Obscuring part of the map with clouds

[Fieari]

I'm using Ascension's Atlas style (in Photoshop CC), but I want a little extra. There's a portion of the map that I've created, but the "cartographers" of the fictional world have not yet discovered that portion. I thought that the best way to cover up that area would be to obscure it with clouds.

I tried using a fiber render rotated horizontal (and select color + fuzzy select + clear of course), but it doesn't look cloudlike enough. I tried using a normal cloud render, but it didn't convey "PARTS UNKNOWN" very well, and also was easily confusable with a mountainous area. I ended up going with the fibers superimposed on top of normal clouds using soft light mode, and it looks... eh... vaugely passable... but I was wondering if there are any more techniques I could try that might give a better result?

(Link to my map with the method I described above: Here)

[Chashio]

I don't have any other techniques for you but that looks pretty good, actually - blends with the style. It's also very intriguing, haha. Sorry I'm not much help.

[Gamerprinter]

Historically, some cartographers were known to "make things up" as in creating ficticious terrain and placing the label "here be dragons". I would fade to white (or to whatever the background color and/or parchment behind the map) with a hint of the possible terrain. Another obvious and easy way to cover unknown areas is to place the legend, title block - use label parts of the map to cover the unknown zone. I'm guessing the unknown areas are somewhere on the periphery of the map, quite possibly in the corner - so placing label on top is optimal for map design, and still doing its job of hiding the unknown region.

I'm not a fan of using clouds to cover any area (I'm not a fan of using clouds in a map for any reason), unless there is some actual geologic reason, such as a heavy smoker volcano in the area. Clouds are temporary, even ephemeral things, while a map generally depicts terrain a far less temporary condition and aspect. Now I've used clouds in an encounter scale map of an aerie to help depict an incredible altitude, and when the background area of the map was less a consideration (unimportant). But that would be my only reason I'd ever use clouds in a map. If the map were a modern/post modern sci-fi map, intended to resemble a satellite photo, then that too justifies including clouds, however, then it is a satellite photo of a planet and not really a map at all. Generally, I never place clouds in maps for any reason.

[johnvanvliet]

Clouds are ?? shale we say " fun"

some types are easy to do in 3d work
other types in 2d

Perlin noise is normally good for "fluffy" clouds

That is not the type i make so




for a fluffy cloud
use the plasma noise set to perlin
3 examples

1)perlin


2)difference of Gaussian


3)Gimp-Gmic "Cloud generator"

[Jaxilon]

One of Ascension's challenge maps did this by fading away into the distance. I think its a good example. http://www.cartographersguild.com/at...6&d=1272505619