Rivers connections problem
I have a little question about the river macro Joachim posted in this topic: http://forum.profantasy.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=928&page=1#Item_20
As you see in my attachments, the rivers are not quite well connected to the sea, and sometimes the connection between the sections is poor too. I think the latter is mostly due to a flaw in the design of the rivers (I should change directions less abruptly) but the first problem can maybe solved thanks to a technical trick. The problem is... I don't know how :-)
Anyone has a suggestion?
As you can see the junction problem between the two river sections is almost invisible with the effects turned ON (second image)
Thanks!
A.
As you see in my attachments, the rivers are not quite well connected to the sea, and sometimes the connection between the sections is poor too. I think the latter is mostly due to a flaw in the design of the rivers (I should change directions less abruptly) but the first problem can maybe solved thanks to a technical trick. The problem is... I don't know how :-)
Anyone has a suggestion?
As you can see the junction problem between the two river sections is almost invisible with the effects turned ON (second image)
Thanks!
A.
Comments
Using a glow as you did usually solves that problem.
For the second one though, it's an effect I always had. My solution was to put the sea above the land and the river sheets in between or even on the same but it's rather unusual, and would probably require some work on your map should you wish to do it that way.
http://forum.profantasy.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=1366&page=1#Item_15
Another way would be to add another sheet, ie RIVERS END where you draw polygons the same blue over the rivers and sea.
Sorry I don't have any better answer...
thanks for your answer. To tell the solution involving the sheets would most probably be a good one, but I messed up a bit mine in this map so it will probably take me some time.
Instead, I tried the other one... First I edited the last node of the river to better match the coastline (made perpendicular) AND go well into the sea. I then painted on a new sheet a polygon covering the "on sea" part of the river along with some sea as well.
Up here you can see it in brown for clarity. It it really raw but it shows the thing.
By changing the color to match the sea, it blends almost perfectly and the connection to the sea is solved. I think this method can also be VERY interesting to map the dirty water charged with sediments that flows from the river into the sea, but I have to play with colors and blends to see what comes ;-)
Looking forward to seeing the whole map !
Be aware that I "stole" quite a lot of ideas from your work. :-D
:-)
Adding a polygon at the edge almost works, but it's tricky with glow edges on the land.
I really just wish there was a way to just carve out rivers from the land so they blend naturally at the river's mouth into the ocean. I feel like I'm missing some basic trick here.
Joachim, I love how your map looks in that other thread ( http://forum.profantasy.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=1366&page=1). As I understand it you have the ocean as the top sheet and your rivers are part of that, with all of the bodies of water drawn over the landmass? I'd have to wrap my head around the change in workflow, sounds tricky.
- Right-click the All Drawing Tools button, click "Advanced".
- Select the "Land, default" tool, make a copy of it and name it "Land, Rivers".
- Set "Path/Polygon" as the draw method. Save the tool.
- Now start the drawing tool and press "E" (for edit).
- Click the spot where the river mouth should be and start drawing your river inland.
- Draw until you reach its end, then go back in the other direction until you reach the coast again.
- Right-click to finish the edit and select the other side of the river mouth as the end point.
Voila, you've got a cut-out of your river. It's a more elaborate process than the standard river tools, but gives results similar to Joachim's map if done carefully.
Hope that helps! Ralf
The only problem is, when I switch the draw method to Path/Polygon, the "E" option isn't available when I try to use the tool. The "E" option returns if I switch the draw options to "straight" instead of "smooth". It's definitely more work to make a natural looking river with the tool that way, but it does work.
I tried it in Fractal as well, but it's tricky in Fractal to not create an extra chunk of land at the coastline. Update: I've gotten the hang of right-clicking to automatically cut-out the coast line with Fractal and/or Sketch mode now.
I really appreciate your assistance by the way. This seems like the right solution, certainly better than the workarounds I was trying. I just need to get more familiar and comfortable with the tools.
If you wanted to mix a fractalized coastline with smooth river outlines, you could draw them separately and then multipoly the whole thing.