17 replies to this topic

[EOSGIS]

Hans asked me to attach some maps instead of giving my main web page, so here it is.
These three mapashave been done and published for Historia National Geographic and Storica National Geographic (Spain and Italy).
As I'm in a rush, I dont have to much time to coment them in detail, but as you can see, they are three styles of maps. The one for the medieval times was ambiented in tha time, based in a medieval map, but it has been reprojected and georreferenced to try to fit an actual palte caree projection so the cities and geographical features fall withing the real place. Its not exact, due to the medieval projection, but it may be considered accurate.
The seond one is about Napoleonic campaigns, so while the projection is a usual Lambert one, centered in Europe, the style tries to get that of a 1800's paper.
On both maps, typography, vector colors, plays it's role in giving the impression of a map of those years. Not all is a texture or shaded relief.
The third map is a 3D representation of the battle of thermopilae. This map tries to explain te battle in a a clear way.
I will try to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you
Fernando J Sanchez Menendez
EOSGIS SL
http://www.carto-grafia.com

Attached Files

•  HISTORIA_73_64_h.jpg   304.64K   181 downloads
•  HISTORIA_73_80_h.jpg   242.77K   189 downloads
•  Storica_11_17_h.jpg   285.92K   207 downloads

[DaveB]

I love these maps! Great work!

(although, Birmingham is misspelled on the Napoleon map)

[Jean-Louis]

WOW!
very impressive, Fernando.
I cant seem to access the Gallery on your website- it comes up blank when I click on either 'gallery' or the filmstrip. I would really like to see your other work in detail.

[EOSGIS]

Thank you Dave,
Yes, Birmingham.... a lesson to new & old catographers.... (sure its written in i.e: Dent)
a) Rushes are no good
Thesaurus are important to acomplish maps
c) Once the map is in client hands.... cartographer looses all control over it... (snif)
I've looked my last version (porevious to delivery) and I have it correcto, so ... in this case I suppose it was my client hands over the map....
I will post other map examples.
thank you,
Fernando

I love these maps! Great work!

(although, Birmingham is misspelled on the Napoleon map)

[EOSGIS]

I have to look that tecnical issue tonight . It seems the gallery componet is not workig fine in the last two months, so I am going to change it for another one.
You can see other examples in the "Publications" section (by publisher) or in the main article area. As soon as I accomplish a new gallery I will notify everyone.
Best regards,
Fernando

WOW!
very impressive, Fernando.
I cant seem to access the Gallery on your website- it comes up blank when I click on either 'gallery' or the filmstrip. I would really like to see your other work in detail.

[Nick H]

As a kid I remember seeing a Hollywood epic about the Persian Wars. At one point a Spartan general pointed a grubby finger at a place on a parchment map and said 'We'll hold them here; at Thermopylae'. It's strange to think that something like this must must actually have happened.

I like the maps, just one point: is the map showing the battle of Thermopylae not supposed to have numbers on the sites where the events described in the text occurred? Forgive me if I'm missing something, I'm not strong on languages.

Regards, N.

[Jean-Louis]

Another question for you, Fernando.(or anybody else reading this)
I have been drawing 3-D maps for decades.
I have always done them by hand.
Over the last several years, I have been seeing 3-D renditions of landscapes like yours that seem to be generated electronically.
I am in dire need to know more about this process particularly for mountain landscapes.
So if I were to say.: I want to render a 3-D landscape of (say) a 100 sq. km section of the Rockies or the Alps, where do I begin to learn how and with what software to do this.
When I have asked this before, the answer is often Google Earth. but in GE there is overlapping images of different resolutions.and the colours are ugly.
I realize that this is probably a complex process that goes beyond the scope of this blog so the question is: Where do I begin to look

[François Goulet]

Hi Jean-Louis!

Check the Tutorials section on Tom Patterson's website

http://www.shadedrelief.com/

He uses Bryce and Photoshop. I know you already use PS and I've seen good and bad reviews on Bryce, but given its price, 100$, I think it's a good deal (and it's on sale 'til tomorrow! 50$!!! **



** I swear I don't have any affiliations whatsoever with Daz 3D

[EOSGIS]

Hi Nick,
Yes, it's supposed to have numbers inside, but I'm just the cartographer... I think the spanish version has those numbers inside.
When I say .." I'm just the cartographer", I mean that once the map is finished and the publisher has it, they prepare the page in indesig for the magazine, and at that point, I dont see the result until the map is published.
It seems the Italian edition has misplaced the numbers. I remember the spanisshed magazine has them, or, at least an explanation inside the map...
When working with magazines, which rushes times, I can't control the end process...
Fernando

As a kid I remember seeing a Hollywood epic about the Persian Wars. At one point a Spartan general pointed a grubby finger at a place on a parchment map and said 'We'll hold them here; at Thermopylae'. It's strange to think that something like this must must actually have happened.

I like the maps, just one point: is the map showing the battle of Thermopylae not supposed to have numbers on the sites where the events described in the text occurred? Forgive me if I'm missing something, I'm not strong on languages.

Regards, N.

[EOSGIS]

Hi Jean Louis,
I always say the same.. "there´s nothing new under the sun", and basically, with maps it's the same. In the case of 3D maps as this one (or anyone I make), I use mainly "World construction Set" (http://www.3dnature.com), Surfer (http://www.golden.com) or (recently) Google earth, but just to simplify and accelerate the 3D creation process, instead of having to draw everything as we do time ago. But the old tecniques gives every map that special "taste". I render the main terrain with tricks as the ones patterson explains in his web page, others from Imhof's book, etc... then I retouch the image by hand.
The web pege from Patterson is a very good web page, for learning to use new techniques aswell as old techniques.
All the vegetation in this map is made by hand, as the soldiers and always, always I retouch the terrain by hand. I use Satelite images or automatic texturizing just as a guide in this maps. On other maps I use just the satelite images.
It dependes a lot on my client's taste. Some ask for a clasical aproach. Other wants a totally "cibernetic" one....
But when I can, I always use old tecniques, trying to look for a method to simulate them in computer graphics, but when its not possible, I just make the work by hand.

Another question for you, Fernando.(or anybody else reading this)
I have been drawing 3-D maps for decades.
I have always done them by hand.
Over the last several years, I have been seeing 3-D renditions of landscapes like yours that seem to be generated electronically.
I am in dire need to know more about this process particularly for mountain landscapes.
So if I were to say.: I want to render a 3-D landscape of (say) a 100 sq. km section of the Rockies or the Alps, where do I begin to learn how and with what software to do this.
When I have asked this before, the answer is often Google Earth. but in GE there is overlapping images of different resolutions.and the colours are ugly.
I realize that this is probably a complex process that goes beyond the scope of this blog so the question is: Where do I begin to look

[Hans van der Maarel]

Awesome work, Fernando. It does seem like your Dutch coastline on the Napoleon map is a bit odd.

Nice to see you're using World Construction Set (I'm a user and reseller myself too).

[Jean-Louis]

Thanks for the tip, Fernando.
I agree with you wholeheartedly and I will always be doing the hand-rendered look that has become my trademark.
I am just looking for shortcuts in the drafting process.
When I look at your stuff and others, I am imagining that you have an electronic means to choose a mountainous area and have the mountains rise up as a 3-D landscape. Is this so? Hans, Is this what you did when you made your Italian Alps which I saw once?
I realise that you still need to 'finish' the illustration. But even if such a tool is rough, it would be a great time saver instead of my starting by interpreting and sketching a zillion mountain peaks in pencil.

[EOSGIS]

Hi Hans,
The point about the coastline is that I simplified it to resemble a more old map (It's the NIMA coastline) and as to make the relief I used in this case (I forgot to mention) the program 3D Nature Scene express pro I had to simplify the coastline. Duths have too many water and very very lowlands that makes strange things when rendered in WCS, 3D scene... I attach here a map from last month about Amsterdam and Dutch ... I hope you like it..

Awesome work, Fernando. It does seem like your Dutch coastline on the Napoleon map is a bit odd.

Nice to see you're using World Construction Set (I'm a user and reseller myself too).

Attached Files

•  HISTORIA_72_88h.jpg   630.88K   43 downloads

[Hans van der Maarel]

Duths have too many water and very very lowlands that makes strange things when rendered in WCS, 3D scene...

I know. Or, as I'm fond of saying: "I'm not living below sea level because I'm on the second floor..."

Jean-Louis, yes, the Po Valley Panorama that I did about a year and a half ago (oh, how time flies) was done in Visual Nature Studio, which is basically a more advanced version of World Construction Set. My panorama took some tinkering to get done (putting together several chunks of terrain data), but once you've got the process worked out you can do stuff like that pretty fast. One thing that you won't be able to do, at least not easily, is move stuff around a little bit. If I want to show a town that's being obscured by Mont Blanc, tough luck, it won't get rendered. With your manual method you have the option to nudge it a bit over.

[EOSGIS]

Jean-Louis,
That's what I do, use 3D programs to shortcut the process. The problem about pure 3D terrain programs is that they use real terrain data, and when rendered the result is not as clear as a hand drawn panorama. For example, if you take the Alps, the "human perception" is that everything is very vertical and we percieve terrain as a big thing compared with the surrounding relief, but when rendering this terrains everything goes "flat" or "rugged". It takes some time to make tricks to emphatise the terrain features mathematically or digitaly, but it may be done, indeed.

Thanks for the tip, Fernando.
I agree with you wholeheartedly and I will always be doing the hand-rendered look that has become my trademark.
I am just looking for shortcuts in the drafting process.
When I look at your stuff and others, I am imagining that you have an electronic means to choose a mountainous area and have the mountains rise up as a 3-D landscape. Is this so? Hans, Is this what you did when you made your Italian Alps which I saw once?
I realise that you still need to 'finish' the illustration. But even if such a tool is rough, it would be a great time saver instead of my starting by interpreting and sketching a zillion mountain peaks in pencil.