Monsen
Monsen
About
- Username
- Monsen
- Joined
- Visits
- 668
- Last Active
- Roles
- Administrator
- Points
- 8,894
- Birthday
- May 14, 1976
- Location
- Bergen, Norway
- Website
- https://atlas.monsen.cc
- Real Name
- Remy Monsen
- Rank
- Cartographer
- Badges
- 27
Latest Images
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VTT Best Practices?
ChatGPT says it's best to have two output versions, one at 150 pixels per inch and the other for slower connections at 70 pixels per inch. Does that seem like the best approach?
ChatGPT recommended that the VTT output include one version that includes a 5-foot-per-inch grid and another version without a grid. (I gather that VTTs can add a grid but some GMs want a pre-gridded map.) These maps should be the player-facing map that doesn't have labels, and things like traps and secret doors are not shown. I'm wondering, though, if I should also have a version that does show the secret doors and passageways (but not the traps)?
Are you preparing maps so others can download and use them? If so, this makes sense, as it allows the end user to pick which map to use. If you are only using them yourself, having all these version makes no sense, just grab what you actually will use.
As I understand it, 1 inch should be 5 feet in map units. And the pixel dimensions for the file should be designed with pixels per inch times number of inches (which would be the map units divided by 5). So for example: a map that is 40 feet x 80 feet would be (on the 80 foot side): 80/5 for the number of inches (16), and multiply that by the number of pixels per inch, so at a resolution of 150px, the 40x80 map should be 1200x2400 px? Is my math correct?
Yes
I'm sure I can get it to work, but my question is less about how to do it and more about should I do it? Would the resulting file be too big for typical VTT services?
Quite possibly. Most online VTT services have strict limits on file sizes. But, the only way to find out is to export that particular map, and then compare to the allowed file sizes for the various VTT's. If it is over 10MB, it is not going to fit them all, but some may still allow it.
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Ricko's Questions
Correct aspect ratio compared to the paper size you exporting to. For example, if you have a 1000x800 map, your aspect ratio is 10:8, but a standard A-size paper is closer to 10:7. So if you just blindly type in 297 mm for both dimensions, the exported image will be 297 by 237.6 mm, which is larger than the 297x210 mm of an A4 paper. (I didn't account for margins here)
CC3+ automatically calculates the other dimension based on the aspect ratio of your map, not the paper.
Of course, if you don't mind it getting a bit large and simply resize it down to fit the paper on print, then using the largest value works, but if you want it accurately, then you have to actually make your map in the right aspect ratio from the beginning, or you need to also calculate the lesser value so CC3+ can export an image that fits within both the dimensions.
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Ricko's Questions
Keep in mind that using the largest measurement for both only works if your map is in the proper aspect ratio starting out. But if you make a square map (or any other map that doesn't have the correct aspect ratio compared to the paper aspect) that you just want to fit into the paper, you'll probably need to use the lesser of the 2 measurements instead, otherwise it won't be correct.
Being able to ignore one of the measurements and just let CC3+ handle it is a good and time-saving thing, but it does mean the map must meet the expectations.
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Installing on a separate drive?
CC3+ always does a split install. The actual program itself is always installed to the C-drive, but it is extremely tiny (less than 100MB with absolutely everything installed), the rest goes to the location you chose for your data directory in the CC3+ installer (Which I presume is e:\ something in your case), which is the bulk of the install (art, configuration, templates, maps, drawing tools, symbol catalogs, and all the rest)
Any add-ons installed after that will never ask for location, but just go to the appropriate directory of the two. Components needed by the program itself (mostly things like .dll files) will be added to the folder on C, but any content will be added to the data directory in your chosen location.
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Calculating the area of multiple polygons?
Not as far as I know.
But maybe you can work around it. One way I can think of is to combine all the individual polys into one massive one using the CONTOURSM command. This will create a single polygon that matches the complete outline of the existing ones, and you now have a single poly to use the area command on.
