[Award Winner] Saderan – a tutorial

[FAHall]

What are the GIMP commands for the following:

Create Clipping Mask/Group with Previous

I know they are the same thing in PS depending on which version your using. I looked at the online gimp doc but have no idea how to do a search.

Edit:

When applying a mask in PS you have the choice of Reveal All/Hide All or Reveal Selection/Hide Selection.

How is this implemented in GIMP? Or does it matter.

TIA

This is the biggest limitation of GIMP. It is unable to "Group with Previous". There are some hopes that GIMP 3.0 will have these capabilities, but for now, you're SOL.

[FAHall]

I finally got my hands on PS CS3, which is really exciting.


I've got a quick question now. I'm on the "Elevation Base" portion of the tutorial, and I cannot seem to get my elevations to look as natural, smooth, and high as yours do. Mine keep either looking funky and low (smaller brush with lower opacity) or getting too big and then flattening out (big brush with higher opacity). For some reason I cannot find a happy medium to make them look as nice as the elevation bases that you have in the tut image.

I tried running the clouds and difference clouds filters to see what those came up with, but they just looked weird. I can't seem to get natural looking elevations.


Any suggestions?

[Tear]

Most of the time I use low-opacity brushes, but I paint over the same spot several times to slowly build up the shape. It takes a bit longer, but this way I have better control over the outcome.

[JohnnyKrysys]

Amazing tutorial for an amazing finished product. I ran a quick test map to see if I could replicate the effects and was incredibly happy with the results. Now, it's time to go back and do a full-scale version of some hand drawn maps that I have. I'm pretty well versed in PS (CS3) and have a tablet. Given that, I have a few questions:

1) I'm new at using a tablet (intous3) in PS. Generally, I just use it for animating in Flash. When using it in PS, I was kind of unhappy with the results. It almost seems like flow+opacity are controlled simultaneously with the pressure sensitivity. Is there a way to just isolate "opacity" for the pressure?

2) I'd really like to do a very large scale, full-world map at a large resolution so that I have the option of printing the entire map, or just cropping one continent/island and printing that at a respectable resolution (as opposed to redrawing each continent at a higher res) Do you have any suggestions on optimal resolution size for something like this? (Both physical size and resolution. IE: 2800x1400 @ 300dpi)

3) Given the above, are there any foreseeable problems in your tutorial? I know I'll have to adjust some of the scale/depth settings to accommodate for a larger map. Basically looking for any additional hints you could provide.

Again, thanks a bunch for this amazing tutorial. It was one of the reasons I signed up for the forums. I've always been interested in constructing better looking maps, or stared in awe at some that have been done in various books/publications, both indoor maps and expanse maps. I'm glad I happened upon here!

Thanks for the help!

[Tear]

Amazing tutorial for an amazing finished product.

Thank you for the kind words.

It almost seems like flow+opacity are controlled simultaneously with the pressure sensitivity. Is there a way to just isolate "opacity" for the pressure?

While this is more of a general Photoshop question, and not a tutorial question, I think you should certainly give your tablet some test runs with Photoshop before starting. Try different settings and see what they do. If you are familiar with the software you are using, it will be easier to introduce variations to the tutorial and in the end get down to your very own style.

Do you have any suggestions on optimal resolution size for something like this?

300 dpi is usually used for high quality printing. That means you have to provide 300 pixels for every inch printed. So a width of 10 inches would need a width of 3000 pixels to make sure it is of crisp quality when printed in a book. A poster on a wall is usually not that demanding, though. It is viewed from a distance, so 200 dpi is usually enough. If your box is a bit on the weak side, you can go to 150 dpi, but I would not recommend going any lower.
Zooming in to show certain locations is an entirely different matter. If your original map is 300 dpi and you zoom in on an area with 200%, it will be effectively 150 dpi. It would be a good idea to determine what detail you need and what your box can handle beforehand.

Basically looking for any additional hints you could provide.

Post a work in progress early and often. There are a lot of people here with a lot of experience. They will give you good advice.

[Dain]

My turn to give it a try ...

Well, I have no other words than fantastic tutorial man. Awesome step by step tuto, from a very skilled person. I'm very impressed. I know it is hard to write down that kind of high level tuto but you've done it, and you made people very happy, me first! It seems that you gave us the tuto we all hoped for a long time and I can't thank you enough for this. Again, thank you and congratulations.

Here is my feedback for those who are not sure wether it is a good tuto or not
The tutorial is very well made, and everything is clear enough to not be lost in the process. Only 2 little typos are present but if you read carrefully, you should figure it out fairly easily. It is just a matter of color info on page 10, nothing important really.
What makes this tuto very good is that allows you to adjust anything and everything, but still gives you the key to get a good job. I've change quite some values for layer's transparency, patterns and that kind of stuff, because I liked them more. Just a matter of personal taste.

Here is what I've done, in about 4 hours with a tablet. I really like the result and I'm already on something bigger
Hope it helps

Thanks again Tear, you've made an awesome tuto!

[TheMarcus7]

This tutorial is fun! I've been having a great time using this tutorial to teach myself Photoshop CS3. My project is to update a map we use in a monthly campaign thats been running for almost 10 years and I've run into a bit of a snag. Here is my map up to the Elevations section:

tear_tutorial_copy.jpg

Note the area in the Northwest quadrant circled in red. The black line represents a cliff edge that makes the side to the East a plateau, a couple thousand feet above the area to the West. This is a section of an old map made by a friend of mine showing a representation:

plateau_edge.jpg

I've messed around with various ways of creating this huge cliff, but so far, nothing that doesn't look really bad. Any suggestions?

.TM7

PS. Its not my world, so I have no control over how improbable that kind of cliff is. Its fits in the history of the world.

[TheMarcus7]

Hah! Figured it out on my own. The line I was drawing for the "edge" of the plateau was too wide, so when I tried to bevel it, the bevel was too wide. Gonna move this to the Regions WIP forum.

.TM7

[nemasis]

This is one of the best tuts I have seen in a long time! Not to many people take the time to explain all the details you did!

Thanks a ton for this. Even if I am not happy with the turn out of my map, I now have a far better understanding of how to use masks to my advantage.

My work thus far:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1628241/EpicMap_Test.jpg

Nemasis

[guyanonymous]

This is a great tutorial.

Your instructions were clear, and I appreciated how you provided the menu-based instructions as well as verbal descriptions. I learned a lot, and finally understand masks a bit better.

You may appreciate knowing it works, unmodified, on a 30000x15000 pixel image. Alas, that image (in .psb format) saves out at 15.5 gigs with all the layers left modifiable. Ouch. (64bit PS & Vista 64x)

I really appreciate how well it works with land-masses, elevations, etc. exported from FT Pro and placed onto the various layer masks for mountains, hills, etc. I just need to adjust/tweak those peaks (white areas) in mountains that show up...and of course start adjusting things for better position (not in the middle of continents). It's a great start, and I'm liking the look/feel.

I'm off to experiment with doing the same with climate regions....hmm....can I have one type of climate show up as white, while the others show up as black only? Hmmm....

Thanks again!

p.s., your procedure (minus the mask-painting) also plugs into the action structure well, allowing some great repeatability for different maps.