Third day animated map is finished. What next?

johncla

Corporal
Joined
Jun 15, 2015
The beta version of my animated map is now available here. Please let me know if you find features that don't work, or mistakes in the content.

What's next? I plan on starting again with an improved VERSION TWO of the day one map. It's time to think about what features to add. The readers on this forum are my number one audience, tell me what you think.

Below is a list of suggestions. Any other ideas? Tell me what you think.
  • Show regiments rather than brigades! Yes, I feel your pain. (Feel my fear. Multiply the work and complications by four.) I might dabble my feet in the world of regiments by creating a map that covers a small part of the battle, for example Little Round Top, or Buford versus Heth.
  • Add artillery. The original plan for version two. Still a possibility. How important?
  • Big icons for big brigades, small icons for small brigades. Icon sizes right now is inconsistent. They could be 'same same' all the way 'round, or small brigades could get small icons and big brigades get big icons.
  • Add a second map. As suggested by Wallyfish here. "Is it possible to have a map selection feature to your work? One map would be the current map you used, The other map would either be a Google satellite map or a map such as Battlefield America which shows most monument locations."
  • Speed control. Fast and slow. I have one now, but it's not very effective. And you can only select a speed once, before clicking 'Start'.
  • Hourly views. A copy of each day's map, hour by hour. A 2pm map, a 3pm map, and so on. Static, but you can click on units to get IDs.
  • Where is? Click a brigade name on a list, the map scrolls to that location and highlights the appropriate unit.
 
When you click on a unit and the dialog box pops open with the unit info, you have to manually close the box. Is it possible to have the box open when the cursor hovers over the unit and goes away when it moves off?
 
When you click on a unit and the dialog box pops open with the unit info, you have to manually close the box. Is it possible to have the box open when the cursor hovers over the unit and goes away when it moves off?
Good idea. I'll try.
 
I just clicked in and started scrolling and watching intuitively, without reading about all of the features first. For example, I missed the fact that I could click on formations and find out what units they were. I will watch again.

Is there a timeline control? IF so, I missed it. It would be really neat to be able to back up and watch short segments again.
 
I just clicked in and started scrolling and watching intuitively, without reading about all of the features first. For example, I missed the fact that I could click on formations and find out what units they were. I will watch again.

Is there a timeline control? IF so, I missed it. It would be really neat to be able to back up and watch short segments again.

Great idea, yes I'd love to add that. I will try. I think what you're looking for is the same thing you see when playing a video file...a slider bar that you can just move back and forth to control fwd and back, fast and slow.

Good news is that MacBooks from Mojave forward, and Windows 10 machines, both provide screen recorders as a part of the OS. I assume they both allow you to save the recording as an mp4 file.

Do an internet search using the strings 'macbook screen recorder' or 'windows 10 screen recorder'. Here's some examples of search results:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208721

Hopefully the recorded file allows you to scroll back and forth for forward and reverse.
(I'm heading out of town for a week, out of reach of telephone and internet. Any more replies from me will be delayed.)
 
Great idea, yes I'd love to add that. I will try. I think what you're looking for is the same thing you see when playing a video file...a slider bar that you can just move back and forth to control fwd and back, fast and slow.

Good news is that MacBooks from Mojave forward, and Windows 10 machines, both provide screen recorders as a part of the OS. I assume they both allow you to save the recording as an mp4 file.

Do an internet search using the strings 'macbook screen recorder' or 'windows 10 screen recorder'. Here's some examples of search results:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208721

Hopefully the recorded file allows you to scroll back and forth for forward and reverse.
(I'm heading out of town for a week, out of reach of telephone and internet. Any more replies from me will be delayed.)
Yes, that is exactly what I have in mind. The thought came to me when I noticed units moving on different parts of the map at the same time. It would be very convenient to study one, then "rewind" a few seconds and study the other. The only other option I could see was restarting the day and letting the animation slowly play out again.
 
Back
Top