Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="jodyjohnson" data-source="post: 2108236" data-attributes="member: 5590">First session with the projector set-up was Friday night.The Set-up:  Permanent 4' x 8' gaming table with 8" deep shelf underneath -- wired for power and network connections.  4 players with laptops (off the table on TV trays) and DM running from a desktop on an end table.  nVidia FX5200 card installed for desktop spanning.The Projector:  Hitachi CP-S225 WAT projector resting flat on a shelf permanently attached above the table.  About 9" away is a 1' square mirror attached to a board mounted from the ceiling.  The mirror reflects the image into the table center.The Map:  1400 lumens at a 4.9 foot throw and smallest zoom was actually too bright so I switched to 'whisper' mode and zoomed out as large as possible.  The image was more comfortable and still plenty bright (there is a 75watt light directly above the map for room light.  We're using the back of our old matte board grids as a surface (2 32"x40" sheets).The image size was 38" x 49" (62" diagonal).  For reference that's bigger than the Darlene Greyhawk map and just smaller than the new Greyhawk maps from Dungeon.  From the center of the map the party can see 80' in all directions.For projection I set Photoshop at 25% and then used the projection digital zoom to set scale to 1"=5'.  This also served to get rid of the interface.  If menus were needed they were just a button away (Zoom Off/Zoom On).  All the other Photoshop windows were kept on the DM monitor along with the Excel combat sheet.The Adventure:  A2 (Slavers' Stockade).  I duplicated the original map pieces with Dundjinni (which maxes at 32"x40").  The stockade took 3 map pieces and the dungeon took 4.  Each map also had a hidden version, and the stockade had extra map layers for the second floor and gatehouses.  All the pieces were combined in Photoshop and I added masking layers and a large border as a buffer for projection.  Exported from Dundjinni at 40 pixels/inch and the Photoshop docs match that.  The Session:  After a late start and updates to characters from the previous session we played up to the Stockade.  The projector has 'Blank' so I popped it off when it wasn't needed.  I zoomed all the way out to give them the general layout from a nearby hill (the roof obscured the room layout) then reset to 25%.  They used a writ gained earlier to bypass the gatehouses and entered the main stockade.  A few traps, fights, noncombat encounters and empty rooms later they were about half done with the stockade level.  We got a bit more done than normal and the group remarked that it was more focused than usual (laptops tend to be a distraction).  The trick/trap reveals ended up adding to the overall role-playing level (we split about 80% hack/20% role-play normally).The debrief:  I explained why we would keep the ~$1200 in MasterMaze as I set a McFarlane Komodo on the table which obsures a big chunk of map.  Plus we don't always want to prep maps for basic caves, tunnels, and small crypts when using the MM is still faster.  Originally the contrast of the image seemed poor but adjusting the contrast in Photoshop by 30% popped the image right out (the projector does 500:1).  For out of production LCD projectors 500:1 is good.  It's low for DLP but if you have a light shining directly on the screen most of that high contrast goes away (personally I crossed DLPs off my list for potential eye strain from the rainbow effect).An SVGA projector at 38"x49" means less than 16 pixels/inch on the table.  So yes, we could see 'screendoor' and the map was pixelated.  I'll probably skip tiny features (sconces, small details) and stick with the larger distinct items on future maps.  With our normal grid at 1 pixel per inch (the battlemat grid) this pixelation was acceptable.  If the tradeoff is 200 pixel/inch printed maps at 8.5"x11" or our huge map at 15/inch we go with the big map.  XGA would be 25% better but we'd have to go to UXGA (1600x1200) to really get a fantastic image.  Of course those are $15k+ and weigh 30lbs or more.The Bottom Line:  One used SVGA projector in pristine condition $510 on Ebay.  One dual friendly graphic card $50.  25' VGA cable $12.  Shipping $20.  Mirror Tiles 6/$6.  Brackets, washers, screws, mirror mounts $8.  Dundjinni and Photoshop already owned.  Cost was half what we spent on MasterMaze and less than my yearly miniature spending.  Printing off 32"x40" maps at Kinko's would eat that up quickly (15 sheets of 8.5x11 photo paper isn't cheap either - basic Slaver Stockade maps: 105 sheets).Pictures should come later.</blockquote>

Verification