[Michael Dugger]

I turn to the esteemed treehouse in search of an answer....

Does anyone have a clue what methods these illustrators utilize to create the excellent golf hole drawings which graze the more upper scale yardage books?

This type of stuff.......

Thanks in advance!!!








 

[Peter Pallotta]

Michael

did you see Michael Moore's post on the yardage guide he did for Eastward Ho!? It's great work. The thread is probably a few pages back by now, maybe page 3 or 4.

Peter  

[Michael Dugger]

no but i will now

[Yannick Pilon]

Micheal,

The best way is to get an as-built plan from a contractor.  Hopefully, an as-built plan that was made using a GPS to survey everything.  Other means include Google or any other aerial picture providers, with a range finder and a helper on site to actually measure distances.

Once you have this in an autoCAD format, tranfering it to photoshop is fairly simple.  When you can use photoshop with a plan that was made by GPS, you only need to know a few features fairly well to understand the concept of layers and layer effects to create the shading that makes the course features stand out.  I suppose many other rendering / imaging softwares can also be used.

Let me know if you want to know more about this.

I guess the toughest thing about these nice images are the 3D features like trees, bridges & all....  But once you create yourself a nice library of trees and features, it's just a cut & paste operation.

Hope this helps.

YP

[Michael Dugger]

Yannick,

That is what I am looking for, thanks.  I understand exactly what you are talking about in regards to the trees, bridges...etc.

But it is the shading that makes the image pop.  Sounds like I need topographical information, correct?  Import the data somehow to get the undulations correct?

I would like to talk about this more...

[John Foley]

Micheal,

I think what you see it a custom front end on top of an AutoCAD system. Illustrator & Photoshop are very powerful programs, but I think to get the 3D effect you show you 've got to go to CAD software.

You should check out Mike Nuzzo's web site and his articles in Neal Crafter's journal, some great details in there.

[Forrest Richardson]

Best Approach, who we have worked with on several occasions, usually commissions an aerial, or multiple aerials. Their preferred aerial format is a perspective taken of each hole, since this is how most clients prefer the book to layout (in perspective view.)

With this, they bring the images into Adobe PhotoShop and warp them — skew them — to the angle of the view. This is typically above the tee with the hole outbound, away in perspective. They also use some other programs to compile source drawings (files) when they get topo and plans.

They then dig into an amazing library of trees, cactus, dunes, weeds, tall grass, bunker sand texture, etc., to add detail along the edges, in the fairway, etc. While they can use topographical mapping — and do — much of the shadow and contour is added by notes taken from a site visit. In the case of new courses, they use our plans or as-built surveys for topo.

All of the textures you see are also in libraries...fairway stripes, green mowing patterns, bunker sand, cart path colors — even irrigation boxes.

Each hole is illustrated this way and a master set is created that is proofed by the client.

[Mike Nuzzo]

Yannick,

That is what I am looking for, thanks.  I understand exactly what you are talking about in regards to the trees, bridges...etc.

But it is the shading that makes the image pop.  Sounds like I need topographical information, correct?  Import the data somehow to get the undulations correct?

I would like to talk about this more...

The shading is done artistically.
It is not accurate to the existing topography - usually and sometimes poorly.

Hate to burst your bubble.  

That is why I prefer the artistic hand drawn version and mr. moore's.

Cheers

[Ryan Farrow]

Does anyone know what needs to be done to get a hold of some of these textures???

[Mike Nuzzo]

Does anyone know what needs to be done to get a hold of some of these textures???

Purchase one of the companies that makes them.

[Yannick Pilon]

Micheal,

Yes, it is the shading that makes everything pop out.  But you don't necessarily need the topo information to make it happen.  A topo survey of an as-built is great, but it is rare a course owner will get that done, simply because it is expensive.  I would love to do a yardage guide based on a detailed as-built contour plan....  It would be spectacular, but I doubt a lot of people would be able to understand it properly....

John,

You don't necessarily need CAD software, although it helps a lot.  Shading can be added artistically by hand, based on a good review of the site.  A good visual memory will go a long way to acheive this.

Ryan,

Textures can be created fairly easily, using photoshop.  A technique I have tried is to take a good aerial on google earth or any other source, zoom in really close on a good texture you like (like trees, water, shrubs, gorse, etc...) and save the picture.  Then, using the clone tool in photoshop, you can replicate that texture over a huge surface.  Then add a touch of color, blend the two layers and "voilà", as we say in french, you got a texture! (I just hope this technique is actually legal!)

It takes a lot of work to create yourself a good library of textures, but it is worth it.  You can also buy some over the internet.  Just do a search for textures, and you will find tons....

As for 3D images of trees and other objects, that, I beleive, takes a lot more work....

YP

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