Wickshine Inn

[BlackLotus]

Thankyou for the Demo image file of your map.

[BlackLotus]

I have checked out the PSD that you have posted, now I'm even more confused than ever. What I really need is some type of simple tutorial that will teach me how to do lighting effects. I haven't used the masking effects in Photoshop at all except for the patches of dirt in my own map. Can you please give me a real simple tutorial that I can follow, so that I can achieve the desired lighting effect that I require for my map.

[curufea]

Sure - BTW, I've started fixing the images to include walls - the cellar has been redone, but I need to make the inner walls wood rather than daub.

There's a cute basic filter in Photoshop I use quite often. I've tried it with alpha maps but I've found it's best with just basic use.

Go to filters -> render -> lighting effects (the lowest in that section)
Use either an omni light or a spotlight and fiddle with the shape of the light until it gives you a good effect. I think a bit of overexposure makes it look quite realistic.

Making a mask is fairly simple - click on the circle in square icon in the layers window while you are on the layer you want to create the mask for.

It's the second icon on the bottom row, after the "f" here-


If you have a selection already - that gets put into the mask, otherwise you get an all white (100% opaque) mask. You can click on the thumbnail in the layers window to choose the mask, or the image. By clicking on the mask, you can paint it with a brush in shades of grey (black = 0% opaque).

Here the image is highlighted with a white border and you're drawing on the bitmap-
Here the mask is highlighted and you're drawing on the mask -


To get shafts of light, I create a copy of the original texture (make a new layer, and hit CTRL+ALT+E and it puts all visible layers there). I then put in light sources on that layer with the filter and create a mask.

I then edit that mask - usually by using the polygon selection tool so I can get straight lines from light sources to the objects that block them.

I often feather the selection so it doesn't look too artificial.

You can use brushes and things as well to odd shapes.

You can also create a brightness/contrast adjustment layer (in the layers menu) and put it between the lighted layer and the normal texture layer. Lower the brightness all the way and make a mask.

Edit the mask on the layer for shadows.