Coolest. Gaming Set-up. Evar.

[Blakey]

Cheers for the quick reply, SW!

The reason I see a Wifi projector as being a good option is because I use a Tablet PC to DM. This is very handy to just hold at the table and if necessary I can get up and move around the table with it in my hand. When I want to I just put it down by the side of my chair. At the end of the day the tablet is very portable - this is one of its super bonus points as a DM. But likewise it doesn't sit stationary on the table like a desktop or laptop would. So I am figuring that physicall connecting a projector to my tablet and having a wire running up to the ceiling to the projector cage would be quite annoying, and would get in the way alot. Hence the Wifi option being very tempting.

I didn't realise you felt the quality of the connection would make this unlikely to work.

To be honest though, $2000 is way more than I can justify for a projector which will only be used for D&D anyway.

Thanks for the continued help!
Blakey

 

[Steel_Wind]

Cheers for the quick reply, SW!

The reason I see a Wifi projector as being a good option is because I use a Tablet PC to DM.

I didn't realise you felt the quality of the connection would make this unlikely to work.

Well - the question is - work for what?

If your plan is to have it show a still image of a map - I have no doubt it will work (and work well). Fill yer boots.

If your plan is to stream what amounts to a live video feed at 1024x768 resolution in 24 or 32 bit colour and expect there to be no upsetting delay or artifacts in the projector display of this data...I'm not so sure that's a realistic expectation at all.

Remember - this wireless stuff is designed by BenQs engineers for the display of powerpoint presentations and jpgs for the most part intended for business.

To BenQs engineeers, it's all about displaying graphs and pie charts and other slides via Powerpoint.

They did not intend for the wireless projector to display dynamic images that show animations or that real-time zoom would be a critical or intended use for the audience.

So - rest assured that at some point - your data stream WILL get much too large for the 802.1g to handle.

Where is that point in practical terms? I simply have not used a wireless G projector, so I don't know what it's capable of in practical usage. It might be great - and then again - it might suck.

My math tells me "hmmm - Toolset? Maybe not. Better try this first".

 

[Blakey]

Would you expect to be displaying streaming video and the like onto the tabletop during a D&D session? (remembering that I only want a projector for D&D, not for use as a telly).

Seems that Wifi really does solve my issue of not having my tablet pc attached to the ceiling via a wire, but at the same time I'd be talking about approx £1000 for a bottom of the range Wifi unit compared to about £500 for a low range USB unit. £500 for the ability to not use a wire seems a tad excessive.

Blakey

 

[Nebulous]

Yes, this is a great setup. I've seen the sites before and i'm suitably impressed, although i unfortunately don't game enough to make it a worthwhile investment.

HOWEVER, i did do some experimenting once in Photoshop and found that premade .jpg maps can be sized to 1" scale and probably projected just like NWN tables. For those that have a little skill in Photoshop. WoTC and other sites have hundreds of free, full color maps to download, and these could be projected easily onto a board. Of course, no exploding fireball animation, unless you're also good with Flash...

You'd need a pretty hi-res file though to start with.

EDIT: the map attached here is a small example. The ones that look REALLY good are atleast 3 MB.

 

[Aramis Simara]

Quick question,

Are there addition items that can be downloaded for the NW toolset?

 

[Steel_Wind]

Quick question,

Are there addition items that can be downloaded for the NW toolset?

Quick answer: Yes. 100s and 100s of gigabytes of add-ons. The ones you care about for PnP uses are tilesets and placeables for the most part.

http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=hakpaks.List

 

[DethStruck]

For anyone interested I saw what seems like a good deal on a projector.

http://www.stealdeals.net/default.asp

They update the site all the time so it will move down the list. It is a NEC® VT47 LCD Multimedia Projector.

http://www.officedepot.com/textSearch.do?uniqueSearchFlag=true&Ntt=955664&x=39&y=7

 

[Shades of Green]

::drools in envy::

 

[pntbllr]

2) I use my laptop as a DM screen. I use it in game to view the adventure, the SRD, to keep notes, make rolls and all. I couldn't use to project maps.

Your laptop isn't capable of multitasking?

 

[Blakey]

Okay, I got the go ahead from the GF for buying a projector! Wahoo! I am pretty much convinced that the BenQ PB6210 is the one for me. Its expensive over here, but what the hell, eh? So, my next issue becomes a practical one. How am I to mount it?

The GF doesn't want anything which is screwed/bolted into the ceiling (our Games Room also doubles as a spare bedroom at times although it's mostly a Games Room). She's fine with stuff screwed/bolted into the walls though.

We play on a dining room table, with a standard overhead lamp situated right in the middle of the room - which is a bit of a pain but I can't take it out.

So, in a perfect world I think my solution would be to buy a wall mounted boom arm which would hold the projector. My idea would be to screw this thing into the wall, at ceiling height. It would have a swivel arm which would allow the boom arm to swing out from the wall over the table. It would also have to be telescopic probably so as to allow adjustments according to where the table was. On the end of this boom arm would be some sort of clamp which could hold the projector totally still - and probably the projector would need to be at a slight angle as the lamp fitting is right in the middle of the room, over the table - so the projector would need to sit as close to the central light as possible, and angle down onto the table. We do have plenty of side lighting so this central light would not have to be on - so don't worry about heat build up there.

Does anyone know if such a boom arm exists? I know you can get photo lighting arms which attach to vertical poles which are supported by tripods but that would mean a big piece of kit which people would have to move around and which would have to fit in my not too massive room. I'd much rather have a wall mounted boom arm which was all above head height and effectively out the way.

Any suggestions?


Also, whilst I'm here, a few people have talked about software. I have a copy of NBOS' Fractal Mapper 7.0 and I can't recommend it enough. It has inbuilt layers including a GM's Layer and has a button to pop up a players map on an extended monitor (e.g. a projector) which has the whole map displayed on it appart from those bits on the GMs secret layer. So simply build your maps with everything on the GMs layer and then click and change layer to General each room and corridor as the PCs arrive at them. Very easy and the software also allows you to build superb maps in general too!

Cheers
Blakey