How Hard would it be to Code for Negative Bevel (emboss)? (Edit:Engrave is what I mean)
JulianDracos
Mapmaker
I noticed that @Loopysue uses a bezel effect to say make holes in the ice (and similar things in other styles.) These never look quite right to me as the bezels go up. In other effects, we can always add a negative value. The bezel option does not allow that (I tried).
I am wondering if it would be difficult to alter the code to allow for a negative value. That way, we would have an emboss effect which would probably make things look better and be easier to use when we want to create the illusion of depth or a hole in the map. Currently, I have to use glows and negative drop shadows to try and do that with me having to play around with the options to try and get it to look right. So an emboss option could make things a lot easier.
Comments
Do you mean put the light so that it comes from the other direction? That trick only works with Bevel, Lighted, but it may do what you want.
I am used to functions in GIMP. I can bezel, which makes objects look like they are coming up or I can do emboss, which makes it look like it is going down. I am mostly thinking in terms of giving a wood carving effect, or making a lake/ocean sunken in.
I be clear, I am get images to look how I want. I would rather it just be one effect instead of multiple ones. Bevel is ok, and it looks good zoomed out. But, if you zoom in, you can tell the direction of the shadows is wrong. I've attached an image to see the difference between bevel and emboss.
Think of it like a crater. Except, on a map, the top of the edge would just be the land so it looks punched in.
Again, I can get the effect I want from using other effects. It just seems that if there is an effect to create a bevel, it seems we should be able to add negative values and have it go down instead of up. But maybe that would be hard to program.
The emboss effect you showed here does look like two bevels (on inside the other) with light from opposite directions. I suspect that such a thing would indeed be hard to program.
Oops. I am thinking of Engrave. Not that this probably makes it easier to program: