SP Online Icon Database...

[thatguy96]

That's a really cool idea too. I'll definitely keep an eye on this for updates. How much spaces does one of the entries take in comparison to how much space you get? Can people submit things to you?

[MarkSheppard]

Yeah, just submit any icons or whatever you've done to me at ryancrierie@yahoo.com

[MarkSheppard]

Hm I'm faced with a quandary....

Should I maintain the icons as they are in native .bmp format; which sometimes does not work well with modern web browsers; and takes up space; or should I convert them to 16.7 million color PNGs?

The BMPs for the Crusader SPH are: 97~ kb
The PNGs for the Crusader SPH are: 7~ kb

But I'm not sure whether to do it or not; because I imagine a lot of people don't have decent image editing programs that can be used to convert between formats...

[thatguy96]

Would you save enough to then provide a .zip or .rar to dl with the original .bmps and still have it be practical in terms of space saved? Just a thought.

I know that's in many ways very complicated too, but I have noticed that converting back from other formats somethings changes the colors dramatically and causes "flickering" because some of the new colors are dynamic.

[PlasmaKrab]

I agree, getting a lightweight front pic and a link to an archive may be the best solution, though more complicated.
PNG pics I have tested tend to stick to the original colors but don't lose much weight. Anyhow, retroconversion in itself is a moot point since even the Windows image browser can handle PNGs. Now if there has been the slightest change in the image, the end user will need to reindex it to the palette, which 1) isn't something everyone will spend time to do and 2) takes a large bit off the point of having icons delivered ready to use when in fact they aren't.
It all depends on the storage space and working time you are ready to devote to this.

BTW, do you store and sort LBMs as well?

[MarkSheppard]

Yeah, it's very practical in space

Example:

M2001 Crusader Icons in BMP: 93 kb

Same icons zipped up with PNG placeholders: 19 kb

[MarkSheppard]

Updated all the pages to use the new PNG format + zip of BMPs; and added one new page: the Marder 2 by Plasma.

[MarkSheppard]

BTW, do you store and sort LBMs as well?

I have about 2,379~ LBMs sorted taking up 69 MB of space on my hard drive; most are in color or sorts. But the big problem is categorizing them, perhaps I should do it by series, like put all the Panzer IV related LBMs onto a single page+download?

[oragus]

So how much stuff you gonna put on here? I have all kinds of stuff I could give ya to put on there?