Time Lapse Video: Lothburgh - Deaver's Apartment

Hello everyone! I've been asked numerous times for a peek behind the curtain in my map-making process, so for the first time, I recorded my entire process from start to finish for my recent Lothburgh map for Deaver's Apartment!

This video represents a total mapping time of 17 hours for building this map, condensed to a 10 min time lapse, so apologies if it's too "jumpy" for you and hard to watch. I wanted to keep the video short(ish), but that means it's very jumpy, unfortunately.

Here is a rough outline of my creative process when map-making:

1. Research (Not shown in the vid). Here is where I will do all my research on the area I'm mapping. If it's from a module, I will read all the information about the area in great detail to give me context. I'll do some Google searches and see how folks have used this location, what popular homebrew there is about it, and what, if any, are the pain points folks have expressed with the map. If it's not something from a published adventure and my own creation, I might do historical and architectural research so I can make sure I'm creating a map building that makes sense. From researching flora & fauna to studying various architectural designs and reference books, I have from my own library. Additionally, I will start building a mood board of various art, images, and other references to give me inspiration and ideas of the look and feel I want for the map.

2. Sketch (Not shown in the vid). I will create a rough sketch with pencil so I can just flow out ideas onto a page for layout. Here is where I'll consider the map area, grid area, token placement, and what angle I'm trying to achieve for the map. This is very rough and looks more like chicken scratch, but it helps me create a first idea of what the map will look like.

3. 3d Model. I use a 3d program that has basic geometric shapes on a 3d plane that allows me to roughly build out the map, height, elevation, and building layers. Here is where I think of the logistics of how my roof will fit over the interior, how my floors will stake, and make sure I have enough token area for placement so I can capture both a perspective angle, but also be sure to have a playable area. This phase also helps me ensure I get my angles correct when creating the actual map, though often times I do change the angles a bit to align better with the grid. I mix a true perspective and token playable area to ensure the map not only looks good, but is usable in a session.

4. Blueprinting. Here is where I will draw out the blueprint in Inkarnate. The blueprint layer helps me keep things align and it acts as the skeleton for my process. This also helps me ensure my angles work both for perspective and token placement. Sometimes I will upload a screenshot from the 3d tool into Inkarnate so I can ensure more complex building perspective maps are aligned correctly (Such as my Gothic Town Square map).

5. Map Making. I have a rougher approach when it comes to actually building the map, but I will often start by building the map frame, such as the ceiling lines & walls. This helps section off each room so I can go back and add room details. I will add the assets to flesh out each room, and when the map is full and ready, then I will add all of the shading and highlighting, followed by the lighting effects.

6. Exporting (Not shown in the vid). Here is where I will export the map and its variants in 8k from Inkarnate. This process can be quite lengthy, as exporting an 8k image can take a while, plus I normally have multiple variants. For instance, the map shown in this video had eight exports I needed to do (and this was considered small compared to my other maps). I exported the base map with lights, without lights, then the alternate variant, both with and without lights. After that, I do the same for the "night" version since night is a two-fold process for me. I apply night filters both in Inkarnate and Photoshop to get the night look that I'm happy with. Additionally, for any overlay tiles (like roofs, floors, trees, etc), I will export as .png's directly from Inkarnate (This is a relatively new feature they have implemented).

7. Photoshop (Not shown in the vid). Here is where I will resize the image to have an even PPI, apply the color moods, grid, and weather overlays, and save each process. I have built my color moods using the raw camera filters, and I will often tweak them slightly for each map to achieve the color mood that I'm going for. I will also manipulate my weather overlays files to account for interior locations where I might cut out the "rain" from inside or blend in the fog so you don't see too stark a line between the interior and the foggy weather outside.

8. File Processing (Now shown in the vid). Once I have the base 8k maps saved from Photoshop, I run them through another tool to compress all of the images as much as I can without losing image quality. Oftentimes, the base export from Photoshop can be around 20-30mb which you know would be way too big for any VTT. Normally, after compression, I can get the 8k files around 10mb. Here is where I will also resize these images to 4k as well as create the Webp files. Additionally, I will do the same with my overlays, where I'll compress the .png's and convert to 4k. Lastly, I will organize all of my map files into the folder structure that you all downloaded them from and package them up in .zip files.

And there you have it! The full start-to-finish applies to every single DM Andy Map. Some maps take longer, some not so much. For example, mansions are by far the most intensive maps to do since every single section of the mansion is detailed and decorated with multiple floors.

I hope you enjoyed this time-lapse! I'll try to do this at least once a month as well, so you can gain some more insights into my creative process.

Music credit: RPG Music Maker Travis Savoie

Cheers,

DM Andy