Dundjinni Maps & Tokens

[Trentos]

Pretty straight forward couple of questions here.

1) Maps done in Dundjinni are easily intregrated into FG for use correct?

2) Am I able to use the tokens that are used in Dundjinni, in FG as tokens I can manipulate as a GM on a map?

[Stuart]

Yes to both.
In fact the reason I purchased DJ was that the scale (amongst other things) was much more user friendly for FG. CC2 works as well but is a tad fiddly. Also ... many people use tokens made by Devinnight over at fouruglymonsters ... he is busy (I hope( making me a huge batch of oriental tokens but get an order in. Low prices and excellent work.

[Trentos]

Great thanks Stuart! Do I just take the token files in the DJ folders and copy them into FG's Token folder or do they need to be renamed?

And as to the map size, is there a way to set that in Dundjinni so that the quality isn't lost when being brought over to FG? Does it allow for good graphics when zooming in etc?

[Sigurd]

I think the prefered file formats are the small ones. FG supports all the formats available to windows so JPG, PNG, GIF, are all good bets. BMPS tend to be very big.

You can zoom the size of maps so a little small with a little zoom is a good combination. Likewise you have some flexibility with token size. Tokens for putting on the maps are commonly PNG files (50 pixels square) with transparency (8 or 24 bit). I understand some people have had problems with larger custom tokens, not my experience so I dont know.

Because FG supports graphic standards just about any graphics program will work. Donjinni uses 200dpi I think as a standard. That works but considering your screen is 72dpi you may want to edit that in an 2nd source program.


Sigurd

[Cypher]

I use Dundjinni to do my maps. I set the zoom to 1/2" and take a screenshot. Then I edit the picture in Paintshop Pro in order to get the boarders correct, and save as a jpg. If I need to resize the image to fit 640x640 I do that in Paintshop as well, and then just zoom the map in FG to set the tokens to the proper scale.

Been working very well so far.

[kalmarjan]

LOL

I have given up DJ and CC3, and switched over to the darker side. PS2! There is a lot of power under the hood there!

Now, If I just had time.... LOL

Sandeman

[Sigurd]

I use Dundjinni to do my maps. I set the zoom to 1/2" and take a screenshot.


Does Dunjinni not export to png etc....???


Sigurd

[DarkStar]

I save DJ maps as BMP, using 50px = 5ft scale. Then I open it up in GIMP and save as PNG, JPG or something else, whatever suits me.

[Trentos]

So I need to have a secondary graphic's program to really get the full use of it?

[DarkStar]

So I need to have a secondary graphic's program to really get the full use of it?

Yes and no. I would honestly advise against using BMPs for your maps. ;) Dundjinni alows you to save maps in different image formats, but they won't let you specify the scale, so the best thing to do, if you want to have your size, not some predefined one, is to save the map as a huge and slow BMP and then open it up in some graphics program and save as a better format.

[Ganadai]

Quick question. I know what DJ is, but what are CC2, PS2 and GIMP?

[Sigurd]

To answer your question about needing a second program. Its really a question of fine tuning - changing the pixels per inch. Dunjinni uses 200 dpi for nice crisp clean images. Video screens display everything at a lower resolution because the light they emit blends in your vision and vibrant colour makes up for some of the lower detail. Printed images, without the benefit of light, look poor if you use these resolutions. Therefore, since FG is only on the screen, lower resolutions and smaller file sizes make for more efficient transfers and better results. Its perfectly possible however to use the 200dpi output from DJ. But there are graphics programs free to download that will do the conversions for you so why not.

I'd recommend Irfanview to anyone. Its on every computer I use.

The grand daddy of free graphics editors is called 'the Gimp'. Some call it a chore to learn but others say it is the only way.

Campaign Cartographer (CC2 and soon CC3) is a cad program for making fantasy maps. It is published by a company called Profantasy. It is in the same market as Dunjinni but where Dunjinni tries to be photo-realistic CC2 is more abstract and, some would say, flexible. IMHO CC3 will be a better program than Dunjinni and anyone buying CC2 now gets a free upgrade to CC3 later.

PS2 - not sure.

There are a number of graphics editor programs out there. Fantasy grounds really gives you great flexibility by working with all the standard graphics file formats. They have the best interface I've seen and refreshingly, they concentrate ont he interface - doing what they do best. You create your graphics like you create your own adventures they don't get in the way.

Here are some links to free graphics programs: (I haven't tried all of them)
https://www.photofiltre.com/
https://park18.wakwak.com/~pixia/
https://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/
https://www.pixoid.com/



Good luck, hope this was helpful.


Sigurd

[Stuart]

soon CC3:mad:

You think ?
I'd go along with Tailz' theory on this as well.

[kalmarjan]

Sorry, I mistyped it. It should be PSCS2, aka. Photoshop CS2.

This program has a lot under the hood, and when you learn the steep learning curve, it will put anything that CC3, CC2 and DJ has to offer.

Problem is the price tag.... LOL

Sandeman

[Cypher]

Sorry, I mistyped it. It should be PSCS2, aka. Photoshop CS2.

This program has a lot under the hood, and when you learn the steep learning curve, it will put anything that CC3, CC2 and DJ has to offer.

Problem is the price tag.... LOL

Sandeman

That's a big problem too :D

There is zero chance I'm forking over thousands in order to make D&D maps and tokens. Paintshop doesn't have quite the depth of power Photoshop has, but it's way more than I'm cable of using. Cheap too! :)

[kalmarjan]

LOL

Thousands? The upgrade from PS 7 is 169$. So it is a little less expensive. :)

Sandeman

[Cypher]

LOL

Thousands? The upgrade from PS 7 is 169$. So it is a little less expensive. :)

Sandeman

It would appear that the price has indeed dropped on the Photoshop product line, but it is still $649 US if you're not upgrading a previous version. A little steep for me :)

[kalmarjan]

Agreed on that LOL

I am lucky, as I had the previous version that I got as a student. So the upgrade seems like a good deal. :-)

Sandeman

[Trentos]

Another question about Tokens. I noticed their is an option to lock their scale. Is there a way that I can resize the token in game? That would be awesome.

[kalmarjan]

Unlock the token, scroll with your mouse wheel until the token is the correct scale with your grid. Then lock the token, and you have resized it.

A fairly crappy way of risizing though, as it really washes out the resolution in your tokens.

Sandeman

[richvalle]

I think that would change the scale for ALL the tokens on the map at the current time.

If I know I'll need a token in different sizes I just make more then one. 50x50 for medium and 100x100 for large for example.

rv

[Trentos]

Ok thanks guys. I discovered the scroll technique and also GIMP has a nice option to scale them.

Again thanks for all the kind advice. Much appreciated for a FG newb. ;-)

[wavecutter]

There is a good free graphics program called GIMP. It can be found at
https://www.gimp.org/

[Craw]

I use Dundjinni to do my maps. I set the zoom to 1/2" and take a screenshot. Then I edit the picture in Paintshop Pro in order to get the boarders correct, and save as a jpg. If I need to resize the image to fit 640x640 I do that in Paintshop as well, and then just zoom the map in FG to set the tokens to the proper scale.

Been working very well so far.

I just "export map graphic" to jpg. Is there an advantage to using the screenshot method? And if you save at 200 dpi, does that mean you will get better resolution when you zoom?

[Cypher]

I just "export map graphic" to jpg. Is there an advantage to using the screenshot method? And if you save at 200 dpi, does that mean you will get better resolution when you zoom?

I do it this way because I find it faster to get the proper scale I want. If you export as jpg the map also seems to be of lesser quality than when I do it myself in a graphics program. Also you have to open it in a graphics program anyways in order to crop to the proper size.

You can export at a custom scale using a bmp, but then you have to open it in your graphics program to crop and save as jpg.

[EyeBall]

I use both exporting and screenshots, depending on my needs. For example, if I am creating a small hidden room, then I simple create the room zoom in on DJ, screen shot and I am off to the races. If I am making a full size map, I usually export to the slow and painful bmp, and then open it up in PS and adjust the size, that way I keep the wanted detail.

So in short, I guess you kind of have to find what works. There may not be any one single way that is better than the other. They all seem to have their pros and cons.

EYE