My map ; WIP

12- Finally, to add some color variation to the forests, add yet another layer set to overlay, filled with neutral gray and with the forest mask applied. Run a plasma cloud render with the turbulence set somewhere in the middle (I used 5.)

Attachment 3902

This will result in multicolored forests:

Attachment 3903

Set your colors to black and white again, and run a gradient map on the forest texture layer. The results should look something like this:

Attachment 3904

I hope this helps!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elvith Gent

I think it should be better. I apply a 3 px gaussian blur to the Fuzz layer's border. I let the precedent version to compare.

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I think that Gaussian Blur is the way to go here. Unfortunately, however, I can't see the new version, only the original one. Maybe you could upload it again?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jfrazierjr

For me at least, the reason I really like the first(and third) version is your cliffs at the norther edge of the map. They look nice and really make the cliffs stand out.

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Here Joe puts his finger on what I like so much about he maps. The cliffs look great!

Thanks for the precise tuto. I have my new forests, now we can compare. What version is the best ? RobA (page 1) ? DanChops (here) ? Or mixt (page 2) ?

I'm now going to look for better cliffs ...

So, what did I do to the cliffs ?

First, I do a Cliffs mask. Secondly, I create a Cliffs texture layer and add the mask.
Then, I played with filters. And ... I think it's nice ! ^^

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elvith Gent

So, what did I do to the cliffs ?

First, I do a Cliffs mask. Secondly, I create a Cliffs texture layer and add the mask.
Then, I played with filters. And ... I think it's nice ! ^^

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Those are looking quite nice! Great way to dress up the cliffs. I might suggest doing a very small (like 3 or 4 pixels small) Gaussian blur on the texture layer, just to help it blend a bit more. (Can you tell that I prefer a smoother look?)

I agree with Dan. The cliffs now look 10 times better, but with a bit more playing you could make them look even better. Right now, they are flat due to the hard edges. Also, feel free to try multiple techniques. I have been playing with both solid noise and plasma for mountains, and though I have not gotten anything I love quite yet, I think I am close.

Ok, I applied a 3px blur.
Then, I looked for any other amelioration, but I did not find. It is out of my skills ^^
Does someone have an idea ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elvith Gent

Ok, I applied a 3px blur.
Then, I looked for any other amelioration, but I did not find. It is out of my skills ^^
Does someone have an idea ?

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That's better, but I would still play with the original layer and try to get the hard lines a bit more irregular. I included a screen cap. See how the lines are all straight? You would not have to do much, but a bit of randomization on the lines "down" your cliff face would help a lot. You don't need a ton, just a few squigles a pixel or two off the baseline, and it does not need to be every line (ie, there can be some straight ones.) Again, just my two cents.

Joe

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elvith Gent

Ok, I applied a 3px blur.
Then, I looked for any other amelioration, but I did not find. It is out of my skills ^^
Does someone have an idea ?

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The cliff faces look great. The blur really helped the look a lot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jfrazierjr

That's better, but I would still play with the original layer and try to get the hard lines a bit more irregular. I included a screen cap. See how the lines are all straight? You would not have to do much, but a bit of randomization on the lines "down" your cliff face would help a lot. You don't need a ton, just a few squigles a pixel or two off the baseline, and it does not need to be every line (ie, there can be some straight ones.) Again, just my two cents.

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I'll echo what Joe said. If you can get the vertical lines a bit less straight, I think you'll have a pretty sweet cliff face there.

Lookin' good Elvith.

Try a texture like this for your cliff:
Attachment 3928

(I just made it up...)

Paint a hard line at the top of the cliff face.
Select the cliff face area.
Enlarge the selection to include the stroke.
Filter->Noise->Slur, and repeat it a few times with different amounts. This randomly pulls down pixels through the cliff face selection.
Do a motion blur at 270degrees (straight down), setting the length of the blur to the size of the cliff.
Add a layer, fill the selection 50% grey.
Bump map the solid layer, using the streaky blurred one as the source, set layer to 50% opacity.
Duplicate layer, set to overlay, 100%

Here are the three layers I have, l-r: blurred slurs, 40% normal, 100% overlay:
Attachment 3929

-Rob A>