This would really help!

[TDean]

Here on BE.com, we often have the need to describe a specific stage to see how others would shoot it.  Usually all we can do is describe the stage, or hope there's already an image of the stage (e.g., classifiers) so we can copy the image here.  

Wouldn't it be cool if we could design/replicate a stage and then post the image here on Brian's site for the in-house GMs to teach us how to save a second or two.

Gosh, I'm salivating just thinking about it!

I have so many questions about the *the right* ways to shoot common scenarios encounterd on complex stages.

Anybody know what tools we'd need to do this?

There's stage design software out there, but can we save it somewhere then download the image onto Brian's site somehow?

[TDean]

Well that sure didn't work!

(Edited by TDean at 1:40 pm on Dec. 23, 2002)

[TDean]

That was an interesting test page

[benos]

TDean,

Have you checked out the IPSC stage builder thread in this forum? I could tell you how to do it on a Mac... You could build the stage graphically there, then take a desktop snapshot of it, open it in photoshop and save it in .gif format, upload it to a server and then link in your post, along with your question.

be

[Ron Ankeny]

TDean:

On a PC you could do the stage with one of the stage designer tools that uses Power Point and save the slide as a .gif. If you have Web space through your ISP you could upload the file using WS_FTP or another free utility then link to it.

[TDean]

OK, so it's possible and I think I see what you guyz are talking about......

I have seen the "stage-builder" thread Brian, but I didn't know we could transfer a finished graphic (stage) from there to your forums.  

That's it Ron!! It just hit me...a person usually gets a certain amount of bytes of "free" space on their ISP right?  I'll look into it, Thanks gents.

[lynn jones]

tdean,

i think a better way to see how a GM would run a stage, would be to take an actual stage at major match, and post the stage here, then ask the GM's to comment on how and why they shot the stage the way the did.

looking at stages on paper,  net,  or just looking at the stage in real time doesn't really tell you anything, other than how many rounds are needed.  imho.

what do you think about this idea?  

lynn (don't let ErikW spank me) jones

[TDean]

I am thinking of replicating (as close as possible) actual stages then seeing how some choose to shoot it.

A stage at a recent match in AZ has got me thinking about this idea.  I just knew that there was only ONE way to shoot this sucker, but after I was done the RO said "..that the first time someone shot it that way..".

I couldn't believe it, why would someone shoot this another way?  Then I looked at the times and sure-enough, on this field course the top dogs were  beating me by 3 seconds easy!  HOW!?!?  WHY?!

I'm still trying to get my ISP to activate the 10GB of space available with my plan so I can attempt to post a rendering of the infamous stage.

[mcoliver]

Let's see, from the stage builder site you build your stage on your screen right?  Hit fullscreen view then center your finished stage on your screen so no part is hidden.  Hit "Print Screen" on your keyboard.  Launch your favorite photo editing software (MS Paint or MS Photo Editor). Select paste then you'll end up with a snapshot of your whole screen. Trim it if you like then save as JPEG (smaller file than BMP or GIF with higher quality).

Hope you push through with your plan, TDean.  I'm really interested.

Thanks.

[TDean]

As soon as my ISP gets his act together, I'll play around.

What I'd like to do is to take pictures of all the stages at next years nationals and combine these "detail" pix with an overall view of the stage represented with stage template software.  The real pictures would show the shot difficulty better than design templates could.

Then we can ask the experts about their decision to shoot it the way they did and if they would shoot it that way again.