Discussion of scale indicators in the store

[Doug Sundseth]

7 hours ago, TGP said:

 

Is that because ...the camera focuses on the thing farthest back that is not the background? ...the camera focuses on whatever is throughout the frame? ...something else?

 

Most camera autofocus algorithms are set to look for straight lines with good contrast. Grids are exactly that, so they tend to be what cameras try to focus on first. There are a variety of ways to solve the problem, but you have to include that in your process if you use a grid.

 

To solve the perspective aberration problem (the grid not appearing the correct size), you can move back and use a longer lens, so the difference in distance from camera to mini and camera to background is small.

 

5 minutes ago, WhiteWulfe said:

I love how Oathsworn has the silhouettes. Handy, and doesn't require photographing at a specific angle, or remembering to grab the correct marker when taking photos. 

 

But then you have to have a silhouette (which is another step in the imaging process) or you have to scale a standard silhouette (of Sir Forscale, for instance) to the correct height on your photo.

[WhiteWulfe]

1 minute ago, Doug Sundseth said:

But then you have to have a silhouette (which is another step in the imaging process) or you have to scale a standard silhouette (of Sir Forscale, for instance) to the correct height on your photo.

True enough.  Either way, no matter the method chosen there doesn't seem to be an easy and simple method that comes with little to no extra work that will provide the level of detail for information people want.  I suspect it was relatively easy for Oathsworn to do the silhouettes because they only have a hundred or so minis, so such wouldn't take too long.  Reaper has thousands of SKU's, and therefore would have a great deal more work involved, even just for retaking photos with bryangles.  i do like the standard silhouette idea though, as I also like the idea of just having Sir Forscale next to the product image shots, but then there'd be the issue of so many people complaining they didn't get the knight as well 

[Disciple of Sakura]

Yeah, the "Bryangles" were frustrating, because there was no clear indication of what they were a measure of, and they weren't consistently shown across all minis.

 

The new M and B blocks are smaller, almost entirely useless for comparison, and also inconsistent in their appearance.

 

Reaper definitely needs to be providing a better scaling system with its images. I get that it's a hassle, especially since the best implementation would require replacing all existing images, but it's really a pretty necessary thing to include for a company who's products are used for games where certain scales and sizes are actually important, as well as for modelers who like to have specific scales or sizes available. I think a ruler or a clearly size-indicated base that they are fixed on would be the best solution that doesn't require image editing software, but the silhouette effects work very well in my experience.

 

That said, most "human" sized figures are relatively easy to guess. It mostly becomes an issue with specifically over-sized monsters, or really large humanoids.

[Disciple of Sakura]

On 9/30/2019 at 5:05 PM, redambrosia said:

Height and base size would be great in for to be included in the descriptions. Unfortunately, with the size of reaper’s catalog, that might be an impractical request. 

I mean, I could easily see a request being put to the community and provided within a week across almost the entire catalogue just from those of us who'd want to help out.

[TGP]

On 2/3/2020 at 5:42 PM, Disciple of Sakura said:

Yeah, the "Bryangles" were frustrating, because there was no clear indication*** of what they were a measure of, and they weren't consistently shown across all minis.

 

I always did fine with the Bryangles. But I are a CAD Drafter by trade. When I look at one of the older store photos, I "see" it like this:

 

 

But I can PhotoSlop the lines in there for others to look at.

 

Original image:

Edited February 26, 2020 by TGP
Linked the unedited image from the store.

[TGP]

***It was necessary to visit the forums to learn that the Bryangles were 12.7mm apart. But once that key piece of info is known it all falls into place: The metal  Drago Voss sculpt is about 33mm from top of head to the table surface. 

[JJNiles]

So how about for standard 28mm minis, we just give the height in the Description. but when we have minis that are ether smaller or bigger than 28mm we add a picture that has both the mini that we need scale for and a standard mini like Sir Forscale so we can easily understand the size difference.