ProFantasy Community Forum

Questions on Bevel Effect

BeZurKurBeZurKur
in Community Support
I have a couple questions regarding the bevel effect. I am trying to create a map with a tabletop top view effect for miniature wargaming. Hills are created in tiers to make it easy to see and place miniatures. I'd like my 2D map to look like a top view 3D map. For creating hills, I figured the bevel effect was the way to go. Here is what I came up with:



image


For some reason, however, I'm getting these weird "dimples" on the hills. You can see them on the left top hill in the NE corner and the right top hill on the south side. I can fix them with GIMP but I'd rather stay within CC3.

Also, if I try to tier the hills with a smaller one on top of a larger one, it doesn't work. CC3 only bevels the bottom hill.

Any ideas on working around these issues?
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Comments

  • DkarrDkarr Traveler
    I can't answer the question about the dimples, though I sometimes get them when I use the bevel effect on my walls. I believe that it has to do with the way that beveling "folds" the corners.

    However, I can answer your question about stacking your hills. You will need to place the higher hill on a different sheet, and apply the same beveling effects to that sheet. CC3 will take two objects, if they are above one another or even if they overlap, and treat them as one object when it applies sheet effects. That is why your stacked hill does not get the beveled edge.
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  • jslaytonjslayton Moderator, ProFantasy Mapmaker
    Those dimples are caused by single-pixel holes in the hill fill. The hole causes the Bevel filter to try to generate a bevel around the single hole. Bevel has some interesting artifacts with regards to curves. Bevel, Lighted generates a similar effect and can work a little better on curved surfaces, at the cost of more parameters to fiddle with. The image below shows the worst-cast and best-case behavior for the two effects.
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  • DkarrDkarr Traveler
    edited December 2008
    Posted By: jslaytonThose dimples are caused by single-pixel holes in the hill fill. The hole causes the Bevel filter to try to generate a bevel around the single hole. Bevel has some interesting artifacts with regards to curves. Bevel, Lighted generates a similar effect and can work a little better on curved surfaces, at the cost of more parameters to fiddle with.
    Could you give some insight into the parameters for the bevel-lighted, which you mention might work better? Or even some clue as to how to prevent the "holes" you mention.

    Thanks
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  • BeZurKurBeZurKur
    Thanks for the tip on the sheets, Dkarr. I am now able to place the tiers on top of one another just as you described. Sheet effects are truly powerful and versatile. As I adjust them, I can make the maps easy and uniform.

    Jslayton, your explanation makes sense. I too would appreciate a work around those dimples. Here is another odd behavior: if I use the same texture on the object beneath it, there are lots of dimples. If I change it, I get only a few. When I get back from work, I'll post some images.
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  • Simon RogersSimon Rogers Administrator, ProFantasy Traveler
    It can happen where the colour of a pixel in a texture matches that below. Put a solid-filled entity under the hill you want to bevel on a lower sheet and see if that fixes it.
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  • BeZurKurBeZurKur
    Yup, putting an entity between the hills does it. I added a sheet called "SPACER 1.5" that lays between "HILL, TIER 1 and HILL, TIER 2." Thank you all for helping.
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