The Road to Tiamis

[Mouse]

Awesome job Mouse.

Thanks Voolf

It sounds like the newer version of cc3 is much better then the older version that I have. I've recently been thinking about upgrading, and playing around with it some more so I went over to the profantasy site the other day, and it looks like they have some promising new annuals that weren't there when I was using it. I've been seeing some really nice maps come out of it recently, some I didn't even know were made in cc3 until I saw the new styles on there site.

The new version is CC3+, and its a lot faster and more robust than CC3. I've never used CC3 myself, since I've been able to do all that I've wanted to do with CC3+

The recent annuals are all compatible with CC3+, though it is taking a little time for the older annuals to be converted. If you want the best of both worlds you can do a home conversion job on the older annuals, although these will all be converted in time.


In my mind there's no such thing as a single ideal piece of mapping software. They all have their plusses, and they all have their minuses (and with some packages that to me must include the sheer cost). The trick of it all lies in collecting the tools that will help you to draw all the things that you see in your mind when you think a new map into being... and to constantly experiment in the hope of finding new, different and interesting ways of doing things

[Straf]

Mouse, the Layer Effects script adds a new menu under Script-fu called Layer Effects, which expands into a whole lot of different things including glows and stroke - only I don't really know what they do so I've never used them. I used the Bevel and Emboss tool once to make rivers look lower than the land, but that's about it. Anyway here's a page for it: http://registry.gimp.org/node/186

And that map is fantastic Wheel ruts as well

[- JO -]

Wow ! A true artist's job, really !!

one little thing about labels : are you gonna keep them white like this ? You did such a good job with the effects on the drawing, like aging. They look brand new, don't they ?

Anyway, it's a really beautiful piece you draw there !

Thanks for sharing it !

[Mouse]

Mouse, the Layer Effects script adds a new menu under Script-fu called Layer Effects, which expands into a whole lot of different things including glows and stroke - only I don't really know what they do so I've never used them. I used the Bevel and Emboss tool once to make rivers look lower than the land, but that's about it. Anyway here's a page for it: http://registry.gimp.org/node/186

And that map is fantastic Wheel ruts as well

Thanks Straf

I had to read that twice. I can't have slept very well because I thought you said 'wheel nuts', and I was trying to work out where the heck I'd been fly tipping tiny car bits in my map! LOL!

Thanks also for the link, because I might come back to GIMP with respect to effects one day (I never rule an option out), but right now I'm finding it a lot easier to use the freely adjustable and reusable sheet effects in CC3+

For anyone interested in how to do this in CC3+ here is a screen shot of a drop shadow effect I'm playing around with instead of the aforementioned CC3+ glow effect:

Drop shadow effect on text.jpg

Open the Sheets and Effects dialogue. Add a drop shadow effect to the Text sheet using the ADD button, and adjust the numbers to suit - using the APPLY button to update the view in the background so you can see what your doing in real time.

The Drop Shadow Sheet effect does not allow you to change the colour of the 'glow' it produces, but IMHO it looks a bit more even than an actual glow effect when dealing with all the sharp inner angles of lettering. If I wanted to use the drop shadow effect and change the colour I would just add an HSL Sheet Effect immediately after the Drop Shadow effect on the very same sheet.

So there you go - a fully adjustable one sheet solution to all the necessary text effects

Wow ! A true artist's job, really !!

one little thing about labels : are you gonna keep them white like this ? You did such a good job with the effects on the drawing, like aging. They look brand new, don't they ?

Anyway, it's a really beautiful piece you draw there !

Thanks for sharing it !

Thanks Jo

I did the font white to start with because I thought I might have a bit of trouble making it stand out from the rather busy background in places, but I think what I will probably do is use an HSL Sheet effect to adjust them down a bit towards the brightest colour of the map. Maybe another CC3 blend effect to pick it up directly from the underlying map - multiply, or soft light perhaps.

EDIT: As you can see from the screen shot above I've already started playing with the possibility of reducing the glare just a bit by adding an HSL Sheet effect just above the drop shadow effect. The Brightness is currently set to -20, but I might take it a bit darker than that. These are adjustments I will make closer to the moment when I'm 'polishing' the map ready for the Finished Maps forum

[Mouse]

Here is the finished drawing.

Now all I have to do is the two final versions - one done in a similar fashion to the last WIP (effects and text added in CC3+), and one coloured in GIMP and then finished in CC3+

Road to Tiamis 07.JPG

In case anyone is wondering what happened to the paper across the scree slopes in the mid foreground - I put the pad on the floor to go and answer the door, and wheeled my chair over it when I got back to the room - hence the wheel mark tramline wound across the shading.

I wouldn't mind so much if it had been my Wacom delivery!

[ChickPea]

It's absolutely gorgeous, Mouse. Can't wait to see the finished version.

[Mouse]

Aw thanks ChickPea. I'm so glad you like it - so far

My only regret (apart from rolling the chair over it and scarring the paper with that horrible line) is that I forgot it was A3, and not a longer rectangle. I kind of ran out of space on the composition side of things to the right hand side where the edge of the pad caught me slightly unawares, but hey - that's the way it goes with hand drawing things

[kacey]

Beautiful job Mouse, I'm envious of you're skills with a pencil. You could have that wheel mark fixed up in just a few minutes with the healing brush in gimp or PhotoShop, just do it before you're other edits, and colouring, would be like it was never there, tho it really isn't very noticeable.

[DarkInfinity]

Wow, that is amazing Mouse. Simply beautiful.

[Mouse]

Beautiful job Mouse, I'm envious of you're skills with a pencil. You could have that wheel mark fixed up in just a few minutes with the healing brush in gimp or PhotoShop, just do it before you're other edits, and colouring, would be like it was never there, tho it really isn't very noticeable.

Thanks Kacey

No need to be envious - I aim to be really quite amusing with my first few attempts in your area of forte - the tablet! (that's when it arrives, of course!)

Thanks for the tip in healing that wound. I could have cried when I saw what I'd done to it, but I had to darken that area regardless of the textural rubbing I knew I was going to make of it. That's why it took me so long. It doesn't actually look as bad as it is on the page. Those wheels cut! I think the first thing I will do if I ever buy an new workstation chair is check how sharp the wheels are - to save my carpet the wear and tear if nothing else.

Wow, that is amazing Mouse. Simply beautiful.

Thanks, DarkInfinity

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Mouse dreams!