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Content creation => Texturing and 2D Art => Tutorials => Topic started by: Valium on April 14, 2013, 10:06:29 pm

Title: [TUTORIAL] Creating accurate Minimap images.
Post by: Valium on April 14, 2013, 10:06:29 pm

Today, I'm going to show you my method for creating accurate minimap images, using noggit and photoshop.

the first thing you want to do is open up the map you're working on in noggit, then press U to get to the 2d paint mode.  Make sure to hit F7 so you can see the grid, this is the key to the whole operation.

Using Q and E, get as many squares on the screen as you can, while making sure that your squares are at least 256 pixels in size, each. I'm talking about the green lines here, not the red.

Now you want to take a screenshot, on windows, use Win+PrtScr;  This takes a pictures of your entire desktop and places it in the screenshots folder in your pictures library.
(https://imageshack.us/scaled/modthumb/189/screenshot12mm.png) (https://imageshack.us/a/img189/3992/screenshot12mm.png)

Now Hit F7 and take another screen shot, this time without the lines.
(https://imageshack.us/scaled/modthumb/199/screenshot13s.png) (https://imageshack.us/a/img199/3660/screenshot13s.png)

Repeat for other sections of the map.
(https://imageshack.us/scaled/modthumb/543/screenshot14n.png) (https://imageshack.us/a/img543/2949/screenshot14n.png)
(https://imageshack.us/scaled/modthumb/11/screenshot15xe.png) (https://imageshack.us/a/img11/3584/screenshot15xe.png)


Now, you want to find all your images, and open them in photoshop.
(https://imageshack.us/scaled/modthumb/5/screenshot16v.png) (https://imageshack.us/a/img5/7799/screenshot16v.png)

PROTIP.  Have all your images in windows in photoshop, that way you can shift+drag the layer from the image with the grid, to the corresponding no-grid image.  Holding shift auto-aligns the layers.
(https://imageshack.us/scaled/modthumb/802/screenshot17d.png) (https://imageshack.us/a/img802/9270/screenshot17d.png)

Now you should have your image with 2 layers, the top layer having the grid.
(https://imageshack.us/scaled/modthumb/585/screenshot18l.png) (https://imageshack.us/a/img585/6820/screenshot18l.png)

Now, you need to create guides, if you have the ruler showing, you can click and drag on it to make one.  If not, you can go to the view menu and click new guide.  Use the selector tool to align it with one of your green lines.  Repeat as needed so you have one guide for each green line.
(https://imageshack.us/scaled/modthumb/820/screenshot19z.png) (https://imageshack.us/a/img820/3098/screenshot19z.png)

Now, that you have your guides in place, click the slice tool.  It's the one that looks like a little knife.  If you don't see it, click the crop tool and hold down, it should let you choose the  slice tool from there.  On my screen, it is right below the magic wand.

you now need to find this button (https://imageshack.us/a/img22/8678/4e195fa827e840c6725e087.png)  and click it.

This slices up your image.  If you want, you can go to the properties of each slice and name them, or do it to the files later.(https://imageshack.us/a/img838/4129/27966afd9d42cbc81b90af4.png)

From here, you simply turn off the visibility on the first layer so your grid lines are gone, the choose save for web and devices in the file menu. make sure to save as whatever format your BLP converter can handle.  
You will end up with some extra images that you can't use, just delete them.

After that, you can either resize each image individually to 256x256, or use a batch processing tool, like XnView.

At this point you should have a series of map tiles that are aligned with the ADTs  You may want to go and paint on the WMO's and M2s, I didn't, but I probably should have.

Now do this.
http://modcraft.io/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=188

Title: Re: [TUTORIAL] Creating accurate Minimap images.
Post by: Milly on April 15, 2013, 12:10:09 am

This is a great guide. Thanks very much. Although it doesn't show wmo objects such as buildings so that's a disadvantage to 2D view.

Title: Re: [TUTORIAL] Creating accurate Minimap images.
Post by: Steff on April 15, 2013, 12:11:27 am

Yes Ill do the same in 3d mode. Its a bit tricky ut then you can have also wmos and water active.

Thanks for the guide :)

Title: Re: [TUTORIAL] Creating accurate Minimap images.
Post by: Valium on April 15, 2013, 02:30:22 am

Quote from: "Steff"

Yes Ill do the same in 3d mode. Its a bit tricky ut then you can have also wmos and water active.

Thanks for the guide :)

I would have done 3D mode, except that you can't point the camera straight down, or have orthographic view.  If we could do that, well then, super detailed maps would be entirely possible.

Title: Re: [TUTORIAL] Creating accurate Minimap images.
Post by: Hargrim on April 19, 2013, 09:27:06 pm

nice tutorial, I like it :)

Title: Re: [TUTORIAL] Creating accurate Minimap images.
Post by: tippythop on April 06, 2016, 06:20:01 am

I'm sorry for resurrecting an old thread but I wish the images still showed up so I could see which buttons i should be pressing in photoshop. That or if someone could make these images I printscreened from noggit.

Title: Re: [TUTORIAL] Creating accurate Minimap images.
Post by: Steff on April 06, 2016, 12:05:57 pm

Try to write him a PM. Perhaps he read here and can reup the images.

Title: Re: [TUTORIAL] Creating accurate Minimap images.
Post by: Valium on April 07, 2016, 09:00:07 am

I'm going to have to re-create the images entirely.  Apparently I shouldn't have used imageshack to host them.

Title: Re: [TUTORIAL] Creating accurate Minimap images.
Post by: Moridhin on April 07, 2016, 05:29:17 pm

Yes pls reupload pictures. Very nice tut, ty.