Rakateria WIP

[Sapiento]

Again an attempt to make a vector map.
For the symbols I used brushes, which I created in PS and then vector-traced in Illustrator.

[RobA]

Nice!

I like your symbols - they have great detail, but they make the rest of the map look "crude" by comparison (the frame, dashed outline, etc.) Also, is there anything you could fill in the whitespace around the globes with? It looks unfinished (which is probably why all antique maps made in this manner put pictures in all those areas...)

-Rob A>

[Sapiento]

Nice!

I like your symbols - they have great detail, but they make the rest of the map look "crude" by comparison (the frame, dashed outline, etc.) Also, is there anything you could fill in the whitespace around the globes with? It looks unfinished (which is probably why all antique maps made in this manner put pictures in all those areas...)

-Rob A>

Thanks, Rob A.
Yes, it is still unfinished. This is a first idea for decorations. I used free vector elements.

[Hai-Etlik]

Beautiful, though the decorations overlapping the map extent kind of bothers me.

It's fairly common to include polar aspect insets in these two hemisphere azimuthal maps, it worked well for me in my Mars map.

[Sapiento]

Beautiful, though the decorations overlapping the map extent kind of bothers me.

It's fairly common to include polar aspect insets in these two hemisphere azimuthal maps, it worked well for me in my Mars map.

Thank you, you're right: I shifted the decorations.
I don't have enough knowledge of projections to make correct insets (maybe you know a way).

I added a pattern to the background and labels on the map. A version with and one without paper texture.

[Hai-Etlik]

Thank you, you're right: I shifted the decorations.
I don't have enough knowledge of projections to make correct insets (maybe you know a way).

Well, you can fake it by taking the tops and bottoms of the hemispheres, rotating them 90 degrees, and then joining, stretching, etc to make it fit. You'll also have to scale down somewhat.

I can't think of a quick way to do it correctly though. There are some quick and dirty programs for starting with equidistant cylindrical and converting to other projections but not for starting with an azimuthal projection, whichever one you are using (I'd guess Stereographic). I should really try playing around with GDAL more as there's probably a way to do it fairly easily using that.

[jfrazierjr]

For me, the water "texture" just messes this up in my brain. It's just hard for me to concentrate on the features because the ocean texture is so dominant. The actual landmass content is very nice though...

If you want to try the polar thing, my suggestion would be the drop the two center (top and bottom) decorations and put the insets there, likely overlapping the actual "map" a bit would probably work best. Personally, I prefer the one with the paper texture as it gives it more character.

[Sapiento]

For me, the water "texture" just messes this up in my brain. It's just hard for me to concentrate on the features because the ocean texture is so dominant. The actual landmass content is very nice though...

If you want to try the polar thing, my suggestion would be the drop the two center (top and bottom) decorations and put the insets there, likely overlapping the actual "map" a bit would probably work best. Personally, I prefer the one with the paper texture as it gives it more character.

I'll work on the water.

the problem is, from the mathematical point of view, how to get from the two hemispheres the correct polar regions (actually I think only the northern part would be important).

[jfrazierjr]

I'll work on the water.

the problem is, from the mathematical point of view, how to get from the two hemispheres the correct polar regions (actually I think only the northern part would be important).

Heh.. well.. thats one of the things where you will just have to claim "artistic license"...

[Wannabehero]

Very nice!

I know you said you were going to work on the water, though I was wondering if maybe just using a lighter tone of gray or diminishing the line intensity would be sufficient to let the land features pop out more.

Something like this (done stupid fast using my crappy software tools at work)

Rakateria sub-section lightening comparison.jpg