty annoying.


so far,
Quabbe

[tilt]

looks really cool, love the little placeholders for the crests ... and cool idea with the mayor cities
... and about photoshop - its only the "save for web" function that has a limit, so the only thing you "miss out on" are the functions for locking colors and seing original/safe version at the same time. You can just go to "save as..." and choose .jpg or .png to save bigger documents

[Quabbe]

Oh ... damnit. Thanks a lot for the tip.

[Aelyn]

That's so cool! Really I can't imagine the amount of work you put into this. The placeholders are such a good idea, how did you make them and arrange them so perfectly? Plus I absolutely love the parchment, subtle yet pretty. Can you tell me how to produce something similar?

Still there's one thing I have to mention: The names of the seas are pretty hard to read. It sure looks good, but I had difficulties deciphering them. But that's just a minor flaw I'd say.

Thanks for sharing your work, it's a huge inspiration! Wenn ich mal groß bin, will ich sowas auch können

[RecklessEnthusiasm]

Quabbe,

This is really wonderful. I have been trying out different styles, and this is exactly the next map style I was interested in attempting. Really amazing, and well worth a rep-whack! Sadly, it looks like I must spread the love before I rep you again... I'll see what I can do about that!

[hohum]

Beautiful. In a way I'm glad I can't zoom in right now. I think I could stare at this map for hours. Have some rep.

[Diamond]

Quabbe: you, my friend, are insane. In a good way. I cannot even imagine the effort you've put into this. It may well be in my top three favorite maps ever.

[Quabbe]

Good evening,

The placeholders are such a good idea, how did you make them and arrange them so perfectly?

hi Aelyn,
I drew a circle as a path and stroked it with giant dots. But I didn't want them to look perfectly, thats why I used the distort -> ripple filter, changed the dots into a path, the path back into a selection and et voila, the circle wasn't longer perfect. (Maybe I overdid it a little bit with the effect ... I will fix it later, when I'm going to create the crests.

Plus I absolutely love the parchment, subtle yet pretty. Can you tell me how to produce something similar?

Tons of patterns ... mostly photos of a naked wall from an apartement of a friend of mine I had (wanted ... of course) to help to decorate. And I allways play around a lot with adjustment layers like levels, curves and color balance on different blend modes, especially soft light. To put a mask on an adjustment layer and fill it with a pattern can also deliver interesting results.

Still there's one thing I have to mention: The names of the seas are pretty hard to read. It sure looks good, but I had difficulties deciphering them. But that's just a minor flaw I'd say.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm sure I will change the font by time, as the font seems not to be designed for curved pathes. By the way, that are not names of the seas, that are the names of the six greatest realms (and Taranalaar, the cold and uninhabited lands).

Wenn ich mal groß bin, will ich sowas auch können

Immer schön den Spinat aufessen!

This is really wonderful. I have been trying out different styles, and this is exactly the next map style I was interested in attempting.

hi RE,
wow, you are very ambitious, working here and there on a lot of maps. I like the maps you've made so far, I'm looking forward to see more maps from you.

hi hohum and Diamond,
thanks a lot.

I worked the last day and today massively on the map and finally finished the labeling (of the citys and villages ... but hey!). If anyone is interested in the exact number of textlayers: 1773, enumerated with a script from this site: http://blog.kyletunneyphotography.co...-in-photoshop/

Actually I don't know which style I prefere more. I like both styles, the antiquated and dirty style (the last I posted) and the clean and brilliant style (seen below). I think I will go for the last one, as it will let me realize a few more ideas I have.

Attached is the map in 4k x 4k px resolution (33% of the original size), temporarily without the deco dots.


best,
Quabbe