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Thread: [Award Winner] East Tharduurs' Mountains

  1. #1
    Guild Journeyer Bohunk's Avatar
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    Post [Award Winner] East Tharduurs' Mountains

    I do not know if this belongs here or somewhere else, so it won't hurt my feelings if you move this to another forum. I say that because this is not so much a tutorial but an explanation. I have attempted to make a tutorial, but that is something I might need practice at, and my software has changed, which screwed me up in a way. With that said...

    Several have asked and PM'ed me on how I created the mountains in my East Tharduur map that won the challenge for January. The difficulty I am running into is that I created these mountains in PS Elements 4.0 and I recently upgraded to PS Elements 7.0 and have not been able to duplicate, to a reasonable degree, how to do it. They adjusted some of the features, namely the sharpness feature, and I believe that is the trouble I am having.

    In a nutshell…

    Basically using Handsome Rob's technique on bringing in Fractal Terrain files into Photoshop, I used a Filter>Texture>Grain on the mountain layer. Then a Filter>Blur>Motion Blur with a horizontal angle. I sharpened up those lines. Then a Filter>Distort>Liquify. I used a twist-right on those lines that would give the lines the bump that you might recognize. I believe I also used a Filter>Distort>Glass to give it a little more randomness. I remember sharpening at each stage of this process.

    I believe that's it. I apologize for how bad this explanation is, but I played with those mountains over the course of several days and I never thought I would have to make a tutorial on them. The problem I am having going for PSE 4 to PSE 7 is the sharpness feature. I can't get those lines as sharp as I did in PSE 4. Hopefully somebody better than me can come along and help us out in this.

    If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.
    Regards,

    Jim

    My Maps

  2. #2
    Guild Journeyer Bohunk's Avatar
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    Ok. I figured this out. I missed a step! Or added as step actually. So this again is not a great tutorial but its better than what I gave you already.

    First using Handsome Rob's advice we grab a black/blue and white png/jpeg from fractal terrains. Select the land and stroke an outline.
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    Regards,

    Jim

    My Maps

  3. #3
    Guild Journeyer Bohunk's Avatar
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    Second, we grab the terrain from FT as well. White land white sea, just the shadows of the mountains. Create a new layer on top of the first image.
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    Regards,

    Jim

    My Maps

  4. #4
    Guild Journeyer Bohunk's Avatar
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    Third, we duplicate the terrain layer and motion blur at an angle of 90 degrees. The distance is up to you and probably depends on your picture size. Sharpen it up the best you can.
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    Regards,

    Jim

    My Maps

  5. #5
    Guild Journeyer Bohunk's Avatar
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    Fourth is liquify. I spin the lines upwards creating mountains. I don't stop until every line is spun in some fashion. Having straight lines don't look good. You might want to use the glass filter to help out with some randomness.
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    Regards,

    Jim

    My Maps

  6. #6
    Guild Journeyer Bohunk's Avatar
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    Fifth and finally: I use a very soft eraser to highlight the left side of the mountains and take lines away from lakes and the coastline. Best to do this part with a white ocean so you can see the overlap the motion blur caused and erase it. Sharpen it up the best you can and adjust the brightness and contrast to taste.

    Thats it. I am not much of a tutorialist but I hope this helps.

    This picture was done quickly so please forgive.
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    Regards,

    Jim

    My Maps

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  8. #8
    Community Leader Facebook Connected torstan's Avatar
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    Done for you And thread rated too. Looks great. 'll definitely have to have a shot at this.

  9. #9

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    I tried it too. With a little try over does it run.
    Thanks Bohunk. Gave Reps and Stars and anything else...

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