Which do you prefer?

[RobA]

Those mountains rock!

Nice technique - this is a very nice representation of a large scale aerial view. (Mountains, that is. As already mentioned, the other elements are a bit out of scale.)

-Rob A>

[jfrazierjr]

Those mountains rock!

Nice technique - this is a very nice representation of a large scale aerial view.

-Rob A>

Thanks Rob. I could not have gotten this far without your excellent GIMP tutorials to get me started. heh... I have learned a lot about GIMP in the past 4 weeks.

Joe

[RobA]

I have learned a lot about GIMP in the past 4 weeks.

Joe

Thanks!

It is funny, but someone suggested I post the tutorial in a mainstream GIMP forum, as it provides a good "beginner guide" to GIMP, more comprehensive than many others out there for basic stuff

-Rob A>

[Karro]

I know you're still refining it, but when you finish, you ought to post the technique in the tutorials! With screencaps!

I've been developing a mountain style that I like, but when I go to do my worldmap, I think perhaps your style is a bit superior for that particular purpose... or I might be able to find a way to incorporate the styles together!

[jfrazierjr]

Thanks!

It is funny, but someone suggested I post the tutorial in a mainstream GIMP forum, as it provides a good "beginner guide" to GIMP, more comprehensive than many others out there for basic stuff

-Rob A>

Honestly, I think thats a really good idea. Here's why: Most of the GIMP tutorials I have found out there are very tightly focused on a small subset of tools to accomplish a specific effect that only takes a small bit of time. Yours however uses many different techniques and builds upon things done previously to make a nice artistic result. Now, granted, there are probably a few things that could be clarified in your pdf's, but overall, they are a good guide for someone new to GIMP.

Joe

[jfrazierjr]

Ok, here is another one I have been playing around with. I spent a bit of time doing some nice blending, but to many merged layers and stuff, so there are a few things that are not right, namely, the coast is not fractalized enough, and the mountain lake does not have the nice coastline water effect the other water has.

How does this look as a whole given the known problems which I unfortunately, cannot easily fix right now. This is still a test map, so it will just be thrown away after I have finished my playing with the techniques.

Joe

[Karro]

Hey, I like the beveled effect on the rivers and water bodies, but I can't figure out how to do it myself. I've looked all through the Filters drop down, and the only reference to "bevel" that I can find is the "Add Bevel" under the Decor submenu, and that seems to produce a new image that may or may not have a bevel in it... How do you do it?

I tried out DanChop's forest techniques, as you suggested. They turned out quite well.

In all, I think your maps are looking great! There are a few things I would work on with the appearance of the cities (I don't like the yellow back-glow so much, I think I prefer the earth-tones back-glow that RobA's original tutorial used), but that's a fairly minor quibble.

[RobA]

Joe-

I really want to complement you. You have taken this technique and turned it way up! This is truly artistic - very painterly!

-Rob A>

[RobA]

Hey, I like the beveled effect on the rivers and water bodies, but I can't figure out how to do it myself. I've looked all through the Filters drop down, and the only reference to "bevel" that I can find is the "Add Bevel" under the Decor submenu, and that seems to produce a new image that may or may not have a bevel in it... How do you do it?

Back here I explained one way using a blurred copy of the river layer as a bump map. This gives much more control than the Decor submenu.

-Rob A>

[Karro]

Back here I explained one way using a blurred copy of the river layer as a bump map. This gives much more control than the Decor submenu.

-Rob A>

You are all over GIMP! I'll dig through the forums to see what great advice I can find! Thanks!