Editing a world map

[Deadshade]

Greetings cartographers

This is my first post here because I need some general advice.
I have always liked creating maps in fantasy setting but ... manually.
Today I decided to try the next step which is using a software.
So I took on of my maps, transformed it in .bmp.
Then I selected Wilbur because it is this kind of maps I had in mind.
Read the .bmp in Wilbur and wanted to experiment.
My problem is three fold :

1) I couldn't find a tutorial for Wilbur. The number of commands and options is astronomical so that finding out how it works by experimenting is out of question. Does a tutorial exist ?
2) My target is to take the outlines of the continents&isles I created and put textures/elevations on it. Is Wilbur the right software ?
3) Is it posssible to define just a contour map and to fill it inside (mountains, lakes, forests, cities, deserts) so that the coasts become fractal, the mountains appear with different heights etc and choose the colors ?

I apologize for what may seem super newbie questions but that is what I am.

[Midgardsormr]

There are some tutorials for Wilbur at the bottom of the official download page here: Current Wilbur Version

[Corilliant]

Welcome

[Deadshade]

There are some tutorials for Wilbur at the bottom of the official download page here: Current Wilbur Version

Thanks. I have already read that but this is not a tutorial. This is an example of creating a map using perhaps 1/100 of the available options.
I meant a true tutorial explaining how the commands in the software work.
For example : I have an island, how do I create a mountain in the middle of it ? Or how do I color the seas blue ?

Also there is perhaps a better adapted software. Time and money is not an issue for me. I mostly need something that I can learn to use and that does what I'd like to do e.g fill up land masses with mountains, rivers forests and deserts.

[Midgardsormr]

So you're not looking for a tutorial, you're looking for a manual. Give it some time and Joe will be by to help out. He goes by Waldronate here.

[waldronate]

The documentation file at the Wilbur home page is a little out of date, but it covers most of the basic features of the software. The way I see your problem, though, is that you're asking "how do I do this to my map" and the documentation covers more along the lines of "here's what the software feature does".
http://www.cartographersguild.com/ma...-wilburia.html and http://www.cartographersguild.com/ma...und-lands.html have examples of using an outline and mountain mask to generate results in Wilbur (the second one with a fairly detailed tutorial).

http://www.cartographersguild.com/so...sting-map.html may offer some suggestions for your first case. Another technique is to use the lasso tool to select the area at the base of the mountain(s) and then use Filter>>Fill>>Mound with Operation Add to fill the area.

Changing the color of the ocean depends on the shader that you're using. Some shaders have no notion of "ocean" at all. For the basic Wilbur shader, it would be Texture>>Shader Setup, Altitude page. The Color List button under "Sea" controls coloring of all areas on the land below "Sea Level".

Changing a contour map to a height field is the same process as described in the CSU Johnsondale tutorial, except that you convert each contour level to a solid mask. There are some examples of that process at the guild, I think.

Note that asking questions about Wilbur's operation is an excellent option, as I have it on good authority that the author of the software will sometimes answer such questions.

[Deadshade]

Note that asking questions about Wilbur's operation is an excellent option, as I have it on good authority that the author of the software will sometimes answer such questions.

Many thanks Waldronate. Most kind from you.

You exactly hit the nail on the head - my problem is indeed "How do I apply the fractal Tools on a preexisting map ?"
In the meantime I learned a lot and am much better able to explain what I want to do than I was yesterday.

First I gave up on Wilbur as it is indeed rather difficult and too full of concepts I am not really familiar with.

I then settled on Fractal Terrains 3 and I can already use it reasonably well (have still difficulty to understand how the selection buttons work and what the options do but ....)
So as I have a PNG file of my map and can transform it in any reasonable format, I thought that my problem was solved because I only had to load my file into FT3 and then work it with the Tools.
Seemed simple enough untill I realized that while FT 3 can export in about any format, it can import basically nothing and in any case not PNG.

I spent then several hours trying to load the PNG in Wilbur (who can apparently read it but I am unable to edit it there by tracing f.ex the contours etc) then saving it with all possible extensions and then trying to load it with FT3.
All attempts failed but one (when i used the format 8 bit .bmp file) where something appears in FT 3 but it is so distorted and scrambled that I can't use it.

So basically now my question is clearly formulated : How can I transfer map contours contained in a PNG file into FT 3 ?
Alternatively I could just use the coordinates and recreate the contours directly in FT3 but I have found no fast way. Clicking on raise altitude finishes to make appear a piece of the contour in about 2 minutes on a length which is perhaps 1/500 of the total coast length so that I would spend more than 17 hours just tracing the coastlines. This is definitely too much.
Isn't there a way to trace a coastline in FT 3 directly in less than 1 hour ?

[waldronate]

I'm not sure what your original image looks like. A sample of that image (or even the whole image, if you're willing) would be helpful.

[Deadshade]

I'm not sure what your original image looks like. A sample of that image (or even the whole image, if you're willing) would be helpful.

Sorry I don't know how to post a picture but it probably doesn't matter as I only need to find a succession of transformations which start with a PNG (or other usual) format and finishing in FT3 where the coastline should be conserved. Nothing else matters as I will recreate the details (rivers, lakes, mountains etc) anyway so that if it is destroyed by the transformations, it is not a problem.
To get an idea, it is basically a planet with a perimeter of 11 000 miles (about half Earth) where between latitudes of about 50° and - 50° and longitude -60 and + 60 lies an island system. The island system is composed of 4 large islands (the largest being ~ 1000x1000 miles) relatively near to each other and a dozen of smaller islands around. Everything else is sea. I will perhaps add ice caps but this is irrelevant for the moment.


It is because I have an island system that the total coastline is relatively long and I need that it be conserved before starting editing.

As I said above, surprisingly the PNG is conserved (with false and strange colors) and clearly visible when loaded into Wilbur but I am absolutely unable to edit anything.
On the other hand I am able to edit in FT3 but I am unable to transfer the coastline into it.

EDIT :
Ah I forgot. The projection I am working with is equirectangular what is called "flat world" in FT3. It was precisely to avoid distorsions at higher latitudes that I concentrated my landmasses between +50 and - 50.
And so I am stuck.

[waldronate]

On Reply, there's a "Go Advanced" button that lets you upload images.

Mostly, I'm looking for a description of the resolution of your PNG (pixels wide and high) and approximate size and placement of land masses (you have that here). The attached tutorial makes a few assumptions in that regard.

Make sure that you don't confuse the "planar world" and "flat world" items in the new world wizard. The planar world is exactly that: a flat plane for which the notion of "projection" is meaningless. The flat world is a spherical one that starts out at 0 altitude everywhere (it sets worldwide editing roughness to 0, if I recall correctly). This spherical world can be viewed in many projections and all are equally valid. The equirectangular projection is a special case projection of a sphere with a simple n:m angle (latitude, longitude):pixel relationship; the planar world is a literal flat area with a n:m linear distance:pixel relationship.

FT From Contours.pdf