How I make Maps out of Marble - OSP Behind The Scenes

Self care is taking a break from history videos to do a neat little behind-the-scenes video about mapmaking. I get to talk about a cool thing, you get to see the process in action, I get to finish a video in about a tenth of the usual time it would take, we all have fun.
Regular content resumes next Friday.
SOURCES & Further Reading: the earth lol
Our content is intended for teenage audiences and up.
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[@bluestrawberry8103]

The maps feel so natural that I never actually noticed mountains until you showed the process of making them, they just felt as an authentic part of the maps

[@SolstaceWinters]

I genuinely never noticed the marble texture, both land or sea, or that swimming pool texture on the oceans. Just felt right.

[@LuxurioMusic]

@@SolstaceWinters I've never noticed the marble texture either!

[@sabiangriffin3713]

I noticed the mountains, but not the marble

[@andrewchelton6710]

Exactly. Also I don’t like the pure white marble.

[@byrdsfly]

I'd never noticed the swimming pool texture, but once he pointed out the tiles I can't not see them, lol.

[@EmperorTigerstar]

3:20 “THERE I AM, GARY! THERE I AM!”

[@timeenbyvictorious]

lmao

[@DarkQueenHelba]

You made it!

[@wackypacky6917]

Why am I not surprised that you two are somehow connected

[@ultrio325]

Great job, Kaiser Tiger

[@VietnameseBoii]

@@ultrio325 *Tsar Tiger

[@blauesserpiroyal2887]

So the important things are: -marble -the ocean is a swimming pool -Marble -aestetic is more important then anything -MARBLE

[@luigiboi4244]

*M A R B L E*

[@shanedoesyoutube8001]

Not just a swimming pool, but also salty af

[@anonymousfellow8879]

Marble. A worthy opponent to *d o m e* -also all of greece + rome. Ohmygawd I cracked the Blue Code-

[@therilyncobrin2372]

I like the part where he says marble

[@josephteller9715]

And of course the software used.

[@Stoneworks]

Hey I remember emailing you about this! You provided such a thorough answer that my maps got better 10 fold!! Thank you OSP you are truly saints

[@ovecka17]

oh hi stoneworks

[@theslimyone]

Wasn't expecting to see you here, small world lol

[@ovrair6340]

Stoneworks watches osp? Then again, who dosent

[@LegendStormcrow]

Wholesome AF

[@antonijasrsen6231]

Dont wanna bother, just here to say, great content on both channels

[@123roland6]

Wonderdraft: "What is my purpose?" Blue: "You add mountains." Wonderdraft:"Oh, my god."

[@turtlerollover9382]

Wonderdraft and all of it's in depth and well made features: My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

[@Corbomite_Meatballs]

@@turtlerollover9382 Here, let me cheer you up with some MARBLE.

[@metalismedicine5499]

TurtleRollover M A R B L E

[@Erik-pu4mj]

This reference made my morning. Thanks.

[@LordRavensong]

The addition of a comma here takes it from horror to awe and I love it

[@CLNCJD94]

Honestly, I was taken so off guard by “adding a swimming pool” and is probably the most OSP thing I’ve ever seen when it comes to well anything.

[@jasonreed7522]

Now i need to watch his most recent video with a map and look at the ocean texture. I never noticed the marble or swimming pool in the maps, just that they have a very pleasant aesthetic.

[@gamingfero]

​​@@jasonreed7522 what kind video i don't know how to make marble please help

[@gamingfero]

What kind of photoshop does he use

[@jonasdatlas4668]

Heh, it’s been kinda fun watching your art style evolve through the last few years. I honestly quite like what you’ve ended up with now.

[@AxxLAfriku]

OH NOOOOOO!!! Most people agree that my vids are the worst on KZbin. I agree to disagree. Please agree to disagree with the haters, dear jonas

[@jonasdatlas4668]

@@AxxLAfriku Go away spambot

[@reillycurran8508]

You know the funny thing is I'm guilty of an even worse cheat than the swimming pool trick. I layer paper textures over the map to make it look like an old whethered atlas spread map, like literally just rip stock pictures of paper off the internet, make them JUUUUUST opaque enough to be visible when on top of the map drawing, and then just stretch and pull them to whatever dimensions the map is. Without fail, makes the drawing look like a printout from an old textbook.

[@daedalus2726]

Hahaha I do the exact same thing, glad to know I'm not alone

[@alexanderp.7250]

Can you link an example?

[@JenDeyan]

@@alexanderp.7250 Seconded. Wanna see what this looks like.

[@devinrichards4559]

Oh now that's awesome.

[@venombug7476]

@@JenDeyan We about to encourage this dude to become a cartography youtube lol

[@bean2562]

I have always wondered how it was done, always cool to see a bit of behind the scenes content.

[@patmianwinston]

Red struggling with tears in her eyes to make a basic map while she looks over to Blue as he flawlessly draws a perfect recreation of the entirety of the world.

[@anthonymignogna4703]

It had never once occurred to me that the map was marble, that’s how you do aesthetic without it being too obnoxious

[@StoryTeller796]

Blue: says he isn't a good artist Also Blue: actually uses his mouse to make something Me: You are one! I get the fact that Red is better at making stuff from scratch, though your maps are great!

[@PatrickCervantez]

Cartography is an often underappreciated art form.

[@kileyanderson9712]

The man has an aesthetic and he is sticking to it!! That’s the video bay-bee!

[@punishedbread4779]

Hey Blue, just a heads up from someone who makes dnd maps in photoshop: You can use the stamp tool to put down designs like mountains, trees, etc I'm not sure why people don't talk about it more but it's a massive time saver.

[@teddybearbones]

you could also make a mountain brush in photoshop. Then you can change the brush settings and get ~slightly different~ mountains in the range

[@GuiSmith]

@Electroboss The Stamp tool isn't a brush tool, it's more like a sticker. You can make them use different textures and variants if you set it up.

[@86fifty]

YES I was wondering about this, when he said he BOUGHT a whole program just to add them! Lots of ways to make photoshop your bish, and the more we know, the more we can do! :3

[@VoidLantadd]

@@86fifty I'm guessing he bought wonderdraft to make his D&D maps, and then thought "Hey I could use this for mountains on YT videos!"

[@atabbeysside1192]

Ah yes~ the age old map making techniques of tracing someone else's map that was traced from another map that was traced from another map that... is hopefully accurate. :'3

[@GuiSmith]

And hopefully scaled and angled right... and using the same original projection the whole way around... Yikes, maps are tricky.

[@skazwolfman8622]

Cartelephone!

[@kadebrockhausen]

Yay Satellites

[@saltenzy449]

I love that you took the time to mention removing the Suez canal for the historical authenticity but you left Lake Nasser which only came into existence with the Aswan Dam built in the 1960s

[@slwrabbits]

oops?

[@farmjunk]

I love that this is just applying several simple solutions in many layers to create the final product. I'm pretty sure that's how art works.

[@somewhereelse1235]

As an artist, let me tell you Copy paste transform. For a person I can do eyes, arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers, toes. Depending on the background I can do it for wood paneling, or for grass, clouds, leaves, branches...really anything that I can make a simple patterns for and copy over several times with slight alterations.

[@wanderingrandomer]

Pretty much, yeah

[@akhragee]

3:08 HOLY SHIT DUDE you have NO IDEA how eerie it was to see that GeaCron screen. I used *that exact location and time* as the basis for a bronze age D&D campaign! ...okay technically I used -1525 (Egypt gets longer) and included more of Asia (Indus Valley, Shang dynasty) but like. I've stared at basically that exact map for I don't even know how many hours of my life!

[@azreeFR]

Blue's maps area marble-ous. Very interesting to see the process of his map making.

[@skykidnadir]

Ok, but honestly? I'd watch a whole series about OSP's Behind the Scenes process. This was really fun to watch!

[@BladeLigerV]

As someone who has a “Geographical Information Systems” degree and has a good appreciation for good cartography, I love this video.

[@PakBallandSami]

i really like see Behind The Scenes types of video it is all ways interesting to see how youtubers make there videos and how much time it take and you put a lot of effect in them so i am really interested in this keep miking your videos blue 💖

[@raininess]

"Wait, it's all pools and marbles?" "Always has been." Really interesting. It's always nice to see the work that goes into these kinds of things. 🙂

[@TheFlamingGamerYT]

Honestly, the way you make maps for your videos is pretty nice, the texture itself I’d really neat. No matter who it is, the art style you all have is incredible to look at, so props to everyone in the OSP team

[@tomix7866]

I never realized, that you are using a marble texture.

[@nothanks1138]

I know right, and now we'll never be able to unsee it :o

[@offthegrid4821]

@@nothanks1138 I know right

[@nacaicon1593]

I remember reading in comments that his maps were marble but I always thought it was an inside joke from an older video I hadn't seen XD

[@caderschatzman1708]

Oh, amazing! A video about maps! This is extremely useful for an amateur cartographer such as myself! Thank you so much!

[@Briskeeeen]

Huh, so I'm not the only one who makes maps by playing with textures and layer effects. I just skipped the middle man with wonder draft and just got the mountain brushes for Photoshop itself. That underwater texturing though, freaking brilliant and I'm definitely stealing that for my future maps.

[@legateelizabeth]

Wow, Blue really is the kind of person to look at those ‘don’t turn me into an oversimplified logo!’ Videos and go “but the logo looks so much better now”, based on those game covers.

[@ziizification]

From the bottom of my nerdy heart, thank you for introducing me to WonderDraft holy SHIT I am going to make so many fantasy maps for my gaming now.

[@jackielinde7568]

Thank you for the map software suggestion. Yes, I'm making fiddly fantasy map, but I'm GLAD you like marble. My Venice stand-in isn't some constantly sinking blocks of stone on some rotten sandbars in a swamp... She's a pristine city of canals carved out of the top of a huge marble cliff with waterfalls and locks used to haul boats and skiffs up and down the cliffside.

[@user-ui3uy1fk6z]

as someone who makes maps in his spare time as well, I can say that they always look fantastic. Also now I can not unsee the pool layer on the maps in your guys videos so thank you for that

[@photographicsynthesis6781]

This April fools I think it’s be funny to see a map where he just places a mountain range in the Aegean Sea

[@oliviaogden1101]

Has Blue made a map of Atlantis yet? If not, he should make a map of Atlantis. Maybe for 2023?

[@bordenfleetwood5773]

Let's be real. When it comes to ancient borders, the actual locations of boundaries and border lines really depended on which cartographer you were asking, which king they worked for, and what part of the year it was when they actually published it. No one really respected borders *at* the border, disputes were frequent and difficult to resolve, and everyone who commissioned a map of the area wanted to make *their* territory look just the tiniest bit better than it actually was. So unless it's a river or ocean coast, and some of the more immutable terrain features, a "best effort" approach will usually suffice. Especially when dealing with temporal spans of more than a decade or so.

[@PuffaJacket]

Maps :D I did always wonder how you made them :D

[@davididiart5934]

As someone who makes tons of maps for D&D, I loved seeing this.

[@PregnantOrc]

Now we all just wait until VR 3d is the standard way of watching youtube so Blue can add the final step: Projecting it all on a dome

[@jonathanfaber3291]

Yknow the marble is the best part of the process. I never really noticed that there actually is a Marble texture until I was told it existed. I think design elements you only notice when they aren’t there are super cool.

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

Hey, red! Trope talk suggestion for you; "The noodle incident" or "Noodle incidents" are a literary tool that gives more literary weight to an event or mcguffin than a description would, mostly by context and the reader's imagination. Named because of a short series of Calvin and Hobbes comics wherein everyone at school gives the eternally frustrated 6-year-old grief about something he did in the past that is now known only as "The noodle incident." It is hinted at vaguely many times, but the writer ultimately leaves it up to your imagination; which is a strength because whatever the audience dreams up will be way more literarily impactful (in this case funny) than anything he could write down. And that's not even the only time that comic uses a noodle incident, see, there's this kids book calvin always wants read called "Hampster Hewwy and the Gooey Kablooey" and Now I'm ranting. Another instance this trope is used is in an S.C.P. story wherein a certain slime MUST NEVER come into contact with a human corpse. Why? That's classified. A foundation researcher files the suggestion to test the slime on a human corpse because it's never listed what happens, only that it is a V E R Y bad idea, and the researcher is curious. He gets demoted and heavily scolded by an O-5, who states "Just don't." A "Noodle Incident" is a rare trope that involves telling the audience that something exists or happened, but not telling them what it was, in order to give the plot point more narrative weight than a description would give it, partly because of the imaginations of the audience. It is a great trope that I think you should cover.

[@michaelnelson2976]

Absolutely and definitely enjoyed this behind the scenes! It's really great to see and to understand what happens to make this all happen. I never knew it was Blue making the maps lol figured it was Indigo

[@byrdsfly]

This was a marbleous look into your work process, love it!

[@kidlewinter5027]

I love Blue’s maps and it’s great to know how he does them.

[@femboy__bunny]

!!!!!!! Oh I love this Blue! Thank you so much 💕🥰 for a while I thought y’all had an editor that did this but I guessed wrong lol

[@tom-esvar]

Im so glad you posted a video version of this!!! I remember I asked one of the frist questions on the podcast and it was exactly this. Thank you blue!

[@hamilpatel4025]

great behind the scene vid. Honestly really fun. More of this when you want a bit of a break is all good

[@RThyrring]

Nice to see! I’ve been using Wonderdraft myself for some time to make the maps (world map, continent maps, nation and terrain maps, and city and town maps) for my homebrew D&D campaign setting 😁 super easy and fun to use!

[@carlinc.christensen3478]

Loved this great video breakdown of your map making process!! It's awesome how both you and Red are artists in your own right!! Excited to see your maps in the future!! Thanks for sharing!!

[@edim108]

These maps are fantastic! They would be amazing in school textbooks for history bc they're very clear and eye catching.

[@tinahawley320]

This is so interesting! I'd love to see more behind the scenes whenever y'all want a break from your normal content.

[@abthedragon4921]

Fascinating, always cool to see a little behind the scene with channels like this.

[@tudoraragornofgreyscot8482]

I remember when I shipped Blue and Red, now I’ve since learned that they are both asexual and just friends. A power duo.

[@lilysong1321]

Blue is actually married to Cyan. But Red and Blue are the best friend energy I hope to one day achieve.

[@akhragee]

Also I seem to recall Red prefers girls?

[@EspeonMistress00]

@@lilysong1321 Both blue and Cyan are asexuals but yeah they are married. And yes Red BFF energy. She bought custom ace rings for both of them. (which is very cute if you ask me)

[@anicrue]

Jessie and James... Wait, both pairs have cats... Meowth = Cleo?

[@AegixDrakan]

Yup, real power duo pals. :P For some reason, when I first started following the channel, I thought they were siblings just based on the way they interacted with each other. XD

[@TORchic1]

Very insightful video, Blue. I always did like your maps. They're just so cool to look at. And I also like how you show different time periods through that region's history.

[@Oculunus]

The mountains may seem like a useless decorative element, but they just add so much depth to those maps.

[@teddybearbones]

Hey! There are layer styles you can use in Photoshop that saves a step on adding the shadow outline. It's the FX dropdown button at the bottom of the layers tab. Idk, thought it might save you some time

[@MenardiChan]

This was definitely very interesting! I *might* steal one or another trick from this to make my own maps for my pnp sessions. They look kinda .. bland most of the time, but with this as kind of a guideline they could look a lot better. Thanks, Blue :)

[@YoukaiSlayer12]

That was cool to discover. Thanks for sharing your process.

[@polares8187]

Thank you for this. Always nice to see the behind the scenes

[@theanimeunderworld8338]

I'm majoring in cartography so this helps

[@smileyface81mc77]

A behind the scenes video??? Awesome!!

[@johnnemblem]

Ooh I love behind the scenes stuff!!! This vid is great! Also glad you guys are doing easier vids for the beginning of the year so you guys can get a break

[@dionadair8195]

This was incredibly satisfying to watch, thank you.

[@nicolaspeters5980]

I really like your fantasy maps "Tamhalind" or "Aisle Isles" 10/10 D&D map

[@ShaggyDemiurge]

Fort Gayle

[@connor3250]

What about the other isle

[@katmhcharis1236]

Can’t wait to learn how to Play God *TM* from Blue and make some sick DND maps.

[@rorrodeh]

"nothing is set in stone" Blue: have you seen my maps?! THEY'RE MARBLE!

[@benjaminsuess447]

Super fun video, always great to get a peak at the process that goes into making the videos.

[@bradfordmax8372]

FINISH LES MIS SUMMARIZED COWARD!!!

[@sanatonchandradey8646]

I thought you were going to actually carve a map from marble😅😂😂

[@eduardowalsh9418]

i ADORE your maps, i really love them and i always keep an eye here to see if you uploaded a new one

[@Rutgerman95]

And everytime The Netherlands are on screen it's a 50-50chance between bits of Flevoland existing pre 1900s or just the entire bay being a solid landmass

[@Nasser851000]

is Red the 1 view?

[@vitraartist2622]

It's Cyan

[@simeonwashington9995]

Maaan! This is so cool! Really love map-making and it was really cool to get to see your process for making the maps in your videos! Can't wait to see what map you'll come up with next!

[@gattiam7006]

Thank you so much for putting in all this effort, it really does make your videos so much more aesthetic! Aside from that it honestly helps so much with my little squirrel 'visual learner' brain 💝

[@jeremy1860]

Someone else said this on one of your older videos, but I love how you made maps from nation and history-specific materials, like papyrus for Egypt 😊

[@demonicbunny3po]

I legit never thought to question the maps because they were so well done that I thought you had pulled professionally made maps from some source. I believe this was a compliment.

[@allanwidner9276]

Yay! I have been so very much curious about how the maps were made. I've been drawing, and off and on collecting, maps for as long as I can remember, and OSP maps are seriously nice. (I actually lost my biggest map collection to water damage when I was a teenager - I had nautical and aeronautical charts, USGS section maps, over a hundred NatGeo maps, road maps of half the states in the US and Canada, a couple Mexican road maps - big collection. I miss it.)

[@jessicamaymatheson]

Yes, def loving these low-key and insightful videos for your January semi-sabbatical/ self-care month

[@ciaranunderwood6963]

Was literally making a dnd map in worldographer when I saw the notification for this. Blue always loved your maps and thank you for making this.

[@Ryan-ij3ge]

Y’all are, no exaggeration, my favorite channel on KZbin

[@jwatrous4473]

Love the behind the scenes stuff! You guys are awesome keep it up! 💜

[@FatemaLiya]

Behind the scenes to how greatness is made. Bravo!

[@hellocentral5551]

Blue taking precious time out of his day to talk to us about Map-Design, Marble, the importance of finding quality sources, Marble, his love for Marble, and MARBLE!

[@Zeoxis6]

Only now do I realize just how aesthetically pleasing your maps are. The effort behind them is noted and much appreciated, good sir!

[@pathfindersavant3988]

Blue: "Plus its ~MARBLE~" Renaissance architects: "Write that down. Write that down!"

[@Zeke1460]

I’m saving this video. This is gonna be my guide to any mapmaking I use in the future.

[@SampaiNoticesYou]

Wow! I had always wondered about the process! Thank you for the knowledge!

[@leumasecir9369]

I've always been very impressed with you cuneiform land texturing you use on your ancient mesopotamia stuff

[@katetanner28]

So much more thought goes into this than I realised! No wonder it looks so impressive!

[@CartoonHistory]

Much much needed! Thanks for this!

[@daquanrushing5584]

Honestly, I always put you videos on in the background as I do something else, so I never really paid attention to the maps. But now that I know how they're made, I can really appreciate how great they actually look

[@Guydude777]

This was a marbelous video Blue! I'm sure it will aid me in future mapmaking endeavors. Keep up the great work.

[@cshendge4663]

I love maps and have always admired this channel's map making. Blue you have developed a great talent! That is in addition to your already literary and historical talent

[@Its.a_me_]

The video I've been waiting for months

[@TheMapRoom]

This is awesome, thank you so much for sharing how you do this!

[@wickerbasket2]

After seeing you put a pool as your water design, I cant stop seeing it. Every time I go back and rewatch your videos, all I see is the pool tiles

[@scumbaggaming9418]

Whenever Blue sees any architecture that's marble, he does the red glowing eyes thing.

[@murri7329]

I've used Wonderdraft enough to the point where, when I saw the Mountains I went "Oh, those are the wonderdraft mountains" and sure enough.

[@reigningmonarch]

I love this! Please do some more behind the scenes!

[@nomadrl91x]

highly enjoyable. I liken videos like this as the artistic version of a gear-head peeking under the hood of a car. it's insightful while still entertaining ^_^ love all the work you guys do!

[@KittyCatThang]

Aw, I was really hoping for a "Let's do some cartography" lol. This is really fascinating!

[@banisherblade]

Wow the amount of work that goes into all of those maps. Also that detail with the Suez Canal, wow.

[@PakBallandSami]

i really like your videos blue it like say this in every video at this point but is still true