# ZNG Cartography



## ZombieButch (Mar 3, 2007)

I had to take a break from working on my latest M&M Superlink book for a day, so yesterday I whipped up a new map. I'm not sure how to do the "attached thumbnail" thing, so I'll just provide a link: Link! 

And a thumbnail:


----------



## JDragon (Mar 3, 2007)

Cool. 

Very nice over view that allows you to add details when you want as you get closer.

What's the scale?

JD


----------



## ZombieButch (Mar 4, 2007)

JDragon said:
			
		

> Cool.
> 
> Very nice over view that allows you to add details when you want as you get closer.




Thanks! 



> What's the scale?
> 
> JD




1" = whatever you want it to be...   I haven't used it for anything, so I haven't bothered with worrying about the scale.


----------



## ZombieButch (Mar 5, 2007)

Here's another one I worked on tonight. 

Link!


----------



## Hussar (Mar 7, 2007)

I love the parchment background you use there.  Did you create that yourself?  If so, can I have a copy.  rettyplease:


----------



## ZombieButch (Mar 7, 2007)

Hussar said:
			
		

> I love the parchment background you use there.  Did you create that yourself?  If so, can I have a copy.  rettyplease:




 All my parchment backgrounds are generated in Photoshop. I've got an action recorded to do all the boring parts for me, then I add the deckled edge with a layer mask. It's ridiculously easy.


----------



## kensanata (Mar 8, 2007)

Lovely! There are people (like me) trying to learn how to do this kind of stuff on other threads.
(For example http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=174110 and http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=187863 are the two I am suscribed to.) If you can provide some detail on how you actually did it in Photoshop, that would help. People like me just stare are the menus and don't know how to get started...


----------



## Priest_Sidran (Mar 10, 2007)

And I happen to be in the market for a map-maker to help make a polished map of my own world. Though it is still a work in progress as far as pinning names down on certain regions, as well as adding in new areas that have never even been seen or named. 

Also, 
Does anyone know anyone who know anyone who does the plane like maps similar to those in the Manual of the Planes. 

Thanks


----------



## ZombieButch (Mar 10, 2007)

Priest_Sidran said:
			
		

> And I happen to be in the market for a map-maker to help make a polished map of my own world. Though it is still a work in progress as far as pinning names down on certain regions, as well as adding in new areas that have never even been seen or named.




Well, if you're interested in commissioning a map, email me: butch(at)zombienirvana.com



> Also,
> Does anyone know anyone who know anyone who does the plane like maps similar to those in the Manual of the Planes.
> 
> Thanks




I don't have that book handy, sorry. (I'm pretty sure I _have_ it, but I'm moving this summer, and I've already packed away most all of my rarely-used RPG books.)


----------



## Priest_Sidran (Mar 11, 2007)

I will get back to you on the map once a little more details are in place, thanks for the reply and good luck on the move.


----------



## catsclaw227 (Mar 12, 2007)

palehorse said:
			
		

> All my parchment backgrounds are generated in Photoshop. I've got an action recorded to do all the boring parts for me, then I add the deckled edge with a layer mask. It's ridiculously easy.



I'd love to find out what processes you use.  Even the boring parts.


----------



## ZombieButch (Mar 13, 2007)

catsclaw227 said:
			
		

> I'd love to find out what processes you use.  Even the boring parts.




I've been kicking around the idea of doing an "RPG Cartography with Adobe Photoshop" book for my next big project, after I finish the Superlink book I'm working on now. If I can get it worked out, I'd probably record a few video podcasts and put them up on YouTube to promote it.


----------



## ZombieButch (Mar 25, 2007)

Figured I might as well keep on using this thread to post my new maps, hence the title change. 

Here's one I did last night, for an upcoming Risus game I'm about to run.


----------



## ZombieButch (Mar 27, 2007)

Here's an interior I'm working on, a crazy old hermit's cabin. I've gotta redo the bed (I liked it at one point, but I couldn't leave well enough alone and kept futzing with it... grr!)  and roughen up the edges of the fireplace before I start adding anything else; this is a work in progress!


----------



## ZombieButch (Apr 3, 2007)

Here's the latest version of the hermit's cabin. I've been picking away at it here and there as I've had time.


----------



## The Green Adam (Apr 3, 2007)

These are very cool. I'm a big fan of texture or more specifically the appearance of texture, in maps for RPGs.


----------



## ZombieButch (Apr 16, 2007)

I've added a new map to the gallery: the town of Maya. I've got a whole backstory for it, which I'll write down at some point. 

Here's the thumbnail: 






And here's the link! 

I'll put up a quick mini-tutorial based on one of the techniques I used at ZombieNirvana.com ASAP; the tutorial and the Maya map will both make an appearance in _Fantasy Cartography for Adobe Photoshop_, which is coming along nicely!


----------



## Redrobes (Apr 17, 2007)

I love the scale for that map !!! Now is that 2 minutes walk for an venerable arthritic halfling drunkard in full plate or 2 minutes of monk master after two cups of el zingos super caffeinated expresso ?

You should run over to www.rpgmapshare.com and look at the maps there and maybe upload some. I like yours a lot - very nice work.


----------



## ZombieButch (Apr 25, 2007)

Here's a new one. This is a commissioned piece for Silver Lion Studios  for an upcoming product.


----------



## Ebonyr (Apr 25, 2007)

That map above is so beautiful!!


----------



## ZombieButch (Apr 25, 2007)

Ebonyr said:
			
		

> That map above is so beautiful!!




Thanks! I'm pretty proud of it.


----------



## ZombieButch (May 26, 2007)

I've posted a beta test version of my first Fantasy Cartography With Adobe Photoshop podcast up on my website. The final version of the podcast will be a bit longer, and I'll have title cards and some nifty theme music attached. This one is just a proof of concept, to ensure that the recording and encoding all worked as expected, but I thought ya'll might like to have a look at it. It's a how-to on creating the same type of faux paper texture I've used in some of my posted maps. 

http://www.zombienirvana.com/podcast/FCAP-beta/FCAP-beta.html


----------



## Hussar (May 26, 2007)

Wow.  Thank you very much for that.  That's fantastic.  So easy.


----------



## Eosin the Red (May 26, 2007)

Great podcast/Tut!


----------



## Pyrandon (May 26, 2007)

Nicely done, Butch.  Thanks for that podcast;  very helpful, clear, and useful!


----------



## ZombieButch (May 27, 2007)

Thanks all!


----------



## jgbrowning (May 27, 2007)

Butch, just wanted to let you know that I've just used your instructions to make a parchment background for a hexmap OSRIC base map. 

Thanks for the information and looking forward to more!

joe b.


----------



## ZombieButch (May 27, 2007)

jgbrowning said:
			
		

> Butch, just wanted to let you know that I've just used your instructions to make a parchment background for a hexmap OSRIC base map.
> 
> Thanks for the information and looking forward to more!
> 
> joe b.




Awesome.   Well, the second podcast will cover some more aging tips for your parchment, so keep an eye out for it.


----------



## ZombieButch (May 29, 2007)

The _real_ version of the first Fantasy Cartography podcast is now up at YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/ZombieNirvana


----------



## Steel_Wind (May 29, 2007)

Good stuff. We'll be watching this with great interest.


----------



## ZombieButch (Jun 1, 2007)

I posted a quick Photoshop tip over on my site on faking the Lighting Effects filter to create different textures. Here's the link: http://www.zombienirvana.com/?p=68


----------



## ZombieButch (Jun 4, 2007)

Episode 2 of the FCAP podcast is now online!


----------



## ZombieButch (Jun 12, 2007)

If you missed it in the publisher release section, just thought I'd mention that FCAP #3 is now up at YouTube. (Revver is reallly dragging their feet on this one. Could be another day before it's up there.)

http://www.youtube.com/ZombieNirvana


----------



## Wraith101 (Jun 12, 2007)

I have been following your tutorials and I have to say I have been producing maps ten times better than ever before, just with the techniques covered so far. They make things so much faster (and more importantly for me, repeatable)!

Waiting eagerly for the book.


----------



## ZombieButch (Jun 12, 2007)

Wraith101 said:
			
		

> I have been following your tutorials and I have to say I have been producing maps ten times better than ever before, just with the techniques covered so far. They make things so much faster (and more importantly for me, repeatable)!
> 
> Waiting eagerly for the book.




Thank you so much! 

Oh, and if you really want fast, repeatable results, make sure you're saving presets and recording actions. I couldn't tell you how much time I used to waste trying to get a brush back exactly the way I had it a few days earlier before I started using presets!


----------



## ZombieButch (Jun 18, 2007)

If you missed it, FCAP #4 is up!


----------



## GlassJaw (Jun 18, 2007)

Butch, you have a new fan of your podcasts.  Great stuff.  Definitely looking forward to the book. 

Keep up the good work.


----------



## Hjorimir (Jun 19, 2007)

palehorse said:
			
		

> If you missed it, FCAP #4 is up!



I'm ready to buy the book!


----------



## ZombieButch (Jun 19, 2007)

Thanks all! 

I'll have a Photoshop tip on vector masks up on the website some time tomorrow; I just have to finish taking some screen shots for it and get them resized and uploaded.


----------



## Hjorimir (Jun 19, 2007)

palehorse said:
			
		

> Thanks all!
> 
> I'll have a Photoshop tip on vector masks up on the website some time tomorrow; I just have to finish taking some screen shots for it and get them resized and uploaded.



Great! But when can I get the book? I want it...no, scratch that...need it now!


----------



## ZombieButch (Jun 20, 2007)

Hjorimir said:
			
		

> Great! But when can I get the book? I want it...no, scratch that...need it now!




  I'm working on it... There are about a zillion screenshots, so it's kind of a bear to lay out!


----------



## Hjorimir (Jun 20, 2007)

I'm very much looking forward to it.

Thanks for the update!


----------



## ZombieButch (Jun 25, 2007)

I've got a new episode of the podcast up, just head over to Zombie Nirvana! 

I also put up a sneak peek at the first chapter of the book.


----------



## GlassJaw (Jun 26, 2007)

palehorse said:
			
		

> I've got a new episode of the podcast up, just head over to Zombie Nirvana!
> 
> I also put up a sneak peek at the first chapter of the book.




Another good 'cast.  I like the fact that I can pick up some really easy tips and tricks that I didn't know before in only 10 minutes.


----------



## ZombieButch (Jun 26, 2007)

GlassJaw said:
			
		

> Another good 'cast.  I like the fact that I can pick up some really easy tips and tricks that I didn't know before in only 10 minutes.




Thanks! I try to pack 'em as full as I can.


----------



## catsclaw227 (Jun 26, 2007)

palehorse said:
			
		

> Thanks! I try to pack 'em as full as I can.



These are great.  Very informative. I currently use Corel Photopaint X3, and I am thinking that I may convert to CS3 (or CS2), since I have an old copy of Photoshop 7 that I can use as an upgrade.  Still that's almost $200... I am trying to convert yout techniques to Corel X3 and see how they come together.


----------



## ZombieButch (Jun 26, 2007)

catsclaw227 said:
			
		

> These are great.  Very informative. I currently use Corel Photopaint X3, and I am thinking that I may convert to CS3 (or CS2), since I have an old copy of Photoshop 7 that I can use as an upgrade.  Still that's almost $200... I am trying to convert yout techniques to Corel X3 and see how they come together.




Well, all the techniques I'm using were created in Photoshop 7, so you don't have to upgrade to try them out. 

CS3 is pretty sweet, though!


----------



## Hjorimir (Jun 28, 2007)

Any idea when the Basics and Overland PDFs will be available?


----------



## ZombieButch (Jun 28, 2007)

I don't want to start talking about release dates til I'm 100% sure I can hit them. Well, 90% at least! "Before the end of summer" is about the closest I'll pin it down right now.


----------



## Hjorimir (Jun 28, 2007)

Don't mind me, just looking forward to them.

Thanks for the update!


----------



## jgbrowning (Jun 30, 2007)

I'm stoked about this release Butch. 

joe b.


----------



## ZombieButch (Jun 30, 2007)

jgbrowning said:
			
		

> I'm stoked about this release Butch.
> 
> joe b.




Thanks Joe... you and me both!   I don't have years and years of experience in the industry or anything, but I've worked on a few projects. I've never been so excited about or worked as hard on any of them as this one!


----------



## ZombieButch (Jun 30, 2007)

Oh, and since I haven't posted it here yet...

This is the map I showed briefly in the last episode; it's one of the (many!) filler maps I've been working on for the book.


----------



## ZombieButch (Jul 2, 2007)

New episode of FCAP is up.   As usual, head over to my site for the scoop!


----------



## JDragon (Aug 6, 2007)

Palehorse,

OMG, you have totally fried my brain, but in a good way.     I think.   

I just spent my day watching and recreating the techniques from the 10 episodes of FCAP, and loved it.

I have always known you could do a lot of cool stuff with Photoshop but never knew where to start.  Thanks to your podcast I've learned allot (missed allot too, will have to go back to soak it all in), in just a few minutes watching your stuff.

But the other thing it has done is show me how little I really know.   

I do have a couple ?s though.

#1 Do you have plans to show how to do mountains for large overland/campaign maps?  Maybe in your book?  This has always been my stumbling block for maps, but I already have a few ideas I want to try using what I learned today.

#2 How do you do the groups for layers? (IE the tress, Paper, etc)

#3 When I was trying to do the road, my line from the pen tool kept showing up as a white line in the middle of the brush stroke.  Did I miss something or is this a setting somewhere.

#4 What other podcasts / sites would you suggest for photoshop beginners or close to it?

Thanks again, this is great stuff.

JD


----------



## Wraith101 (Aug 6, 2007)

I have actually encountered some of those problems following the FCAP episodes

1: This is what I am looking forward to the most!
2: There is a new folder button that looks like windows folders at the bottom of the layers tab.
3: You need to go to the paths tab (that's in the same box as the layers tab) and deselect the path you will see there. just click off the selected path in the paths tab and you will see the lines dissapear!
4: The ones I have found are all about manuipulating photo's and are not that useful!

Can't wait for FCAP 11 by the way!


----------



## ZombieButch (Aug 6, 2007)

Hey guys, thanks for the kind words! 



			
				JDragon said:
			
		

> #1 Do you have plans to show how to do mountains for large overland/campaign maps?  Maybe in your book?  This has always been my stumbling block for maps, but I already have a few ideas I want to try using what I learned today.




Eventually! After I post next week's episode, I'm going to take 2 weeks off (partly to just to take a break, but mostly to spend as much time as I can with my son before he starts his first year of school!). When I come back, I'll be talking about this map  for a few episodes, and we'll get into some painterly mountain-building with it. There are a _lot _more in the book, though!



> #2 How do you do the groups for layers? (IE the tress, Paper, etc)
> 
> #3 When I was trying to do the road, my line from the pen tool kept showing up as a white line in the middle of the brush stroke.  Did I miss something or is this a setting somewhere.




Wraith answered both of these.  



> #4 What other podcasts / sites would you suggest for photoshop beginners or close to it?




If you head over to Zombie Nirvana I've got a list of about 10 Photoshop links to other sites that I've found to be particularly good. 

If I had to pick just one, it'd be Bert Monroy's podcast, Pixel Perfect. A lot of Photoshop tutorials are basically, "do A, do B, do C, done". Bert really gets into a lot of detail about what he's doing and why he's doing it, and that's something I've been striving to emulate in the _FCAP_ podcasts. 

Now, you _can_ learn something from those other sites, though, even the photo-manipulation ones. If you can take the time to really dissect the tutorials and figure out how it is they're working, there are a lot of ways you can apply those techniques to mapmaking. Just as an example, that woodcut/engraving look I used on the lake came about by looking both at S. John's method and studying some different methods for turning photographs into line art. I never would've been able to put it together if I hadn't spent time playing around with a lot of cheesy photomanip tutorials and figuring out how they worked! 

I've also learned a lot about color by checking out different Photoshop sites dealing with digital photography and color correction.


----------



## JDragon (Aug 6, 2007)

Thanks for the info.

I'll check those links out.

JD


----------



## Pyrandon (Aug 7, 2007)

Looking great as always, Butch.  And by the way, the show notes you post over at ZNG are an awesome addition to the podcasts;  they round out the 'casts very well.

I look forward to more!


----------



## ZombieButch (Aug 7, 2007)

Thanks! I really should've thought to include the show notes earlier on, if only to correct the stuff I forgot to mention while I was recording!


----------



## ZombieButch (Aug 21, 2007)

Even though the podcast is on hiatus til next week, I'm not quite resting on my laurels. I've got a quick Photoshop cartography tip up at my website. You can check it out here.


----------



## JDragon (Aug 21, 2007)

palehorse said:
			
		

> Even though the podcast is on hiatus til next week, I'm not quite resting on my laurels. I've got a quick Photoshop cartography tip up at my website. You can check it out here.




Very cool, I tried it out and was happy with the results.   

I just read the instructions as I went, and then realized at the end why I had a huge # of islands instead of large land masses.     I had set my resolution to 300, and got really mixed up clouds.

Thanks for the project, looking forward to your book.

JD


----------



## ZombieButch (Aug 21, 2007)

JDragon said:
			
		

> Very cool, I tried it out and was happy with the results.
> 
> I just read the instructions as I went, and then realized at the end why I had a huge # of islands instead of large land masses.     I had set my resolution to 300, and got really mixed up clouds.




When I need to work in a higher resolution and I want to use this technique, I just select individual islands and move them around and combine them into larger ones if needed. If you try to scale them up, the edges just get pixellated all to heck.


----------



## meleeguy (Aug 23, 2007)

*Thanks!*

I just found this thread, is is much appreciated.


----------



## Aristotle (Sep 5, 2007)

Okay, so I finally sat down and ran through the the entire first chapter of podcasts. This is definately harder than it looks, although it would be impossible for me to replicated without such a well made tutorial. I got a copy of Adobe CS when it came out a couple of years ago (I got a good deal) but haven't really done anything in photoshop or illustrator since 1995 (which makes my past experience useless). The tutorials kind of 'click' for me. I'm already browsing non-cartography tutorial sites and looking for techniques that might be adaptable, and thinking up how I might use patterns/brushes and so on to recreate other "real media" techniques that I enjoy (i.e. crosshatching, stippling, etc..)

Such a great resource. I'm looking forward to the next chapter, and I'll be picking up any cartography products palehorse sees fit to release to us. Thanks for rekindling my interest in something that I forgot how much I enjoy.


----------



## ZombieButch (Sep 5, 2007)

Thanks all! I don't really think of myself as a great cartographer, but I am quite the Photoshop power user and, if what I'm told is true, a pretty decent teacher.   (I owe much of the latter to working for so many years on the phones in tech support! ) 

I'm sorry for the delay on the latest episode. As I mentioned over on my site, I'm getting over the flu right now. I'm feeling a LOT better today, and as long as my voice holds out (I'm making some hot tea with a lot of honey right now, as a matter of fact!) I should be able to sit down and record it shortly.


----------



## Boss (Sep 5, 2007)

Palehorse,

I have to admit, I have been using CC2 and Autorealm for all my mapping needs but have been very dissatisfied with them, or at least my personal ability to use them properly.  I hadn't used photoshop much for gaming purposes, more for photoediting/cleaning for my paintball team.  Your podcasts have me doing maps that are MUCH better than anything I could produce with true mapping applications.  Thank you very much for your hard work and yes, I agree, you are an EXCELLENT teacher.

BTW, my favorite so far wasn't on the podcast, but the use of the clouds filter to create landmasses.  I have created a number of maps using this short tutorial alone.  I also took note of your use of the same basic technique to create a cavern system.  Pure genius!!!!  Yes, you can put me down for the book when it is ready.

D*** looking at this post, I would seem to be your newest fanboy.    Hope you get to feeling  better soon.


----------



## ZombieButch (Sep 5, 2007)

Thanks! 



			
				Boss said:
			
		

> BTW, my favorite so far wasn't on the podcast, but the use of the clouds filter to create landmasses.  I have created a number of maps using this short tutorial alone.  I also took note of your use of the same basic technique to create a cavern system.  Pure genius!!!!  Yes, you can put me down for the book when it is ready.




You should like the newest podcast then; the first half is a slightly more advanced version of that same technique.   It's recorded, and up at YouTube, but Revver is still processing it before it goes up for review. So it should be up over there in the next hour or so, and on iTunes a bit after that. 

And you're right, it IS terribly handy. I've used it to create the basic shapes for caves, lakes, forests, and the like; whenever I want an organic shape but I'm in a hurry or am not too picky about it's exact shape, it's always there for me! 

If you play around with Clouds, Gaussian Blur, and the (surprise surprise) Trace Contour filter, you can probably figure out how I added the contour lines to this one (still a work in progress; I'm still playing with a few things):


----------



## Aristotle (Sep 6, 2007)

I dig those trees, and I don't see a pattern. Draw those in by hand? Use the same technique as in the tutorial? I should be patient and wait for the tutorial or book that covers that mapping method?


----------



## ZombieButch (Sep 6, 2007)

Nothing fancy; there are two Solid Color layers, one for each color tree, with a Stroke layer style to add the outline around them. I made a custom brush to add the trees, increasing the Spacing and adding some Size jitter, Angle jitter, and just a hair of Roundness jitter to give them some variation.


----------



## ZombieButch (Sep 9, 2007)

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 (Sep 23, 2007)

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

Still loving the podcasts though!


----------



## ZombieButch (Sep 23, 2007)

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


----------



## Crowen of Malhawk (Sep 23, 2007)

*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 (Sep 23, 2007)

Crowen of Malhawk said:
			
		

> 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 (Sep 24, 2007)

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

Keep up the good work.   
Mike Schley


----------



## ZombieButch (Sep 24, 2007)

mikeschley said:
			
		

> 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 (Sep 24, 2007)

palehorse said:
			
		

> mikeschley said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



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 (Sep 24, 2007)

catsclaw227 said:
			
		

> 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 (Sep 25, 2007)

palehorse said:
			
		

> 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.


----------



## mikeschley (Sep 25, 2007)

palehorse said:
			
		

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




Thanks for the kind words.  



			
				catsclaw227 said:
			
		

> 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?




Most of what I do is a combination of hand (tablet) drawing and texture collage. I typically draw the inks in first and then either paint the underlying textures with a variety of modified brushes or use reference textures as startings points and then build off of them with cloning tools and brushes. There are a lot of tricks you can employ with layer styles and filters to create depth and atmosphere but you have to be careful that they don't turn out too "Photoshopy".

Mike


----------

