Very impressive!
So you've switched to Photoshop for the creation of your latest WIP? I remember you telling me that vector-based programs such as Illustrator are much more effective at creating detailed maps such as these; also, vector-based files are smaller and thus easier to handle. You previously sold me on Illustrator but now I'm not so certain.
Do you use real life DEMs in your work, or is it all hand-drawn? And, finally, in your opinion, could I achieve good results with only Photoshop and not Illustrator?
Again, fascinating work!
Peter
Just a quick update that I was able to figure out a workaround for G.Projector- for those using Photoshop just a heads-up that Flexify is a very useful plug-in with a free trial!
Rheia_relief_winkel.jpg
Well that's a complicated question... I used Illustrator for hand-drawing the elevation map, and I think it's unmatched if you're wanting to have a zoomable master-map with lots of detail thanks to the vectors and smaller file size. That said, for making an actually presentable, somewhat artistic map there are some things you can only do with a raster program like Photoshop. In this case it was the lighting effects that I combined with the DEM to make the shaded relief, as well as the various filters. I expect I'll transfer it back to Illustrator soon to work on things like graticules, labels, etc.
Honestly I think that depends entirely on how you're doing your DEM. If you're hand-drawing a DEM, either as a standalone or something to input into Wilbur, then Illustrator or another vector-based program will allow you to get way more detail and is generally easier to edit. If you're patching together real-world DEMs then I think Photoshop is by far the better option. I hand-drew my DEMs which I enjoyed since it gave me full control over the world and felt like it was something totally original, but I don't necessarily recommend it as it was probably about a hundred hours of work for something that still isn't as detailed as what I'd have if I just got DEMs from Earth and repurposed them. Depends entirely on your tech-savviness and your philosophy of mapmakling and worldbuilding...
Do you use real life DEMs in your work, or is it all hand-drawn? And, finally, in your opinion, could I achieve good results with only Photoshop and not Illustrator?
Again, fascinating work!
Peter
Glad to see you're still working on this, these updates are great!
Another update- worked on refining the shaded relief a little more and added some insets to the map. I'll probably keep fiddling around with the relief for a while but for now I think I'm about ready to switch over to Illustrator for the lettering.
Rheia_relief_winkel_v2.png
Beautiful presentation! I especially love the bottom left panel showing tectonic boundaries and volcanoes, since this information is so rarely depicted in maps found on the Guild. Did you make use of Artifexian's tutorial videos to create your tectonic history and plate movement? I don't recall him showing how to determine the plate boundaries but I could be wrong.
What information is depicted in the upper right hand panel?
At any rate, very beautiful work, Tiluchi!
Peter
Thanks Naima and Peter! I did my tectonics based on the tutorial by worldbuildingpasta, with the main exception being that I "only" did about 400 million years' worth of tectonics. The GPlates animation is way back in the first post here. The upper right panel depicts the levels of magic in the world, with red being stronger ambient magic. This is a fantasy world after all...