Scaling Tokens

[Blaen]

Hi Folks,

Forgive me this question please, I am a total noob to FGII :o

Is there a way to scale tokens easily?

Also is there a user manual some where for FGII,

I found a link via google to a document stored in the FG File Library (below), but can't seem to find a way to get to the File Library it's self.

www.fantasygrounds.com/filelibrary/module.tutorial.v1.pdf

Cheers

Blaen

[Blaen]

Oh dear just found my answer, apologies. :o :D
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15800&highlight=scaling

[Trenloe]

Hi Folks,

Forgive me this question please, I am a total noob to FGII :o

Is there a way to scale tokens easily?
2 ways - one is to place one token on the map, zoom the map in/out until it is the right size and then right-click and select lock token scale. All extra tokens you add should lock to that scale - this will really only work if the tokens you use are all the same size (pixel dimensions).

Second way is to place the token on the map and CTRL-Scrollwheel on the token. If the token from placed by dragging from the combat tracker, you can CTRL-Scrollwheel on the token in the combat tracker and it will show a "zoom" factor (0.5 would be half the size).


Also is there a user manual some where for FGII,
Check the library link at the top of this page - there are user guides for the 3.5E and 4E ruleset. One "quirky" thing about these guides is that the titles expand out on the left to show a lot more options - it is not always obvious that this has occurred and so it is easy to think there is very little info in there. There is a lot of info - just keep an eye on the menu to the left of the screen. For example, click on GM Guide - Gameplay -> Images and the menu will expand to show 34 extra headings!!!

[Blaen]

Thanks Trenloe, much appreciated tip about the libraries

[JohnD]

Agreed - really good to know.

Every time I place a new token it's huge compared to my map scale and I was wondering how to do this as well.

[Griogre]

You will save yourself a lot of fiddling if you scale all your tokens to a common scale. The scale isn't really that important. For portrait type tokens 50 pixels is common though I use 32 myself. For topdown style tokens, 100 pixels is common.

[Trenloe]

If you use a specific grid size on your maps, then it is good to size your tokens for that grid size.

Unfortunately, if you use maps/images from PDF scenarios they will all have different pixel sizes so this won't always help (unless you size your maps beforehand).

[JohnD]

Hmm good advice - I suspect I'll be using a combination of self drawn maps and scans from various sources.

I am using the tokens I downloaded from that site that has 20 packages free (can't remember the URL).

[Griogre]

Maps are almost always the largest files you have to transfer in FG. You can often save a great deal of file size (and transfer problems) if you scale your maps to have a grid slightly smaller than your token size. I use 32 pixel tokens so the maps I make have 25 pixel squares. If you have 50 pixel tokens then scaling your maps to have 40 pixel grids with save a lot of file size ie 2500 sq pixels vs 1600 sq pixels per grid square at almost no loss in display quality.

[JohnD]

Sound advice... unfortunately I still need to figure out how to do that! :)

I will say this; FG2 is an excellent program.

[Trenloe]

Sound advice... unfortunately I still need to figure out how to do that! :)
Resizing of maps and tokens needs to be done in a graphics program outside of Fantasy Grounds. There used to be some video tutorials on how to do this by Xorn, but they look to be unavailable now.

There's a bit of info here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15997

[Griogre]

There are many third party mapping utilities that will scale a map for you. If I do have to use a map that I didn't make myself I usually scale it so it has squares of between 20 to 32 pixels to match my 32 pixel medium monster scale. Some free options for image utillies are:

IrfanView: https://www.irfanview.com/
I use this alot for messing around with images that don't have transparency. Basically it doesn't create images at all, it just manipulates images. It can take screen shots and batch process image files as well.

Paint.NET: https://www.getpaint.net/
This one is actually a middle weight paint program. It was originally developed as an upgrade to the MS Paint program that comes with every copy of Windows. Over the years it has developed into a powerful paint program. Its not in the league of Photoshop or GIMP but for non artist use it does almost everything. I use it for dealing with transparent images, creating "programmer" place holder art and it also has layers as well. As a bonus it has a simple easy to use UI unlike some art programs.

[madman]

If you plan on doing this with all your maps, I would download gimp. The learning curve is quite steep but the program does it all. there are tons of video tutorials on the web for each of the tools you need. here is an old post that explains the map resizing for grid alignment better than most. LINK> (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showpost.php?p=99265&postcount=7)

He uses paint.net in his video.

Chris
(https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showpost.php?p=99265&postcount=7)

[Blaen]

Cheers guys,

This has been very educational.

[Tubel]

Resizing of maps and tokens needs to be done in a graphics program outside of Fantasy Grounds. There used to be some video tutorials on how to do this by Xorn, but they look to be unavailable now.

They are still available somewhere because I've watched them in the last week. I have a feeling it was the links to the archived tutes at the bottom right of the downloads page. I've seen both making tokens and scaling scanned maps so that the squares were all 50 pixels wide. Both by Xorne if memory serves!

Thank you by the way Xorne if you still read these boards! Oh I also found your pdf module guide hidden away without any discernible link that was also invaluable! It made me wonder what other gold was buried on the site somewhere.

[Tubel]

Yep! Right down the bottom right there is an archived videos section. Map rescaling is hidden in the mysteriously named "map rescaling" link. :-)