15 - [Inner] The Ward of Erahum [Mouse]

[Mouse]

I'm having a hiatus in the relief shading department.

The problem is, you see, I can't see a way of using either of the CC3 bevel effects to get the kind of relief shading I want, which is best described by this image, which I've already uploaded and credited in the Reference Images thread...



As you can see there is a world of difference between this and the way the map looks right now.

What I'm thinking of doing is creating the entire relief map in GIMP first like this...



Then importing it to CC3 to add all the roads, houses, trees, textures and so on - all the things that a normal CC3 map has. If I do this, however, I'm going to have to at least double the resolution on the GIMP file as you can see the pixilation in the image above, even though I've reduced the screen shot.

Can anyone tell me just how big a GIMP file can be before the whole thing starts to get really difficult to handle on a bog standard laptop? I mean how many thousands of pixels in height and width. The file this shot was taken from was 4005 x 3870. Can I multiply both dimensions by 2 and get away with it?

EDIT: Its ok. I've worked out what to do now

[Southern Crane]

I'm having a hiatus in the relief shading department.

The problem is, you see, I can't see a way of using either of the CC3 bevel effects to get the kind of relief shading I want, which is best described by this image, which I've already uploaded and credited in the Reference Images thread...



As you can see there is a world of difference between this and the way the map looks right now.

What I'm thinking of doing is creating the entire relief map in GIMP first like this...



Then importing it to CC3 to add all the roads, houses, trees, textures and so on - all the things that a normal CC3 map has. If I do this, however, I'm going to have to at least double the resolution on the GIMP file as you can see the pixilation in the image above, even though I've reduced the screen shot.

Can anyone tell me just how big a GIMP file can be before the whole thing starts to get really difficult to handle on a bog standard laptop? I mean how many thousands of pixels in height and width. The file this shot was taken from was 4005 x 3870. Can I multiply both dimensions by 2 and get away with it?

EDIT: Its ok. I've worked out what to do now

I've been working through the same thing trying to find a style for the limestone geography. I'm not good with line art though. I tried doing that perpendicular style but I couldn't make it look right for me yet. Yours a great start though.

[Mouse]

Im not sure what to do about this either. I had my chasm vertical so top down didnt show any relief at all. But it looks too flat. I am unsure if that is how it would look in real life or whether I should have faked it a bit more for artistic sake to give some depth.

In Gimp I regularly use up to 20K pixel sized images. Not sure if there is a limit. I know in the past I used to get problems after about the 18K mark on my old paint software and in any case I think if your using images bigger than about 12K its time to break them up into tiles. I normally only use 20K images in Gimp so that I can make the tiles for the zoom maps.

We did the MeDem map which is 40K pix square in tiles. It was not easy using tiles but we found that we had to. I think there are some apps which work in tiles in the background but the main app will page them in and out for you so you dont notice. In fact I think its possible photoshop does this. I do quite a lot of image work in scripts and automated methods. Most my current city map is automated scripts and then I can run the same script on different tiles and then piece it all back together again - not that I am this time around.

I'm using artistic licence to create enough slope to illustrate the drop. Its not technically correct, but it conveys the information, which is what a map is supposed to do (that's what I was taught anyway) I believe that I was also told (by an ex Ordnance Survey draughtsman turned college lecturer) that even the Ordnance Survey uses a little licence when depicting cliffs on an ordnance survey map. Most times the cliffs are not as protuberant as those famous crinkled symbols they use, but they use them because everyone knows what it means.

I have a crappy laptop, and 10,000 pixels square is all I've dared to bump this up to. I don't know if its going to save properly, or if I'm going to have to leave the laptop turned on and the background file open until I've finished it, just so I can get the exported bitmap for my CC3 map.

Because CC3 only references the image when I import it, the size doesn't actually matter, so the CC3 file is perfectly happy with the state of affairs, but GIMP is threatening to crash on me as I speak - its got stuck trying to save the file!

I don't know if I can draw this in tiles. Its complicated enough for me to work the drawing out, without having to work out how to ensure I don't get the lines that cross the seams wrong.

[Mouse]

Yeah thats what I am doing. Background using the automated texture shading and VDale on top for all those small bits n pieces where you can see the obvious resolution difference. I like the process that way but I can see how most may have a problem with it.

Looks like we are both making hybrid maps

I've got GIMP to save and close so I can render an image of the new experiment. I don't know if this is the first time, but this is a GIMP relief map being used as the background for a CC3 map...

Image on its way!

[Redrobes]

Im not sure what to do about this either. I had my chasm vertical so top down didnt show any relief at all. But it looks too flat. I am unsure if that is how it would look in real life or whether I should have faked it a bit more for artistic sake to give some depth.

In Gimp I regularly use up to 20K pixel sized images. Not sure if there is a limit. I know in the past I used to get problems after about the 18K mark on my old paint software and in any case I think if your using images bigger than about 12K its time to break them up into tiles. I normally only use 20K images in Gimp so that I can make the tiles for the zoom maps.

We did the MeDem map which is 40K pix square in tiles. It was not easy using tiles but we found that we had to. I think there are some apps which work in tiles in the background but the main app will page them in and out for you so you dont notice. In fact I think its possible photoshop does this. I do quite a lot of image work in scripts and automated methods. Most my current city map is automated scripts and then I can run the same script on different tiles and then piece it all back together again - not that I am this time around.

[Mouse]

Southern Crane...

I'm no expert. In fact this is only the second time I've ever done any actual drawing and shading in GIMP in my life.

I'm a CC3 mapper. Even if the background is done in GIMP to get the actual effect I'm after, the foreground will still be done in CC3+

EDIT: Haha - Red, you just got ninjad by Southern Crane over on your own thread, and now your getting revenge on me.

[Southern Crane]

EDIT: Haha - Red, you just got ninjad by Southern Crane over on your own thread, and now your getting revenge on me.

What does getting ninja'd here mean?

[Redrobes]

What does getting ninja'd here mean?

It means that somebody has posted a reply inbetween you posting your reply so that the post above your reply is not following the conversation any more. Its bound to happen all the time on a forum. Its not uncommon but Mouse noted that I replied in my thread and your post got there first and then it happened again a few seconds later in Mouses thread. That is quite unusual - so it looks like you have ninja skillz !

You havent said where in the world you are from. Sometimes these things dont translate well. Other times its a forum bit of slang that is not known outside of forum speak. Its like OP means opening poster - i.e. the first poster of the thread.

EDIT: Aaaaand I have been triple ninjad right there !

[Redrobes]

Yeah thats what I am doing. Background using the automated texture shading and VDale on top for all those small bits n pieces where you can see the obvious resolution difference. I like the process that way but I can see how most may have a problem with it.

[Redrobes]

I think southern crane is not a reference to a bird but to the fighting style he uses

Oh yeah - check this out:
http://gyokku-ninja.com/free-online-...ane-stance.htm

Getting side tracked again....