Nubian Kings

[ThomasR]

What can I say besides that I love it ?

[Falconius]

Oh I love it, this is great.

[snodsy]

Looking forward to the progress

Is Sketchup really difficult to learn?

Hey Mouse,

Sketchup is pretty easy to get started, but it qwerky to some degree, the complex shapes can get tricky, but there are plenty of tutorials, You Tube Videos and a good community. There are also a lot of plugins that help make some of the more complex shape creation easier.

You can get the free version and play with it immediately and make house, walls. It will take some time to get comfortable with it, I've been using it off and on for about 3-4 years now and feel pretty comfortable at it, but still get bogged down at times with the geometry. Knowing what angle you want to show helps, in that you don't' have to put all the detail in that you would need if you were going to build from it or show a fly through.

It is another good tool to have in the toolbox though and can really help to get the perspective view of thing, even with simple box, you tilt and spin to get the perspective you might want.

[Mouse]

Thanks snodsy

When I become rich and famous I'm going to buy all these pieces of software I've been hankering after (and probably a bigger machine to put them all on)

I half suspect, however, that in many cases with your maps its not so much the software you are using, but the skill you apply to using it - and that is something that I can hardly expect to emulate

[Greg]

Oh, how on earth did I miss this thread? Everybody loves snodsy historical maps!

What you've got planned looks good so far and thanks for also sharing some of your processes. I've only ever used Photoshop (and a little GIMP) for my maps so far, so it's always interesting to see how the other programmes can work compliment each other.

Anywho, I like what I see so far and can't wait to see more!

[Bogie]

The building looks great!

[Ilanthar]

So, do you have fun with Sketchup, Snodsy ?
Another very interesting project and it looks really great already. If I understand well, you kept the lines of SK and added the details like the wall paintings with another software?
I tried to draw everything using SK as a base and just keep shadows, but found it quite difficult (and just get a messy thing).

Anyhow, I'm definitely keeping an eye on this thread!

[snodsy]

So, do you have fun with Sketchup, Snodsy ?
Another very interesting project and it looks really great already. If I understand well, you kept the lines of SK and added the details like the wall paintings with another software?
I tried to draw everything using SK as a base and just keep shadows, but found it quite difficult (and just get a messy thing).

Anyhow, I'm definitely keeping an eye on this thread!

Fun is such a relative word fun at times, frustrating at times, but trying it in sketchup will benefit me learning sketchup. I thought you had done Seyasade map in Sketchup? That turned out really well. The Fairy Lutece was in sketchup too?? These were inspirations for me to try this technique, along with a few others who have done maps this way.

Here is a wider view of the perimeters of the city, back wall is just a placeholder for the mountain. Lots of buildings still to add, I plan on doing the trees, fields and mountain in Photoshop.

To your point Ilanthar, hopefully it doesn't turn out a big mess, we'll see. I save the SketchUp file as EXPORT 2D graphic as a JPEG and click the OPTION button to set the PPI at 300, that's what the attached is saved as (although) at this point not EDGES ONLY. I will save two files - EDGES ONLY and SHADOWS, that's how I did the Test one. I would hate to do all this work and it turn out poorly, so I may test this a little more before moving full steam ahead.

[Straf]

This is looking promising The test you made a few posts in has a real 1970s 'look and learn' book feel to it but not at all dated - illustrations that would be perfectly at home in books today. It makes me all nostalgic for those evenings where I'd read history books before going to sleep. I hated history in school but in more recent years I've become quite interested in it and wondered where it came from. I now realise that it's a rekindling of the enjoyment I got as a kid, before school spoilt it all for me. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished article.

I tried Sketchup some time ago (I won't make any 'but I prefer Smustard' jokes, honest!) when I was renovating a house and wanted to plan the kitchen refit. I didn't quite get the hang of it though, I just managed to get a few cuboids floating in space with some random and weird shapes sticking out from them. Is it still free?


BTW looking at your location, I had a few cracking days in Covington in 2008. I was there when Obama won his first election and the bar I was in (Cock and Bull I think) erupted into rapture when he won the Ohio vote. I then wandered off and found a place with a live bluegrass band. Everyone seemed super friendly, event the vagrants called me sir! I did do some personal research (scientific you know) on the flavour of bourbons and I decided that Knob Creek was my favourite. It's on sale at my local supermarket now but it's a little out of my price range. It's the equivalent of $40 for a 70cl bottle, whereas I got a quart there for around $25 ish. Anyway I had a great time in your part of the world

[snodsy]

This is looking promising The test you made a few posts in has a real 1970s 'look and learn' book feel to it but not at all dated - illustrations that would be perfectly at home in books today. It makes me all nostalgic for those evenings where I'd read history books before going to sleep. I hated history in school but in more recent years I've become quite interested in it and wondered where it came from. I now realise that it's a rekindling of the enjoyment I got as a kid, before school spoilt it all for me. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished article.

I tried Sketchup some time ago (I won't make any 'but I prefer Smustard' jokes, honest!) when I was renovating a house and wanted to plan the kitchen refit. I didn't quite get the hang of it though, I just managed to get a few cuboids floating in space with some random and weird shapes sticking out from them. Is it still free?


BTW looking at your location, I had a few cracking days in Covington in 2008. I was there when Obama won his first election and the bar I was in (Cock and Bull I think) erupted into rapture when he won the Ohio vote. I then wandered off and found a place with a live bluegrass band. Everyone seemed super friendly, event the vagrants called me sir! I did do some personal research (scientific you know) on the flavour of bourbons and I decided that Knob Creek was my favourite. It's on sale at my local supermarket now but it's a little out of my price range. It's the equivalent of $40 for a 70cl bottle, whereas I got a quart there for around $25 ish. Anyway I had a great time in your part of the world

Hey Straf;
Glad you had a good time in Bourbon Country! I do enjoy Knob Creek, but I'd say Buffalo Trace is a really good one as well. There as well as Woodford Reserve, if you make it back try to do the Bourbon Trail, there are many distillers here due to the limestone and underwater springs.

Sketchup is quirky one of the may things is after making a cube, you have to GROUP it so it doesn't stick to other elements that you don't want it do, this project has already help me hone my skills in it some.

I notice that as I get older I like history more, maybe because I'm now part of it . There are so many cool places in the world and great stories of ancient history that it is a treasure trove of info for me to develop map based on. Also I admire all the folks here who are so much better at developing storylines for fantasy worlds than I, but have welcomed me to their world and allow me to participate while doing these more Historic Maps. Sorry for the long post, thanks for the comments.