December Entry: Kazh - Homeworld of the Klarr

[su_liam]

Yay! Triple posting. I think it's allowed.

Kind of a WIP. Kind of a mess.

This is what the Illustrator Export from ArcMap looked like in Illustrator.
KazhEckertVBigTextBox-[Converted].jpg
Not actually too bad. I can use my text magic on the labels; the ones ArcMap put in just act as placeholders. The Markers need nee-hee-eed to be redone. That'll just add a few hours.

Of course I'm not using this copy, this was just to see how much time I'd have to allot for Illustratory goodness after I had the map nailed down. More than I was hoping, less than I feared.

[su_liam]

Looking at the colors, I think the seas should be a bit more blue and the land just a touch greener.

Actually, I probably will blue the seas up more, the land I will probably try to desaturate a bit. The thing is, the basic color on the land is just a neutral backdrop for variation. I'll add in warmer-colored deserts, greener swamps and forests, probably browner or grayer mountains with white glaciation and some sort of color variation for anthropogenic features like croplands and such.

I messed about with the Illustrator a bit more(when on a computer without ArcMap everything looks like a nail), The graticule should go pretty quick, but redoing the markers for all the cities will get to be a nightmare if the numbers get too high. I'm considering dropping ArcGIS out of the process. At least for the comp.

I'm also considering going back into Wilbur, breaking up the elevation map into smaller, higher res tiles and refining that a bit. I'd like something approaching Sorol ultimately. The question is wether that's worth doing during the comp or if I should save that for after and focus on the cartography.

I decided to post my Illustrator noodling as a WIP.

### Latest WIP ###
KazhEckertVBigTextBox-[Converted]2.jpg

[su_liam]

Just to fit in, I decided to show my original texture image in Wagner VII projection. Fatlady buttshots for everybody! Thanks for the image Ravells.

WagnerVIIb.jpg

The projection is actually pretty nice. It's equal-area. Among the equal area projections in Flex Projector, only Eckert IV has less scale distortion. Among the equal-area projections in Flex Projector only Kavraisky V and Eckert IV have less angular distortion. Eckert IV is best for angular distortion.

Eckert seems to be the way to go for me. Reasonably attractive, doesn't look any part of a fat lady and low overall distortion. It's a winner.

[su_liam]

Very much of a WIP. I'm experimenting with colorizing in Photoshop. Still not happy, but hey it's just a WIP.
### Latest WIP ###
KazhEckertVColorized.jpg

I'll probably leave the colorized version in geographic and do the actual projection in ArcMap or Saga. This is a preview.

[Diamond]

Wow. You've got some good stuff happening here, man. I'm in awe of you mathematical geniuses that can create convincing (and accurate!) projections.

[Ascension]

I like your land colors but the water...kinda bright. You've probably already fixed it by now, though

[su_liam]

That was actually the last thing I did for the night. I prolly need to hand color the water like the land for it to fit in. In terms of the water color, I seem to go back and forth between no-contrast practically-green and holy-crap neon-blue without finding the good place in-between.

I enjoy the mathematical genius characterization . The key to my success is my apps. On the Winders side, I gots ArcGIS, which costs(a lot), and SagaGIS, which is free. On me Mac I has GrassGIS, which I'm not smart enough to operate, QGIS, which I can kinda make do stuff, Flex Projector, which is cool and free and also available for PC, also I have G.Projector, which is free too. Not to forget the Flexify plugin for Photoshop, which I use to rotate my viewpoint. Good for fixing the polar pinchies.

You, too, can be a mathematical genius, if you are fearless and willy-nilly d/l stuff off the internet always confident that viruses only happen to otter people. I got me some bad reflexes from over fifteen years on a Mac. Fortunately, I've been lucky and only had to reinstall Windows just the twice 'cause of viruses or something...

[ravells]

I've just spent the entire afternoon trying to rescue my mother in law's computer from a BSOD caused (perhaps) by an 'anti-virus' (Anti Virus proggie she downloaded which turned out to be a virus itself. Got rid of the proggie but the BSOD still persists and I'm out of my depth, so she has to call the nice Polish techhie she got her computer from...

You're one of the few people here who uses 'serious' mapping applications and I love seeing what you do with them, glad to see you're going with a 'big bum' projection too!

[su_liam]

In my experience antivirus programs are usually almost as much trouble as the viruses they ostensibly fight. Even with legitimate ones. Hopefully you got the BSOD fixed. Usually, at least with Windows('cause I just don't know the system very well), if I can't get something fixed in less than two hours I reinstall the OS. What that don't fix is usually damn serious and requires the intervention of Polish technology.

While I do use some serious apps(at least as long as my educational license lasts[till June]), Flex Projector and G.Projector are reasonably simple to use. I prefer Flex Projector 'cause it can handle vector files to some degree and the output is usually marginally prettier(to my eye). G.Projector is a more strictly raster app, but it has oodles of weird projection no one outside of the cartographic community has ever heard of(Canter's Pseudocylindric 2002 f5.23... WTF?). Some of these are really quite attractive and have good distortion attributes, so I kind of like having them available. I've spent way too much time researching some of these projections.

While it isn't equal-area, I've grown to like the look of Eckert V. Eckert IV is equal-area and does seem to have a lot of advantages in terms of general distortion, but it just looks way too lozenge-shaped for my taste at the mo'. The 'big bum' projection has a lot going for it, but I think I'll stick with Old Flattop.

Speaking of which, I have made a little more progress. Gots ta love da Clipping Path.

### Latest WIP ###
KazhEckertVColorized1.jpg

I also fixed a bit of boneheadedness in the graticule.

[su_liam]

I'm a huge fan of equal-area projections for various, I'm sure psychologically very significant, reasons, but I've been liking the bulgy, flat-polar look of the Eckert V quite a bit. Until now I haven't found an equal-area projection that had the look I wanted for this project. Mucking about with Flex Projector, I realized that Werenskiold I was equal-area, and look it's all fat and flat-topped. So I figured I'd try 'er out. What d'y'all think, dudes?
### Latest WIP ###
KazhWerenskioldIColorized.jpg

EDIT1: Oh, God! I just realized. I need to reproject my rivers and cities. Eugh!

EDIT2: Which... I can't do with Flex Projector, because it assumes geographical coordinates on the input. Aaaargh!