A while ago someone asked me to create a tutorial for the workflow I use when I'm creating quick maps and... well, obviously this has peaked my interest considering I've made this video I've put all the links to the software that you'll need in the description down below So without further ado let's go! Start by creating a landform I'm working with a vector program but your choice of program doesn't actually matter When you're done with it, save it Open up the landform in a program where you can work with rasters In my case it's Photoshop Make sure that the background is true black whilst the landmass is somewhat of a dark grey This is because we're creating a height map and the brighter the color, the higher the landmass Use some brushes there are plenty of good options in the basic programs such as GIMP and photoshop but, I've made some custom ones that you can find in the description start of by painting a rought heightmap using different layers of opacity then move on to work with some details by masking out random bits using the same brushes When exporting this image it's very important to remember that the size will impact rendering times in our next step I'd recommend no more than 3000 pixels in any axis Next open up the image in Wilbur select from terrain starting at the value 0.2 to 10000 I usually start with three erosion cycles with the settings currently on screen I follow this up with two cycles of 'Erosion cycle', 'Incise flow' and 'Precipitation' You can repeat this process as many times as you'd like More does not however equal better Here I'm showing you my settings once again When you're finished rendering, save the results as a 16-bit image Let's open this image in GIMP and use the map filter you can tweak the settings to your liking and then export the results should look something like this Here I'm working in photoshop but I suppose you can replicate this process in programs such as GIMP aswell I've imported both the height map and the bump map and made sure the entire file is set to RGB color mode I then set the bump maps blending mode to 'linear burn' you can change the opacity of this layer to get the desired result aswell then I use a gradient filter to add colors this can either be chosen from the window you're seeing right now or you can copy the colors from your stylesheet the results should look something like this. I hope you enjoyed this video and if you'd like a slower version where i go into every nook and cranny and explain more and perhaps even show you how to create brushes make sure to leave a comment and like the video If you're a fellow redditor neckbeard such as myself you can always find more of my work over there Cheerio nerds
