Your latest edit looks really nice. Maybe try shrinking the scale of the pavement?
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I think the problem is that the pavement in the sun looks so faded out and lacking of contrast and detail, while the shadows should darken the pavement without adding contrast and detail. In your examples, the pavement in the shadows appears far more sharp of an image than the pavement in the light.
Someone more skilled in Photoshop will need to suggest a technical fix, but visually, darkness should not add detail - it should remove it.
I hope that helps ... PS, great work.
Arthur
Last edited by atpollard; 10-20-2012 at 08:51 PM.
Perhaps Atpollard - I'm not so sure; I think its ok to have less detail represented by sunlight glare. In any case I have started working on the second of the courtyard maps - this is the first pass - I still have to go back and add proper shading. I will be making two of these: one external view (like this) and a second one showing the interior of the two houselike structures (one is a stables) and the central mural tower, with a staircase up the battlements.
House roofs by Aegean 2007 (Dundjinni Mapping Software - Forums: House, roof, tavern - variations).
Fixed shadows - reasonably happy with this one.
Last edited by Jacktannery; 10-21-2012 at 06:09 PM.
WOW.... that really looks amazing. I really have to re-think my castle now. I personally like the shadows as a way of representing the flags and turrets as well.
I am the breath of Dragons...The Song of Mountains...The Stories of Rivers....The Heart of Cities.... I am A Cartographer....
Finished Maps
Kingdom Of Shendenflar Campaign Setting (WIP)
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Again that looks great. Maybe the shadows over the water in the fountain could be a bit lighter or possibly more distorted to account for the "movement" of the water? This is really amazing and I am getting SO much inspiration from this project.
I am the breath of Dragons...The Song of Mountains...The Stories of Rivers....The Heart of Cities.... I am A Cartographer....
Finished Maps
Kingdom Of Shendenflar Campaign Setting (WIP)
Everything I post is free for use and redistribution under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 licence, except where noted otherwise in the thread.
That looks perfect. I'm running out of adjectives to describe how much I'm enjoying this.
I am the breath of Dragons...The Song of Mountains...The Stories of Rivers....The Heart of Cities.... I am A Cartographer....
Finished Maps
Kingdom Of Shendenflar Campaign Setting (WIP)
Everything I post is free for use and redistribution under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 licence, except where noted otherwise in the thread.
An outstanding project and I am very much looking forward to how this turns out.
I really like the idea of the shadows of the flags and turrets to give the feeling of height around the encounter area.
BOB
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