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Thread: First Chamber of Tomb Layout

  1. #1
    Community Leader Torq's Avatar
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    Post First Chamber of Tomb Layout

    This is the first room in a small tomb complex I am working on. Its done using the GIMP with some of the objects supplied by the goos people on the Dundjinnin forums.

    Please feel free to comment and/or make suggestions. This is my first post.
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    Professional Artist Facebook Connected kalmarjan's Avatar
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    A very good start. Did you make this map in Dundjinni, then import it over for post processing in the GIMP? Or did you make the map entirely in the GIMP?

    A few suggestions:

    1) Is there an escape in the top of the room? Or is there a light source from the ceiling? You picture suggests that. One thing you could do is lower the opacity of your shadows a bit, and drive up the spread. If it was me, I would take out the drop shadow all together, as it does not sell the illusion that the walls are in a dungeon. If the GIMP has the function, try applying a inner glow instead. This will try into my second suggestion below:

    2) I would not cover up the walls with the texture of the stone. Have them go right up to the walls. If there is no drop shadow on the outside of the walls, it will sell the illusion that this is a dungeon better for you.

    I will try to do something to demonstrate what I mean for you after school... as I need to go now.

    A great first map. Keep it up.

    Sandeman

  3. #3
    Community Leader Torq's Avatar
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    No, I dont use Dundjinni, although I do have a demo of it. Its all done in the GIMP. Thanks for the tip on the shadows, I'll try to implement the ideas, although I just love shadows and I dont think I'll lose them altogether. The walls I will fix in the way you suggested.

    The GIMP doesn't seem to have an inner glow effect but there may be a plug-in out there somewhere.

    Thanks for the encouragement.

    Torq
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  4. #4

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    There is a set of script-fu to simulate the basic photoshop layer effects:

    http://users.telenet.be/ev1/gimplayereffects_en.html

    Unlike layer effects, if you change the layer (other than moving it) you need to delete the effects layers and re-apply them. But it is a handy time-saver.

    (p.s. really the only difference between a "glow" and "shadow" is the colour

    -Rob A>

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    Community Leader RPMiller's Avatar
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    Welcome to the boards Torq (yet another Rob )!!

    I like what you have done so far. It definitely gives the impression of a dark scary dungeon, but I agree with kalmarjan's suggestions. The first thing I thought was that there was a hole in the ceiling of the room or some sort of dim light source. I look forward to seeing more of your work as it unfolds.
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    Community Leader pyrandon's Avatar
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    Others have already taken my suggestions (Thieves! All of 'em!). Great first post, though. Wow, what a start!
    Don
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  7. #7
    Professional Artist Facebook Connected kalmarjan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RobA
    There is a set of script-fu to simulate the basic photoshop layer effects:

    http://users.telenet.be/ev1/gimplayereffects_en.html

    Unlike layer effects, if you change the layer (other than moving it) you need to delete the effects layers and re-apply them. But it is a handy time-saver.

    (p.s. really the only difference between a "glow" and "shadow" is the colour

    -Rob A>
    I am not sure how the GIMP does this. The main difference between the two, Drop Shadows and Glow Effects lies in one semantic.

    For overhead maps, the drop shadow gives a sense of distance from the layer below. A lot of people compensate for this by setting the distance to 0. It sort of works, but then you are left with a perspective that is off in my opinion.

    For me, it works better to have a glow effect that set to a multiply that has a choke distance twice as long as the object casting shadow. I also play with the direction of light as well. What happens at that point is you get a better shadow, and the illusion that the object is stationary.

    I hope this example does what I am saying some justice. Notice the last sample applies to this map itself.

    Sandeman
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  8. #8
    Community Leader Torq's Avatar
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    Thanks to all for the kind words of encouragement and welcome.

    RobA I snagged those scripts thanks. To answer your question properly kalmarjan, the GIMP does now have an "inner glow" layer effect. It also has an inner shadow one which is just a black "glow" with certain parameters. I've been working with it but the effect always seems a little insipid. Maybe I'm too much of an atmosphere over realism freak. I'll keep eperimenting with it.

    By the way I didn't use the drop shadow function for the map, rather retraced the outline of the room on the layer below then stroked the shape with a much thicker pencil and applied a gaussian blur. It created a much heavier effect than the drop shadow, or even the inner shadow does.

    Torq
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  9. #9
    Professional Artist Facebook Connected kalmarjan's Avatar
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    Well it is nice to see someone who goes all the way then. That just made my day.

    Going this way gives you the best options of all, as you have ultimate control over the shadows themselves. Is there a clipping option for layers in the GIMP? The reason I ask is that on your original image, it looks like the shadows surround the walls, giving me the impression that you dropped a drop shadow effect on the walls. Even though you have covered it up with the texture on the top, I get the feeling that the shadow is still there, and that is what looked wrong to me.

    With a clipping layer, you can control exactly what shows in the shadow layer, that is driven by the walls layer themselves. You could also go with a mask function, but the clipping layer would have more options on the placement of the shadow layer if you decide that you do not like the placement of the shadows.

    In your case, by applying a multiply layer style (which darkens the layer below) and applying a gradient to your shadow may do the trick. You can also try erasing the shadow area a little with a low opacity eraser to get a more soft effect. Lots of possibilities.

    Cheers, and thanks for making my day.

    Sandeman

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by kalmarjan
    Well it is nice to see someone who goes all the way then. That just made my day.
    I agree - while the layer effects that PS provides are extremely convenient to use, more unique/better looking alternatives exist if you do things manually. For example, I often make a "drop shadow" around a shape by creating a new white layer, adjusting the selection (shrinking, growing, or smoothing) then filling it with a fill (solid colour, gradient, or texture) applying a blur (or feathering the selection first), adjusting the curves to get the type of shadow roll-off I want, then converting it back to a transparent layer (i.e. colour to alpha). Sometime I'll also apply distortions for perspective or add a layer mask to effect the transparency.

    The only pain in the backside, is that if original shape needs changing, all the shadow work needs to be redone, unlike the layer effect...

    Is there a clipping option for layers in the GIMP?
    I think the equivalent would be a layer mask.

    -Rob A>

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