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<blockquote data-quote="Blue Max Studios" data-source="post: 5455300" data-attributes="member: 100293">When I first started researching how to make professional looking battle maps on the Ye Olde Internet, I came across <a href="http://www.geeksix.com/2009/04/tutorial-make-your-own-rpg-maps-in-photoshop-fast/" target="_blank">this post </a> on the Geek Six website.&nbsp; Now I didn't really find the techniques&nbsp; mentioned all that useful for the kind of look I was going for (don't&nbsp; get me wrong, the maps shown on the site looked great) I was intrigued&nbsp; by one thing:&nbsp; The idea of using a projector to put the battle map up on&nbsp; screen.&nbsp; Minis were simply Photoshop layers that could be moved.&nbsp;&nbsp; Sections of the map could be blacked out at will.&nbsp; Explosions, puddles&nbsp; and other effects could be added easily and stay where they're put - and&nbsp; thanks to the opacity slider, they could even be transparent so the map&nbsp; underneath isn't obscured.&nbsp; It sounded good to me.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; The other day, as I was planning out March's deck plans, It&nbsp; occurred to me that using a projector and Photoshop to display Battle&nbsp; Maps may have another potential benefit.&nbsp; Scott McCloud, who wrote&nbsp; perhaps the definitive books on Comics as an art form, suggested the&nbsp; potential of using computer displays for that medium is like having an&nbsp; &quot;infinite canvas&quot; which needs no page breaks to interrupt the flow of&nbsp; the story.&nbsp; This got me thinking...if one used a projector and Photoshop&nbsp; to display a battle map, theoretically that battle map could be as&nbsp; large as you wanted it.&nbsp; You could map a capital ship in one-inch scale&nbsp; and be able to display it without page breaks.&nbsp; Heck, It didn't even&nbsp; have to be one-inch scale, because the resolution on the Photoshop&nbsp; coupled with the magnification of the projector will allow the actual&nbsp; map document to be smaller. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Theoretically, you could map a Star Destroyer.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; What I would like to know, my dear RocketFans, is whether or not&nbsp; any of you have used a computer and projector for your battle maps&nbsp; before, and if so, how did it work out?&nbsp; Did you enjoy it, or was it&nbsp; more trouble than it's worth.&nbsp; Fresh cookies for any comments!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Blue Max Studios, post: 5455300, member: 100293"] When I first started researching how to make professional looking battle maps on the Ye Olde Internet, I came across [URL="http://www.geeksix.com/2009/04/tutorial-make-your-own-rpg-maps-in-photoshop-fast/"]this post [/URL] on the Geek Six website. Now I didn't really find the techniques mentioned all that useful for the kind of look I was going for (don't get me wrong, the maps shown on the site looked great) I was intrigued by one thing: The idea of using a projector to put the battle map up on screen. Minis were simply Photoshop layers that could be moved. Sections of the map could be blacked out at will. Explosions, puddles and other effects could be added easily and stay where they're put - and thanks to the opacity slider, they could even be transparent so the map underneath isn't obscured. It sounded good to me. The other day, as I was planning out March's deck plans, It occurred to me that using a projector and Photoshop to display Battle Maps may have another potential benefit. Scott McCloud, who wrote perhaps the definitive books on Comics as an art form, suggested the potential of using computer displays for that medium is like having an "infinite canvas" which needs no page breaks to interrupt the flow of the story. This got me thinking...if one used a projector and Photoshop to display a battle map, theoretically that battle map could be as large as you wanted it. You could map a capital ship in one-inch scale and be able to display it without page breaks. Heck, It didn't even have to be one-inch scale, because the resolution on the Photoshop coupled with the magnification of the projector will allow the actual map document to be smaller. Theoretically, you could map a Star Destroyer. What I would like to know, my dear RocketFans, is whether or not any of you have used a computer and projector for your battle maps before, and if so, how did it work out? Did you enjoy it, or was it more trouble than it's worth. Fresh cookies for any comments! [/QUOTE]

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