{"id":373,"date":"2020-10-17T00:35:57","date_gmt":"2020-10-17T07:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/?p=373"},"modified":"2020-10-17T02:03:40","modified_gmt":"2020-10-17T09:03:40","slug":"gm-guide-to-animated-maps-in-roll20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/17\/gm-guide-to-animated-maps-in-roll20\/","title":{"rendered":"GM Guide to Animated Maps in Roll20"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/17\/gm-guide-to-animated-maps-in-roll20\/#Introduction\" >Introduction<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/17\/gm-guide-to-animated-maps-in-roll20\/#Download_the_Needed_Software\" >Download the Needed Software<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/17\/gm-guide-to-animated-maps-in-roll20\/#Setting_Up_Your_Animated_Map\" >Setting Up Your Animated Map<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/17\/gm-guide-to-animated-maps-in-roll20\/#Final_Thoughts\" >Final Thoughts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Introduction\"><\/span>Introduction<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Ever seen those really <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLuip1-Xv8uKI-fnls0HVKwgZ-Erfw9-W0\">cool animated backgrounds in YouTube<\/a> and think to yourself &#8220;man I wish I could use that in Roll20&#8221;? Well, it turns out you <em>can<\/em>, with a few easy steps. I tested it out earlier tonight and it works great. You could have maps like the one below for your players in 8 easy steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/To9XgSd7iYI?list=PLuip1-Xv8uKI-fnls0HVKwgZ-Erfw9-W0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" width=\"1106\" height=\"622\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Download_the_Needed_Software\"><\/span>Download the Needed Software<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Download <a href=\"https:\/\/justas-d.github.io\/roll20-enhancement-suite\/index.html\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/justas-d.github.io\/roll20-enhancement-suite\/index.html\">Roll20 Enhancement Suite<\/a> &#8211; it is a simple browser addon, like an adblocker. <em>Every player<\/em> in your game needs to download this for them to see the animated map. They should anyway, as the extra functionality it gives Roll20 is gives is pretty cool. <\/li><li>Download <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.videolan.org\/vlc\/\" target=\"_blank\">VLC<\/a>. Only the GM needs to do this, for reasons described below. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Setting_Up_Your_Animated_Map\"><\/span>Setting Up Your Animated Map<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1.<\/strong> After your fresh download of the Roll20 Enhancement Suit, you should now have a new icon in the player area with a roll of film. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"149\" height=\"177\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-374\"\/><figcaption>Button for Animated Background Setup<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2. <\/strong>Click on this new icon will bring you to this screen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"584\" height=\"293\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-376\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-2.png 584w, https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-2-300x151.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><figcaption>Animated Background Setup Screen<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The only part that concerns us in this dialog box is the &#8220;Media URL&#8221; input, where I have written &#8220;STREAM GOES HERE&#8221;. You need to fill this in. This has to be a <em>direct stream<\/em> URL, not the YouTube URL that we are familiar with, so we have to convert it. Which brings us to our next step and why you needed to download VLC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3. <\/strong>First, choose the YouTube <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLuip1-Xv8uKI-fnls0HVKwgZ-Erfw9-W0\">animated background map<\/a> you wish to use and open it in its <em>own tab<\/em>. Copy the web address in the address bar to your clipboard (CTRL-C). You will need this address in a moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4. <\/strong>Open VLC. Click on <strong>Media<\/strong> on the menu bar, then <strong>Stream&#8230;<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"376\" height=\"423\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-377\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-3.png 376w, https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-3-267x300.png 267w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 376px) 100vw, 376px\" \/><figcaption>Click &#8220;Media&#8221;, then &#8220;Stream&#8230;&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5. <\/strong>Click the <strong>Network<\/strong> tab. <strong>Paste the URL<\/strong> of the YouTube video you copied earlier where it says &#8220;Please enter a network URL&#8221; and click <strong>Stream<\/strong> below. Then push <strong>Next<\/strong> (the next few dialogue screens don&#8217;t matter, so keep pushing it) until the video is loaded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"633\" height=\"461\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-4.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-378\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-4.png 633w, https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-4-300x218.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 633px) 100vw, 633px\" \/><figcaption>Click &#8220;Stream&#8221; then &#8220;Next&#8221; a few times without worrying about the next few screens. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>6. <\/strong>The video should start playing, but ignore that for now. What you want to do is click <strong>Tools<\/strong> in the menu, and then click <strong>Codec Info<\/strong> (or just press CTRL-J).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"269\" height=\"276\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-5.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-379\"\/><figcaption>Click &#8220;Tools&#8221; then &#8220;Codec Information&#8221;<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7. <\/strong>On the bottom of the new box, there will be a <strong>Location<\/strong> with a URL. <strong>Right click<\/strong> it, &#8220;<strong>Select All<\/strong>&#8220;, right click it again, &#8220;<strong>Copy<\/strong>&#8220;. This is the <strong><em>MEDIA URL<\/em> <\/strong>to the video that the extension on Roll20 was asking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"598\" height=\"509\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-6.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-6.png 598w, https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-6-300x255.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 598px) 100vw, 598px\" \/><figcaption>That long line of gibberish is the &#8220;Media URL&#8221; that the Roll20 Enhancement Suit needs to run the animated map. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>8. <\/strong>That long line of gibberish is the &#8220;Media URL&#8221; that the Roll20 Enhancement Suit needs to run the animated map. Make sure you copy the whole thing! <strong>Paste<\/strong> it into the <strong>Media URL<\/strong> in the <strong>Roll20 Animated Maps Setting <\/strong>and that&#8217;s it! It should load automatically. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-8.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-382\" width=\"578\" height=\"290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-8.png 590w, https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image-8-300x151.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 578px) 100vw, 578px\" \/><figcaption>Final steps!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Final_Thoughts\"><\/span>Final Thoughts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It might appear daunting at first with all 8 of these steps, but I assure, it&#8217;s super easy once you get the hang of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a side note, I&#8217;ve only figured out how to do this today and I&#8217;m sure there will be bugs found in the future. I&#8217;ve already discovered one: the &#8220;Media URL&#8221; seems to expire after a few hours, so you have to do the whole process with VLC<em> just <\/em>before your game. I&#8217;m sure others will be found as well. But it sure it cool technology I think we should use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, I feel like I have to note that you can use <em>any<\/em> video for a map, not just a YouTube one. It is outside the scope of this guide, but if we run out of YouTube maps I can write a guide for that as well (it is a different process). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction Ever seen those really cool animated backgrounds in YouTube and think to yourself &#8220;man I wish I could use that in Roll20&#8221;? Well, it turns out you can, with a few easy steps. I tested it out earlier tonight and it works great. You could have maps like the one below for your players &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/17\/gm-guide-to-animated-maps-in-roll20\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;GM Guide to Animated Maps in Roll20&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":402,"href":"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions\/402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tabletopguild.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}