Reply With QuoteWow, you got a plane flight so you could research mapping techniques??
That's dedication!!!!
(heh)
neat observations though... And yeah, I should probably load google earth more often while researching.
Ah thanks for the catch Shantedracule, another artifact of layer merging that I will address forthwith, but it's been a long day since my 4am start today and I need to rest before being savaged by my client tomorrow morning, so I'll take care of it tomorrow.Originally Posted by shantedracule
So no specific opinions about those trees and whether they've taken a turn for the worse? I have to tell you that I have some serious reservations after having craned my neck this morning on approach to Dulles so that I could study the trees from various altitudes. One thing I noticed was that in mixed deciduous/coniferous environments, the conifers tend to be a significant minority, although I expect the balance to shift further north. I'm not sure an even split between the two would ever be typical. Also, I saw no examples of a forest that you could see through unless the trees had been thinned by man for development.
Another thing that struck me: at 35,000 feet, the forests are by far the most prominent feature of the landscape below, and they are sharp and well-defined, and their drop shadows are clear. That is a much lower scale than 1px=1ft but it is instructive. I'll have to Google Earth something at 35,000 and see what the scale is. FYI it was a clear day and the low angle of the sun would have exaggerated the shadows. We landed about 10:15 Eastern.
Wow, you got a plane flight so you could research mapping techniques??
That's dedication!!!!
(heh)
neat observations though... And yeah, I should probably load google earth more often while researching.
My finished maps
"...sometimes the most efficient way to make something look drawn by hand is to simply draw it by hand..."
I didn't even notice the wall thing until it was pointed out...was too busy looking at the pretty textures and nicely done shields.
Google Earth is awesome. I had no idea what terraced fields should really look like from the air until I pointed it at Nowhere, China to see. I had gathered a bunch of ground-based pics as refs and mine would have looked silly if I hadn't taken a peek at the satellite view first.
M
Lol... I wish I could have come up here just to research. DC is a wealth of architectural innovation and novelty, and a beautiful place outside the city as well. I lost count of the multi-million dollar homes I saw coming in.
So I blew off the quickie tour of the monuments and museums to finish some work and get back to my maps tonight. I fly back in the early morning. I spent 7 days touring DC and Philadelphia and Gettysburg back when I was a lad, so that box is already checked and I'm tired enough without painting the town red tonight. They kept me out late last night. We ate at an Italian place called "Paolo's" in Reston Town Center last night and it was pretty good. Tonight I walked over to a place that's nearby called "Generous George's". That was excellent. It's strange because it's in this huge, brand new area of upscale apartments and businesses, but there's nobody there. The streets were empty of people, cars or even litter. I kept expecting zombies to come around the corner and give me chase. They finished building the place just as the economy went south.
Time to roll up my sleeves and try to accomplish something tonight. Time is running out!
I added tower tops to the great towers and a small castle in the city center. That was about all I had in me tonight. Catching up with me I guess.
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I concur that roof areas seem a little dark and a bit too uniform, and that the trees might beneift from a slightly more random, organic set of sizes and shapes, but . . .
CRAP ON TOAST!
THIS IS GORGEOUS!!
Still looking awesome. Just one small thing ... wouldn't the castle be built parallel (or closer to it) to the wall behind it? It looks oddly regular, with everything else flowing around the city shape.
Gidde,
I wish it was a small thing. The castle was created as an independent component, then copied into the map. It was made of many objects on different layers, with each layer having its own shadows that interacted with the other layers depending on their height. I made this map with hand-drawn shadows so that I could model that kind of complex relationship accurately. But that means that the taller an object is and the more layers, the more shadow interaction. So I had to go in an redo the shadows because once you pointed it out, it just looked wrong and I had to fix it. That's really why you guys and your advise is so helpful, because you help me look at my work from a fresh perspective. Helpful but painful in this case.
So I fixed the castle and made some minor adjustments while I was at it. I added a stable, fence and servants quarters, plus some trees and a grand set of steps. I also added lines between the castle towers and the main wall towers and strung flags on them.
The lines and flags were done using paths. I created the straight path and then used the handles to bend the line to a prevailing northwest wind, then added the line with a brush stroke, then added the flags using a custom brush, color dynamics and some layer styles. That and some patience realigning the flags to the line since they would start centered instead of on the edge of the path.
Finally a put a large number of chimneys on the castle. If you look closely, you'll see that each building that should have a chimney or three actually does. I chose a fairly subtle method that doesn't make them stick out too much, but that was intentional. On some buildings they are more obvious: the smiths for example.
Thanks again for your help. More to come.
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dhgjhgkhgklsfg
that is so Awesome i forgot how to type for a moment.
My finished maps
"...sometimes the most efficient way to make something look drawn by hand is to simply draw it by hand..."
The level of painstaking detail you're putting into this map continues to amaze. The castle does indeed fit much better now, and I love the lines and flags
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