nadinbrzezinski Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 They are rather small, and would not mind if they were bigger, but the ability to see an image of the character as I am writing his or her attributes is nice. Not to push or mention somebody's else's software, but one program I was using before migrating to the MAC was Storybinder http://www.blackobelisksoftware.com/ Now it has character dossiers just like Storyst. (I could go through some of its features, I gave my copy to my brother in law who LOVES IT, no, he will not move to the Mac), Anyhow. I am using that one as an example right now. One thing the developers implemented Steve (and yes I get it, different OS so the solutions are different) full picture, that appears on the side to the facets of the character. Now on the down side the text for those things was very small. It would not let you export it and print it. Which I love about this program. But gong to the technical side, you might want to take a looksie to get an idea of how they implemented this. For the moment it is with maps where this will be even more critical than the characters perse. Now I don't know if we could have a couple JPEGs in the same file. That might be nice to reflect aging, or early occupations (my hero starts as the archetypical poor fisherman), and ends up as a powerful magical warrior saving the land. Yes, I know... the plot has been done since the Bible. Anyhoo, just sharing the excitement of discovering how to use this and perhaps how to improve its usability. (and yes, I am aware that as a developer, we may be looking at version 2.0 or what have you and an upgrade price. As a game designer, RPGs, I know just how much time you can put into this stuff and it gets to the point where you need to charge for it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Thanks for the link Nadin. Frankly, I wouldn't mind seeing multiple pictures possible per character, setting and even note (and prop!). Also, the ability to choose the picture's file size (and clarity) would be useful. I'll mention this in Feature Requests. Steve, you might want to take a looks at Timelines, Project Goals and Statistics. I don't know about Recordings. Word (**shudder**) has that but I never had a real use for it. The product talks about using Recordings for pacing. Useful for screenwriters but it's actually something that can be done efficiently through statistics (e.g., weighted consonant counting). Also, there might be some value in simplifying and formalizing Speech as a feature. Since it's a Service accessible through the OS it shouldn't be too hard to implement. (Automatic Sections selection plus a timer for approximate pacing statistics.) But what do I know. Just some thoughts, -Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astillac Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Forgive me if I'm being obtuse, but what is wrong with the image on the top of the character sheet? Or do you develop your characters elsewhere? - Callista Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Forgive me if I'm being obtuse, but what is wrong with the image on the top of the character sheet? Nothing, Calli. We're just greedy users who want more options. Typically, -Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nadinbrzezinski Posted March 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Calli there is no problem, but if you have BIGGER images my maps will be easier to see, and I will not have to open the graphics program they were created in, unless that is I have to modify the map. As I said, with the characters perse, it is fine, but maps... that is where you want to have the ability to make it bigger. Otherwise, the text in my maps, not to mention the details, are useless... while working IN storyist. And yes, I find myself opening the world map every so often, as well s city maps and even location maps. And no, mapping is not just for science fiction or fantasy writers. Storybinder allows you to place the character anywhere in the "sheet." Remember, I can print these dossiers, I can't print those (and truth be told if it had worked WELL under cross over, we wouldn't even be having this conversation) And for the record, Scrivener, which does not do character dossiers perse, can import images as well, and they are slightly more useful in scriv. Yes, in case you have not noticed, I have used MULTIPLE packages over the years... which reminds me, I need to do another writing review for the website, and START the Windows section as well. There are some really neat programs in that platform as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Anyhoo, just sharing the excitement of discovering how to use this and perhaps how to improve its usability. (and yes, I am aware that as a developer, we may be looking at version 2.0 or what have you and an upgrade price. As a game designer, RPGs, I know just how much time you can put into this stuff and it gets to the point where you need to charge for it) Hi Nadin, Thanks for the requests. I moved the topic here so we could keep track of it with the others. There is obviously much more we could do with images, and it'll be good to continue the discussion. -Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoninCA Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 ok..it might be me, but ....HOW do you insert pics into Character Sheets? Something that should be intuitive seems remarkably difficult.....it doesn't come up as an option and won't cut and paste.... Thanks, Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 ok..it might be me, but ....HOW do you insert pics into Character Sheets? Something that should be intuitive seems remarkably difficult.....it doesn't come up as an option and won't cut and paste.... Hi Ron, Welcome to the board! To insert a picture into a character sheet, drag an image onto the character icon. If you are running on Leopard, you can also double click to bring up the picture editor and choose one using the open dialog. -Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoninCA Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Thanks, Steve Drag and drop was the first thing I tried - and the first that failed. Shortly afterwards I had great success failing at finding any way to insert a pic on the menu, or even cut-and-paste via the keyboard. Any suggestions - I'm running the most recent version of Storyist.... Thanks, Ron Hi Ron, Welcome to the board! To insert a picture into a character sheet, drag an image onto the character icon. If you are running on Leopard, you can also double click to bring up the picture editor and choose one using the open dialog. -Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoninCA Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 STEVE - PLEASE DISREGARD PRIOR IDIOCY!! Got it...thanks.....appears I was trying to copy an image from PREVIEW, which wasn't working at all. Seems that when I followed your advice it worked like a charm... Thanks, Ron Thanks, Steve Drag and drop was the first thing I tried - and the first that failed. Shortly afterwards I had great success failing at finding any way to insert a pic on the menu, or even cut-and-paste via the keyboard. Any suggestions - I'm running the most recent version of Storyist.... Thanks, Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 There is obviously much more we could do with images, and it'll be good to continue the discussion. Okay, let's continue. Just what are these many obvious things we can do with images, Steve? I may want to try some of them. Stepped in it, didn't you. -Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Okay, let's continue. Just what are these many obvious things we can do with images, Steve? I may want to try some of them. My list so far (off the top of my head): Copy/paste support in the image wells (the image containers on the story sheets). Image support in the notebook. Image support in the manuscript. Basic image editing support (crop, rotate, scale, etc.) for the above. Image frames other than Polariod in the storyboard. Multiple image support in story sheets. The ability to annotate an image. Support for references to images external to the project. Support for other aspect ratios in the storyboard. -Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted March 19, 2008 Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 My list so far (off the top of my head): And that's just off the top of your head? Imagine what you'd come up with if you thought about this for a sunny afternoon! (It's been raining all day here.) -Thoth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nadinbrzezinski Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 The list looks good. If I was going to prioritize it... I'd probably ask for JPEG handling in the notes section first. It is the only section that does not have this ability yet. I'd probably follow it with multiple size handling And lastly... and yes I know the pain this can be... adding support for Targa and TIFF, as well as PSD. Yes, that last one is greed, mostly not wanting to have multiple copies in multiple formats of multiple picture files... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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