How do I output players map to video projector?

[Hartygan]

Hi guys, great tools on this site, thank you to everyone that has had imput to this website.
Love tha maptools and plan to use it in my face-to-face gaming group.
So I plan to build a multi-touch table top where the players will be able to see the players map from Maptools, and by simply putting a finger on their token shown, and dragging their finger across the table, they will move their token to where they want to be. Then Maptools will do its magic and show veiw angles and clear fog-of-war, etc. I have already worked out how to run the GM map and the Players map on the laptop.

Now here is my question. How do I get the players map to send its output to the video projector that will be plugged in to the USB on the lap top so it can be seen on the table top? I have looked through all the options in Maptools, but cannot work out what to do.
Thanks in advance for any help.

[jfrazierjr]

Hi guys, great tools on this site, thank you to everyone that has had imput to this website.
Love tha maptools and plan to use it in my face-to-face gaming group.
So I plan to build a multi-touch table top where the players will be able to see the players map from Maptools, and by simply putting a finger on their token shown, and dragging their finger across the table, they will move their token to where they want to be. Then Maptools will do its magic and show veiw angles and clear fog-of-war, etc. I have already worked out how to run the GM map and the Players map on the laptop.

Now here is my question. How do I get the players map to send its output to the video projector that will be plugged in to the USB on the lap top so it can be seen on the table top? I have looked through all the options in Maptools, but cannot work out what to do.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Start Server
Start second instance of Maptool
Connect to server from the new instance of MapTool as a player
Move second instance to monitor.

[Azhrei]

And you may want that second instance to be in Full Screen Mode so that the various other pieces disappear from view.

[Hartygan]

Yeah thanks for the answers.
I had found other threads on the same thing and worked it out. In fact I just got my projector today and so hooked up two computers, started the server and linked so we could project on the wall so my group could see the sort of thing we will be doing when it gets finished.
Will be posting pics as we go or when its all done.

[JonathanTheBlack]

I saw an $80 projector at BestBuy the other day. darn near dropped the money for it right then and there, but I bought Cataclysm instead.

[Hartygan]

I saw an $80 projector at BestBuy the other day. darn near dropped the money for it right then and there, but I bought Cataclysm instead.

Hi Jonathan
Yes I saw those projectors too, but they are only 10 lumen light power. Might be ok if you are projecting onto a screen in a dim lit room, but not much good for the sort of table I am doing.
Even the one I bought (cost $200 and 1300 lumen) is only just big enough. Will probably replace it with a better one later, but it will do for now.
The best one for this project would be a short throw projector but they start at $1300

[aliasmask]

I read a review for those when I saw them on sale for 30 or 40. The reviews don't speak kindly. They didn't expect much from them, but said they're pretty worthless. The lamp is a weak LED light.

I was checking out Az's link and I found some Casio LED Projectors that look interesting. That stats are fairly good too. I'm guessing they don't have a fan, or simply use a weaker one because they're light and quiet. With 2000 lumens and 1:1800 contrast it seem like it could be worth the starting 800 price tag. They have have a $900 version with a wireless setup. All of them seem to start at 1024x768 and have x2 Zoom and throw of 3-30ish feet.

Still too rich for my blood though, but I would like to see the image quality for one of those.

[Akodo Makama]

I was checking out Az's link and I found some Casio LED Projectors that look interesting. That stats are fairly good too. I'm guessing they don't have a fan, or simply use a weaker one because they're light and quiet. With 2000 lumens and 1:1800 contrast it seem like it could be worth the starting 800 price tag. They have have a $900 version with a wireless setup. All of them seem to start at 1024x768 and have x2 Zoom and throw of 3-30ish feet.

I have one (XJ-A140) and they rock. they do have a fan, which is monstrously noisy at full speed, but in 'eco' mode (75% brightness) is barely noticeable. They use a combo LED/laser source, so they aren't nearly as hot as their brightness would normally imply, and last 20,000 hours with no fear of accidentally breaking the filament by shaking it too hard (as it has no filament to break). It's easily visible in a normal brightness room, depending on how large you want the image (we use it top-down on the table for about a 3x4-foot image). And, it fits in my laptop bag, with all it's cables, so it's all in one place.

[Azhrei]

Wow, 2000 lumens from an LED projector is pretty good. Usually that rating is for the distance midway between the shortest and longest throws. So if you were going with a shorter than the halfway point it would be brighter.

That sounds like a good deal, especially after hearing Akodo's description...

[Akodo Makama]

Wow, 2000 lumens from an LED projector is pretty good.

The limiting factor in most solid-state projectors is the blue LED brightness. Red is easy to get bright, green is tough but doable, but blue takes a lot of work. In this projector, the blue is from a laser source, which improves it's efficiency a bunch, so much, in fact that the green is generated by spiting off some of the blue and using it to illuminate a phosphor to make the green element. That leaves red, which is easy for an LED to do.

It also uses a micro-array of mirrors to form the image, rather than using pass-through LCD filters, like most old models did. So you don't loose any energy from that, either.

They have a 3000 lumen model... and you can get widescreen.

darn, I sound like a sales rep...

[JonathanTheBlack]

I might have to look into that for my birthday. I could set up the projector in the living room and move the 42 inch lcd to a wall mount in the game room behind where I would be sitting as the DM.

[Hartygan]

I might have to look into that for my birthday. I could set up the projector in the living room and move the 42 inch lcd to a wall mount in the game room behind where I would be sitting as the DM.

What do you want a projector for with 42" LCD in the room, just use that instead.

[JonathanTheBlack]

I might have to look into that for my birthday. I could set up the projector in the living room and move the 42 inch lcd to a wall mount in the game room behind where I would be sitting as the DM.

What do you want a projector for with 42" LCD in the room, just use that instead.

A good HD projector for the living room. Move the LCD to the game room. They are different rooms. :D

[Azhrei]

And if you have a good projector, you'll never want to go back to anything as small as 42"!!!

[JamzTheMan]

The best one for this project would be a short throw projector but they start at $1300

I purchased a InFocus 1503 last year for just under $1000 bucks and it had the shortest throw I could find (and still have most of the features I wanted like HDMI).

It's only 1080i and technically "business class", hence the short throw, but it works pretty darn good IMHO. Especially if it's a 2nd TV in your home.

I have it mounted on a swivel arm and get a 120" wide (not diagonal) picture on the wall at just under 8' away (it would go bigger but ran out of wall!). And with a loosen of a screw, I angle it down on our 4x8' gaming table and get a decent size map (about 3' wide or so), which isn't bad considering I only have a 6' 9" ceiling in the basement!

I really got it for the table & for the wife to use for lectures, and as a "bonus" i get a large donkey screen to play Xbox on! Turn the lights off and it's a beautiful picture as well for 1080p movies to.