I was wondering who makes the Maps that apear in Dungeon adventures and what program do they use? i like The style and they seem to all have a simmilar style...
The cartographer's name is listed at the beginning of the article, so that answers your first question. I haven't got a clue on the second, though. ;)
I remember reading somewhere a while back that a lot of it is hand-drawn. It's a safe bet that Photoshop or something similar (PSP, etc.) is used to clean things up and add text, though.
Christopher West is a frequent contributor. You can find his website at http://www.velocity.net/~westwinds/.
A lot of it is hand drawn, scanned and then touched up with Photoshop and Illustrator.
See : http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/wd/wd20020419a
The other guys are completely correct. I'm a professional cartographer and Photoshop and Illustrator are my finishing tools of choice. Most wilderness and dungeon maps are hand drawn, inked on vellum with technical pens, scanned, and then color, shading, and textures are added in Photoshop. For architechture, I create the structure in Illustrator then export it into Photoshop for rendering.
Christopher West (Bavix), your maps rock my socks!
Congratulations on winning the ENnie Trophy for Best Cartography a few months back, for your maps in "Thieves' Quarter: A City Quarters Sourcebook."
Perfect last name, by the way! :)
Tony M
Christopher West (Bavix), your maps rock my socks!
Congratulations on winning the ENnie Trophy for Best Cartography a few months back, for your maps in "Thieves' Quarter: A City Quarters Sourcebook."
Perfect last name, by the way! :)
Tony M
Whoa Tony, I'm not Christopher West. My name is Rob Lee. I've done a few adventures in Dungeon, several Dragon appearances, and stuff for nearly every d20 company in the market. I also won two ENnies (one for Green Ronin's "Freeport" and the other for Necromancer Games's "Necropolis" mega adventure.
As for Christopher West, IMO, he's one of the best in the business (with Ed Bourelle and Craig Zipse). It's a pleasure to rip them off... I mean, use their work as inspiration, whenever I get cartographer's block.
Whoa Tony, I'm not Christopher West. My name is Rob Lee.
Oh...uh....err....you're good too. *blushes*
Didn't you write a Dungeon adventure?
Tony M
Whoa Tony, I'm not Christopher West. My name is Rob Lee.Oh...uh....err....you're good too. *blushes*
Didn't you write a Dungeon adventure?
Tony M
Yep, I've written two (The Cradle of Madness and Kambranex's Machinations) and I have another in editing right now.
i do want to say thank you for the info...
One note:
Much of the cartography is now done in an entirely digital format using a combination of Photoshop, Illustrator, and your friendly neighborhood Wacom tablet.
For an example, see the maps I produced for "Throne of Iuz" in 118...
I hope you don't mind if I take this opportunity to say again that I'd surely love access to Dungeon adventure maps that don't have DM-only info (room numbers, secret doors, traps, etc.) I spend an awful lot of time Photoshop-ing these things out so I can project the map for my players.
I'd surely love access to Dungeon adventure maps that don't have DM-only info
Who knows. Mabye you'll see them in the future. For now though, keep up with those Photoshop skills...
That is one sweet setup, Boredflak. If I didn't loathe dungeoneering adventures so much maybe I'd do the same thing with my laptop and projector...
Great maps, Rob, keep up the good work. Would you be willing to maybe post some tutorials for cartography fans? How much does vellum cost these days anyway?
see the maps I produced for "Throne of Iuz" in 118...
And they look great! You did the Serpent Mound proud, Mike.
My gaming group has been talking about doing something simmiar for some time now i have just started doing the map editing for the shackeld city campaiges to at least do just the lap top thing and only draw out the combat. but with the drop in projecter price and a little work this could work out... thanks for the web page too great job
Christopher West here... For the curious: I do almost all of my work in Photoshop. <snip>
Oooh. Oooh.
::bows:: (not worthy, not worthy)
Love the maps, Mr. West. You rock.
Do you ever think of giving a Photoshop cartography tips and tricks class or demo at a convention?
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Thanks for the kind words! I've thought about conducting a map workshop at a convention, sure. The Paizo guys invited me to participate in a seminar panel at last year's Gen Con, and that was quite fun. Demos or actual classes would require me to haul along heavy (and expensive) computer equipment, though. I did that at my first Gen Con (before I really got involved in professional cartography), and don't relish the thought of lugging my studio with me again. ;-)
I also, frankly, don't know what I would really be able to teach; a large part of the process of creating a detailed map on the computer is based on trial and error and experimentation with your tools of choice. What works for me wouldn't necessarily work for everyone else, and I think that's as it should be. Everyone has his or her own evolving sense of style and design sensibility, and the process of discovering it and embracing it is what really makes a cartographer excel.
Thanks to all the pros for the info in here. Good stuff. I'm an aspiring cartographer myself and while I'm pretty good at hand-drawn maps, I haven't delved into Photoshop much yet.
Few more questions:
- How much is hand-drawn and how much is done in Photoshop?
- Are the textures you use in Photoshop ones that you have created yourself or are they universally available/open source?
- Do you use drawing tablets?
- What do you use/recommend for scanners?
Thanks again!
I do most of my overland land masses by hand. Depending on the detail and scale, I may either ink it on vellum with technical pens or just scan a sketch and render it in Photoshop.
I almost always do my architecture, interior items, and sharp line work in Illustrator. I think it's faster, cleaner, and more accurate than Photoshop for that kind of work. The pen tool and bezier curves are also more editable. I then export the file (with layers) into Photoshop for colors, beveling, textures, and shading.
I get many of the textures I use from image collection CDs or I scan them from objects I find. My favorite and most used texture was scanned from a rusty sheet of metal. I sharpened the image and saturated the colors in Photoshop until I had a really cool texture.
I don't use a tablet but a lot of people do. I've tried them but I'm just not very comfortable with them.
I have a $300 Microtek scanner at home and I have access to a $2500 Umax scanner at work. Honestly, my $300 scanner does everything I need it to do. If something has a HUGE amount of detail, I'll take it to work just because I can.