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| jonroberts |
 Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:26 am Post subject: My Maps on RPGNow |
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Joined: 12 Jan 2009
Posts: 174
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I've been putting up maps on RPGNow for a while now and thought I'd post a note over here. Each product includes the following:
• Pdf that can be printed at battlemap scale (1 square = 1 inch) in both colour and greyscale.
• Two high resolution jpgs, one with grid, one without, for use in virtual tabletops sized so that 1 square is 100 pixels.
The full line can be found here:
Fantastic Maps on RPGNow
Here's a small scale preview of the most recent map:
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| jonroberts |
| Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:52 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 12 Jan 2009
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| m8adam |
| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:38 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 18 Nov 2008
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| I like the map, and especially the insert giving a bit of perspective. Are you a professional cartographer? I've been wondering how people make maps like this. I've been to the cartographers guild but can't navigate their forums very well. |
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| jonroberts |
| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 12 Jan 2009
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I am paid to draw maps so I am professional. However I have another full time job as well (which isn't too hard to discover).
The Cartographer's Guild is a good place to start for these kinds of questions. I know the forums can be a bit obscure. Basically the best thing to do if you want to learn how to draw maps in a particular style is to jump on in the Members Introduction section and say hi. Have a look through the Finished Maps forum, or the Finished maps thumbnails (here) and find an example of a map you'd like to replicate. Then ask how to do it, and be ready to start a work in progress thread in one of the mapmaking forums (probably the dungeon or vtt sections if you're doing battlemaps) and you should get lots of advice to help you get through it. Always best to learn by doing.
I put together a (now quite out of date) tutorial on my method here and I'll be putting up a new tutorial on a more current version some time in the next couple of days. I'll make sure to post a note to here when I do.
In a nutshell the process is:
1. Draw out the lines that are hard boundaries - in this case between the tree trunk and the water.
2. Add lines for details that are less important - here the waterfalls and the textures on the trunk, as well as the little sketch.
3. Send to the person commissioning the piece for an okay to continue.
4. Place the whole thing on a textured background - often something parchmenty.
5. Build up the lights and shadows using layers with their blend modes set to soft light - this gives more of a watercolour look and allows the background texture to come through.
6. Lay down layers of colour, again using soft light and low opacity normal layers.
7. Finish off with a normal layer on top with sharp highlights and dark shadows.
Now if that sounds like gibberish I'll explain it in more detail in the tutorial I mentioned, but that's the core of my workflow. They are all done in Gimp (earlier maps) or Photoshop (my more recent stuff). |
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| jonroberts |
| Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 12 Jan 2009
Posts: 174
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A Dragon's Lair has been added to the store.
I was asked to create a battlemap tutorial for the newbieDM. It's serialised in three parts over the course of this week. You can find the first part here:
http://newbiedm.com/2009/11/09/newbiedm-tutorial-the-battlemap-a-guest-post-by-jonathan-roberts/
Here's a preview of the map that's in the tutorial:
The map is also available on RPGNow in a map pack that includes:
• 100px and 50px per grid resolution maps without GM information, or grid for easy use in maptool.
• High resolution map with all GM information
• Printable map pack for use at the game table (yep, I know, but not everyone has come across the greatness of maptool yet!).
• Two maptool campaign files that are compatible with 4e and 3.5/Pathfinder. These have lights and vision blocking built in, as well as items and set dressing placed as objects throughout.
• All set dressing images included as separate pngs. Many familiar to people here already, but the rope bridge and the pile of gold are new. |
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| m8adam |
| Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 12:30 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 18 Nov 2008
Posts: 148
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| Amazing stuff. I'm really excited to check out that tutorial. Now I just have to learn how to actually use photoshop or gimp. |
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| jonroberts |
| Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 5:33 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 12 Jan 2009
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| Well I tried to keep the tutorial nice and clear so it assumes no prior knowledge of Gimp. Let me know how you get on. If you get stuck you can catch me here or over on the CG. I'll make sure to answer any questions you have as you go through it. |
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| m8adam |
| Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 18 Nov 2008
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I think the big issue with a lot of tutorials on map making (or graphics programs in general) is that all of the commands have titles that aren't very transparent in terms of what they do. Things like 'layer' make sense, but what's a channel? you know?
Anyway, I just read that tutorial you wrote and it is amazing! AMAZING! seriously. Great walkthrough and you did an excellent job explaining what each step does and why it's important. More importantly, I actually feel like I could go make my own battlemap now. I can't wait to see the next installment.
Adam |
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| jonroberts |
| Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 5:32 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 12 Jan 2009
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Yep, it's true that a lot of the jargon in full featured graphics apps can get pretty technical and deeply buried. I think at the tutorial stage the best idea is to make it clear what something does and not worry too much about the technical definitions. For this you don't need to know what a channel is, for the sake of the tutorial it's something you can save a selection in.
I'm really pleased that you found it so useful. THe last bit will be up soon. |
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| jonroberts |
| Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:44 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 12 Jan 2009
Posts: 174
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My Fantastic Maps store has a new map:
The Island Cave
The Map Pack contains:
- Pdf map pack that can be printed page by page for use at the tabletop in both colour and greyscale
- High resolution jpgs with and without grids
- Two maptool campaign files with lighting and distance set up for OGL/Pathfinder, and 4e games.
This map can be picked up here for $1.35. |
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