# Mapping Resources > Reference Material >  Maps by Butch Curry

## pyrandon

Butch Curry is an industry pro who owns and produces everything at Zombie Nirvana Games.  He has a nice gallery of maps here: 
http://www.zombienirvana.com/gallery...hp?/category/2

Butch is also beginning a wonderful project to instruct others in fantasy cartography (using Photoshop), including both a book and podcast video tutorials (see a good sampling of the latter, on making parchment,  here:  http://www.zombienirvana.com/podcast...FCAP-beta.html)

Enjoy!

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## palehorse

If you're interested, the full version of the first edition is now available on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/ZombieNirvana

There's a full, fancy press release here.

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## RPMiller

Thank you Mr. Curry!

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## palehorse

The second episode of FCAP is now available on YouTube! 

http://www.youtube.com/ZombieNirvana

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## pyrandon

Okay, Butch, I'm not sure how much time & effort it requires of you to make these little videos, but I must say they are the coolest things to come along since sliced cheese.  Both of them have made me incredibly happy!  They are so clear, so useful, so easy to follow, so professionally preplanned and delivered, and (if I may say so) your voice is so jovially upbeat that I feel better about life after watching a 7 minute 38 second video on creating a crinkled piece of parchment!   

Keep 'em comin'!  Keep 'em comin'!

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## palehorse

Aw, shucks!   :Embarassed:  

Thanks for your kind words!

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## RPMiller

Don = Flatterer extraordinaire!

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## palehorse

Along with the podcast, I've also been posting up some general Photoshop tips and tricks at ZombieNirvana.com. I'm aiming to put them up on Tuesdays going forward, but my wife broke her foot yesterday, so the second one didn't go online til today! 

Last weeks was a faux-Render>Lighting Effects trick that gives you an excuse to play with Blend Modes. This week I've got some tips on color, including how to make better use of the Picker, the Gamut Warning, and color proofing. 

Both tips are still right on the front page!

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## RPMiller

Could I put in a request for Masks? I still don't understand how they work, but have heard that they are very important to getting to the next level with PS. I also heard there were several different kinds of masks, but I only know of one.

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## palehorse

No problem! I'll make that my next tip of the week. (Maybe 2 weeks... it's a pretty big topic to cover.)

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## RPMiller

AWESOME!! Thanks!

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## heruca

> Could I put in a request for Masks? I still don't understand how they work, but have heard that they are very important to getting to the next level with PS. I also heard there were several different kinds of masks, but I only know of one.


Heh, I only recently discovered masks, and already I feel like I've "gone up a level" in Photoshop.   :Laughing:  

Looking forward to palehorse's tutorial.

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## palehorse

> Heh, I only recently discovered masks, and already I feel like I've "gone up a level" in Photoshop.   
> 
> Looking forward to palehorse's tutorial.


Mastering the secrets of the 4 masks comes right after walking on rice paper without tearing it and just before snatching the pebble from the master's hand in Photoshop Fu.   :Very Happy:

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## palehorse

I'm having some trouble with the third installment of my podcast... After a couple of attempts at rendering in different formats and uploading to YouTube and Revver, I'm beginning to suspect that I'll have to re-record the whole thing and try again.  :Frown:  

I'm going to give it one more try, but if I have to go back to recording it probably won't be up til tomorrow, so my Photoshop tip of the week will be pushed back a day as well.

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## palehorse

After fighting it all day, it seems that FCAP #3 is now up at YouTube. It's still taking awhile on Revver, unfortunately, but you can still check it out here.

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## palehorse

Well, it wasn't quite done by Tuesday (as I mention in the article, my wife broke her foot last week, so it's been pretty crazy around here the last few days!) but I finally have my article on layer masks up at my site.

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## RPMiller

SWEET!! Thank you very much!

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## RPMiller

Follow-up post - Holy cow that was incredibly simple! I have no idea why haven't been using those all along, but I will definitely start now. I've heard there are different types of layer masks. Which one was that that you demonstrated?

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## palehorse

Well, there are 4 different kinds, but layer masks are the only kind I've used so far in the podcast. 

Vector masks are like layer masks, but you reveal and hide things by adding vector shapes on to them. Shapes with "Add to path area" selected reveal the layer contents, and those with "Subtract from path area" hide them. They're neat, because you can use all the path tools to modify the shapes indefinitely. (There'll be a segment of the podcast about vector masks later.)

Channels and the Quick Mask are the other two types of masks. I mentioned in the article about how masks and selections are linked; Channels are the link between the two. 

Normally, Channels are nothing more than a mask for colors. Where a Channel for a particular color is white, that color comes through at 100%; where it's black, that color doesn't come through at all. Where the Channel is gray, the color comes through in varying amounts. 

But Channels are also where selections get saved when you click on Select > Save Selection! White areas are 100% selected, black areas are unselected, and areas of gray are feathered. 

Which is how the Quick Mask works. It's just a disposable selection tool, but it follows the same rules as a layer mask other wise: you paint on it with white, black, or shades of gray to change the selection, you can run filters on it, etc. (There are all _kinds_ of things in Photoshop that utilize the 8-bit, 256 level grayscale in one way or another; masks and selections are just the tip of the iceberg, really.)

If you follow through the evolution of Photoshop, you can see how they've takn really cool bits, like using Channels to save selections, and then expanded on those bits in really amazing ways.

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## pyrandon

Butch:  I first learned Photoshop from a lot of mistakes, but also (later) from Adobe Photoshop for Dummies.  Your layer mask section is better than the description in that book!   Well done!

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## palehorse

Thanks! Usually the For Dummies books are pretty good, but at least when it comes to the Adobe products, the Visual Quickstart series really blows them away. 

And Bert Monroy's books are all really, really good. He also does a videocast, Pixel Perfect, that I watch religiously. If you can get to any of his seminars, they're worth every penny!

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## palehorse

I haven't had a chance to stop in this week, but FCAP #4 is up, and I've posted part 2 of my Photoshop masks tutorial at my site. This one is on vector masks.

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## RobA

> He also does a videocast, Pixel Perfect, that I watch religiously.


I discovered this videocast when I installed the democracy video player.  It was one of the recommended channels...

They are excellent references for photoshop, and I usually find many of the techniques applicable to GIMP as well.

-Rob A>

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## palehorse

[quote="RobA"]


> I discovered this videocast when I installed the democracy video player.  It was one of the recommended channels...
> 
> They are excellent references for photoshop, and I usually find many of the techniques applicable to GIMP as well.
> 
> -Rob A>


Back in the good ol' days of TechTV, he used to appear weekly (or pretty close to it) on The Screen Savers. What's really cool about Pixel Perfect is that he's gone over some of those same old tutorials, but without the TV time limits, so he can really go into more detail. 

If you like Pixel Perfect, you'll enjoy his books, too. They're written in the same conversational style, like he's sitting there with you showing you how he's doing it.

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## pyrandon

Our friend Butch has not been posting recently here at the Guild, I assume due to (as he explained on the EN World boards) being hard at work at finishing his book, Fantasy Cartography for Photoshop.  

I do want to do a reminder point over to his website, though, since he has still been regularly posting video tutorials on his overland map.  Check 'em out!

http://www.zombienirvana.com/

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## Bishop Odo

Im new here and Im just getting oriented, but I cant wait to buy this book.  The pod cast are great. This is a great board and I cant wait till I can participate more productively and not just lurk in the shadows.

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## palehorse

> Our friend Butch has not been posting recently here at the Guild, I assume due to (as he explained on the EN World boards) being hard at work at finishing his book, Fantasy Cartography for Photoshop.  
> 
> I do want to do a reminder point over to his website, though, since he has still been regularly posting video tutorials on his overland map.  Check 'em out!
> 
> http://www.zombienirvana.com/


I haven't been posting much anywhere lately! Between the book, the podcast, a lengthy map commission, and most importantly trying to spend as much quality time with my son as possible before he heads off to kindergarten in about a week and a half, I've been pretty swamped. 

I'm going to record the next podcast tomorrow, finishing up the map I've been working on since the first episode. After that, I'm taking a 2 week break to clear some things off my plate before starting the next round of podcasts. (Don't be surprised if the 12 weeks on / 2 weeks off thing becomes a regular occurence.) 

When my son starts school, weekends will officially become family time, so I'll be recording the podcasts on Mondays starting with episode #13, making them available Monday nights. 

I'll try to get back here more often once things quiet down a bit!

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## RPMiller

I would just like to chime in and say that I have enjoyed your podcasts and found them to be very informative and I look forward to them each week, but I can relate to the family time needs. So please keep the family at the top of the priority list. They are far more important to you than us after all.

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## pyrandon

I am "bumping" this thread as a reminder.  Although it's been awhile since Butch has been in the Guild, his website (www.zombienirvana.com) is more chocked-full than ever with nice  Photoshop mapping tutorials on video.  As of my typing, he's up to 16 episodes.

These really should be a "must" for any new PS cartographer (Well, actually for any PS cartographer at all!  Butch really is a very clever, knowledgable PS user!)

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## RPMiller

It would be worth mentioning also that you can subscribe to his podcasts via YouTube so that you are emailed when new ones go up. That is how I've been keeping up on them at least.

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## Paul

You can also sign up for them on iTunes, and they'll be pushed to your player when released.

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## damonjynx

Hi. I know this is waaaaay late. But I have only recently discovered a) this great web-site & b) Butch's excellent video tuts. When I try to connect to zombienirvana.com the page has disappeared. Can anyone enlighten me regarding this? I pray nothing untoward has occurred. Also, does anyone know if Butch finished the book and if so, from where it can be purchased either in PDF or DTV (dead-tree version)?

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## damonjynx

Sorry to be a pain, but can anyone answer the above questions.

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## RobA

I never saw the book, the videos on youtube are all there are, AFAIK.

The only one who would know is Butch Curry, himself.

-Rob A>

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