Thursday, May 11, 2017

Making Scenario Maps with PowerPoint

Just a quicky today folks.

I've created a short (ish) video on how I use Microsoft PowerPoint to create my scenario maps.

Since I'm the farthest thing from an artist and can't create jaw dropping maps I looked to an easier way to build out my scenario maps ... using PowerPoint.


So in the spirit of sharing my lack of skills I've put up a video that hopefully you'll find useful ... unless of course you are an artist.  Embedded version below ... and link below that ...


You can watch this video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTrylQB2lIM

You can download the scenario template file here:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/sthajkew0v10ggj/scenario_template_sotek486.pptx?dl=0 (this is also in the new downloads widget on the right side of the blog, bottom of the list)

12 comments:

  1. I just love powerpoint - use it for everything from making flags, casrds and maps. Nice job on the video

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    1. Thanks! Yes ... an often overlooked and powerful tool :-)

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  2. Just crossing the "T's" and dotting the "I's" on that Lifetime Achievement award LOL! Very helpful, great stuff as always Jay!

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  3. Thank you very much for this video. I found it extremely helpful for making maps.

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  4. Hi Jay - I'm a big fan of using Powerpoint for wargaming so thanks for a great tutorial.

    I'm aware that different versions have different features - I'm using PPT 2011 on a Mac so its different again - You can actually crop your picture within PowerPoint so once you've saved your picture, just create the blank slide, import the picture and crop it from there - that way you don't need to open a paint program :-)

    Cheers, Iain

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    1. Ahhh yes ... MAC and PC ... although I'm a pc user ... my fellow team mates at work tell me about the differences. I'm a big fan of the picture editing you can do in PowerPoint :-)

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  5. I am new to PowerPoint, but I wanted to use it to improve my battle reports. I asked for help on TMP and was given a link to this blog.

    It is an excellent description of how to make maps, but I make mine with Camaign Cartogropher. What I am really looking for is advice on how to show the movement of the battle using my maps.

    I would be very grateful if you could direct me to any online toutorials.

    Better still if you would be prepared to help me out on a one to one basis?

    Any help you can give would be much appreciated

    My email address is paulleniston@hotmail.com

    Paul

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    1. Ooo ... movement. That is tough. I've only used it to make the map ... never for a battle report. You could try messing with the animation functions in PowerPoint. Unfortunately I'm far from an expert on the matter.

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