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Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:18 Oct 2013, 02:35
by Ultyzarus
Here is an idea for uploading cover art scans: Having templates depending on the type of cover (Generic Box and Slipcase templates, Jewel Case templates, Platform-specific templates, etc.). There would be a zone for each cover, and the contributor just has to choose to which zone he will upload the image, Here is an example (PS3):
Image
And here is how it would look once the covers are uploaded:
Image

I suggest having cover layers, the user being able to add or remove layers as he progresses. That way, it would be easy to have, for instance, a Music Disc in a Jewel Case and a Game Disc in a Keep Case that are Both inside a Box, which is Covered by a Slipcase: We would have four layers, one of which would have two parts:

Layer 1: Slipcase
Layer 2: Box
Layer 3-1: Keep Case
Layer 3-2: Jewel Case
Layer 4: Game Disc, Soundtrack Disc and Manual

Having template would also allow for different type of cover being rewarded with more or less points (Spine, for instance would give less points, especially PS1 Spines). We would also need a customizable/default template for unusual cover types.

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:18 Oct 2013, 21:22
by MZ per X
Wow, this is exactly how I would do it, so full ACK. I also added the layer idea to the data model (Connection 12).

Keep the cool feature ideas coming! :)

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:18 Oct 2013, 22:07
by Ultyzarus
This also prevents people from trying to submit things like PS3 case Top/Bottom, and it makes knowing what scans are actually missing easier as well.

If you like the cover deconstruction part, I can do different templates: Keep Case (White - Wii/PC), Keep Case (Black, Blue and Silver - PS2), Game Cube Keep Case, SEGA Case, Keep Case (Green - Xbox 360), DS Case, 3DS Case, Jewel Case, Double Jewel Case, etc.

It takes some time, but I'm psyched about doing that :P

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:18 Oct 2013, 22:17
by MZ per X
Ultyzarus wrote:It takes some time, but I'm psyched about doing that :P
There's no doubt that you're psyched about more than that, if only it's game-data-related. But so am I. ;)

So if you can't stop yourself from doing these templates, then just go ahead, and put these in the wiki under Data Ressources. Good to have! :D

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:18 Oct 2013, 22:45
by Ultyzarus
Good, I'll add those in the Data Resources. I will also make a scanning tools page: I have made templates for scanning Discs and PSP UMDs with perfectly white background in a flash. The only thing is that they need Photoshop or a similar software, and they're 300 dpi.

Which also brings me to another point: File resolution.

MG accepted scans anywhere from 200 to 600 dpi, the norm being 300 dpi.

I think that all scans should be at 300dpi, since it has a good quality compared to 200dpi and that 600dpi makes uselessly large files that are hell to upload.

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:18 Oct 2013, 23:10
by MZ per X
Phew, I don't even know which resolution I chose for the covers I submitted to Mobygames.

You are the obvious expert on covers, and I am not. So feel free to draft a new Oregami standard for this in the wiki. (BTW Rocky asked a similar question in the German part. Rocky, if you read this, then please comment on a possible standard. Legal issues aside for now.)

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:19 Oct 2013, 19:01
by Patrick
300 dpi are the preferred resolution, but I don't think we should reject scans with only 200 dpi. For most covers you can still see and read everything just fine.

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:19 Oct 2013, 20:50
by Rocky
I agree with Ultyzarus and Patrick and I would prefer the 300 dpi resolution too. 200 dpi should be more an exception for rare games, I think. BTW if you accept lower resolutions, the risk of getting a copied scan from an other database or something else would be increase.

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:20 Oct 2013, 02:42
by Ultyzarus
For the data resources, will this do? http://wiki.oregami.org/display/OR/Cove ... +Templates
I'll create the different template variations as I scan the missing parts from my collection. That way, I'll easily see what is needed. Each template will have an actual example. Any idea is welcome.

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:20 Oct 2013, 21:01
by MZ per X
Looks more than good enough for my taste. And very interesting it is, too! :)

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:20 Oct 2013, 21:25
by Ultyzarus
After that, it will be up to the programmers to use them the best possible way. They will have to make it so the canvas adjusts to the uploaded images.

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:03 Feb 2014, 14:32
by Ultyzarus
On another note, still related to covers, here is a nice suggestion:
Pseudo_Intellectual (43132), Yesterday, 10:43 PM
This reminds me of the ongoing rumination over how neat it would be to show a game's title screen if there are no media scans on file, but how it would require special metadata etc. Actually, we have that metadata already: the picture description "Title screen".

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:03 Feb 2014, 21:26
by MZ per X
Actually, the main graphical element of a game's rap sheet should be its logo anyway, I think. Some cover or screenshot would then be just a fallback.

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:03 Feb 2014, 21:34
by Ultyzarus
Interesting. Where would we get those logos? It's pretty easy for modern games, but for the oldest ones?

Re: Cover Art Wizard

PostPosted:03 Feb 2014, 21:50
by MZ per X
Ultyzarus wrote:Interesting. Where would we get those logos? It's pretty easy for modern games, but for the oldest ones?
I see no other way than to extract them from a cover or screenshot. :)