ZNG Cartography

[ZombieButch]

In case anyone is wondering, episode #14 of the podcast is done, but I've so far been unable to get it encoded properly on Revver, which means it's also unavailable on iTunes and Miro.

You can still check it out on YouTube, though.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ZombieNirvana

 

[Wraith101]

Just wondering if you have any updates on the release date of the first .pdf?

Still loving the podcasts though!

 

[ZombieButch]

Believe me, when I've got an update I'll let you know.

 

[Crowen of Malhawk]

Great stuff!

I love the tutorials. They are very helpful in helping me map out the campaign world for the current D&D game. Here's a little sampling of what I did basing it off the style of the commissioned work you did. (I'm really interested in how you did those mountains and rivers)
Also looking forward to the book!

 

[ZombieButch]

I love the tutorials. They are very helpful in helping me map out the campaign world for the current D&D game. Here's a little sampling of what I did basing it off the style of the commissioned work you did. (I'm really interested in how you did those mountains and rivers)
Also looking forward to the book!

Thanks! Looks like that map is shaping up nicely.

 

[mikeschley]

Palehorse,
Just ran across this thread and your website. Great tutorials!

Keep up the good work.
Mike Schley

 

[ZombieButch]

Palehorse,
Just ran across this thread and your website. Great tutorials!

Keep up the good work.
Mike Schley

Thanks! That means a lot coming from you; I'm a big admirer of your work!

 

[catsclaw227]

Palehorse,
Just ran across this thread and your website. Great tutorials!

Keep up the good work.
Mike Schley

Thanks! That means a lot coming from you; I'm a big admirer of your work!

Ditto, Mike. I really dig the cartography work you have done for WOTC. It is almost all hand (tablet) drawn, or do you have a library of photoshop brushes you reuse over and over?

palehorse --
I would love a quick primer on how you did the forest/walls/buildings for your Maya map. Were the buildings mostly just brush strokes with bevel/emboss and some very light dropshadow? I am assuming the roads are grey with noise, and an inside glow, or did you do more to it?

Oh... and I did your border. very clean. was this a simple brush or was a solid brush stroke that you tweaked?

 

[ZombieButch]

palehorse --
I would love a quick primer on how you did the forest/walls/buildings for your Maya map. Were the buildings mostly just brush strokes with bevel/emboss and some very light dropshadow? I am assuming the roads are grey with noise, and an inside glow, or did you do more to it?

Well, here's the quick version!

The bulk of Maya was done with five Solid Color layers: one each for the two different building colors, one for the roads, one for the walls, and one for the forests. The roads, walls, and buildings were all added with the same method I described back in Episodes 7 & 8 of the show.

For the forest, I used a normal, small round brush to paint on the green Solid Color layer's mask, but I added a bit of Foreground/Background jitter and a Texture overlay on the bevel/emboss layer style to make the surface more interesting. Up close, the trees look like they're molded out of Play-Doh! (See below for a close-up... See what I mean?)

As you figured out already, the buildings have a Stroke, Bevel/Emboss, and Drop Shadow, and the roads have an Inner Glow set to Multiply with lots of noise. The walls have a Drop Shadow, Inner Glow with Noise, and a parchment Pattern Overlay.

Oh... and I did your border. very clean. was this a simple brush or was a solid brush stroke that you tweaked?

It's just a plain round brush with some Scatter; nothing fancy!

 

[catsclaw227]

The bulk of Maya was done with five Solid Color layers: one each for the two different building colors, one for the roads, one for the walls, and one for the forests. The roads, walls, and buildings were all added with the same method I described back in Episodes 7 & 8 of the show.

For the forest, I used a normal, small round brush to paint on the green Solid Color layer's mask, but I added a bit of Foreground/Background jitter and a Texture overlay on the bevel/emboss layer style to make the surface more interesting. Up close, the trees look like they're molded out of Play-Doh! (See below for a close-up... See what I mean?)

As you figured out already, the buildings have a Stroke, Bevel/Emboss, and Drop Shadow, and the roads have an Inner Glow set to Multiply with lots of noise. The walls have a Drop Shadow, Inner Glow with Noise, and a parchment Pattern Overlay.

Thanks! Very helpful. Here is an old scroll of a part of Whispering Cairn I did for my players. Not really a map, but mostly a recreation of a piece of the web enhancement Paizo made available. I created the weathered and beaten scroll (more like a piece of hide), though, using layers, layer styles, and a bunch of different brushes.