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I'm here to update on the WoW Mosaic Project that I had initiated earlier. I also did a followup post that showed a Proof of Concept mosaic for this project.

The proof of concept post generated some additional interest. Those that responded with additional screenshots were Jatheak from 70 Tauren Warrior, Phaelia from Resto4Life, and Autumnn from Grumble N Autumnn. I'm also submitting additional screenshots. Together, there is an additional 331 screenshots that will be added to the existing pool of images. The new total is 642, so I think it would be a good time to do an update and see what impact these have on the overall mosaic.

Below is the original Blog Azeroth logo that I've used as the proof of concept image. The image to the right of it is the resulting image from the first mosaic discussed in detail in the Proof of Concept post. Recall that this was done with a pool of 311 screenshots.

Original. Click on image to see larger version

40 X 40 Mosaic. Pool of 311 screenshots. Click on image to see larger version

By adding the additional 331 screenshots to the pool of potential screenshots, there is a newly formed image below and to the right. Notice that the image is different from the first mosaic, and that there are even exchanges in the screenshots from the original mosaic. This is because the mosaic software found better matches for those areas from the additional screenshots. Can you see now how the larger the pool of screenshots there is the better the mosaic can get?

Original. Click on image to see larger version

40 X 40 Mosaic. Pool of 642 screenshots. Click on image to see larger version

As you could see, the additional screenshots did a lot to improve the overall quality of the mosaic. The image is getting more defined and the smaller details are beginning to appear. Naturally it would get even better if there was a larger pool of screenshots to select from, but that would only improve it up to a point. This is because the next limitation would be that of image resolution, meaning the number of tiles within the mosaic. Presently, the above two mosaics were done using 40 X 40 tiles (1600 total tiles). So the blocky appearance would still exist even with a lot more screenshots in our pool. In order to address this, we'd have to increase the resolution or the number of tiles used in the mosaic.

So let's take a look at what would happen to the mosaic if we used the same number of screenshot in our existing pool (642 screenshots) but doubled the resolution from 40 X 40 tiles to 80 X 80 tiles (6400 total tiles).

Original. Click on image to see larger version

80 X 80 Mosaic, Pool of 642 screenshots. Click on image to see larger version

Now the blockiness has diminished greatly and the finer details of the logo are becoming more defined. This is very apparent especially in the words "Blog Azeroth". So increasing the resolution really does help alot even with a small number tiles. However we are going to need even a larger pool screenshots to capture the colors better have the image be more accurate. Imagine that the number of screenshots as being equivalent to a color and shapes pallet. The larger the pallet to choose from, the better representative the mosaic would become to the original.

At some point if enough screenshots are received I'd love to move from a simple logo to something a lot more complicated like a character screenshot or some WoW scenery. I'd also like to increase the mosaic resolution even more up. Higher resolution will definitely be required to do a mosaic with a lot of detail in the original image.

I'd like to extend my thanks again to all those from the blogging community that have submitted screenshots. I am encouraging everyone who sees this to submimt any and all screenshots you may have (with or without UI). I'll take what you have. The more the better!

You could send screenshots directly to

I'm here to update on the WoW Mosaic Project that I had initiated earlier. To date, I have received submissions from additional people, Delmain over at They See Me Trollin', and Andrea at Altoholic Mom. Together we have a total of 311 screenshots.

Though it's not nearly enough to make a high resolution mosaic, it's enough to do a proof-of-concept mosaic to show people what exactly this project is about. As a proof-of-concept I needed a relatively simple image so I contacted Phaelia and Valenna at Blog Azeroth if I could use the Blog Azeroth logo as the initial mosaic. Having their permission and a copy of a high resolution version of it, I proceeded.

I started with a 40 x 40 mosaic image as the baseline (1600 total tiles) and allowed that each image could appear in any number of tiles and that the images may be reused one tile apart.

Original. Click on image to see larger version

Mosaic. Click on image to see larger version

As you could see from above, the mosaic is beginning to take shape and you could actually distinguish the Blog Azeroth logo. Now remember that this is only using the 311 screenshots I have so far, so considering that, I think the mosaic is surprisingly good.

Depending on the actual screenshot itself and how well it matches a pattern within the original image will determine the relative contribution to the overall mosaic. If you look at the subsequent images, you could see the relative contribution of each submitter's screen shots.

	Delmain of They See Me Trollin' Submitted 162 screenshots. Click on image to see larger version
	Andrea of Altoholic Mom Submitted 64 screenshots. Click on image to see larger version
	Myself. Submitted 95 screenshots. Click on image to see larger version

I hope this proof-of-concept was helpful in showing what I was hoping to do with this project. As you could probably guess, the more screenshots I get the better the mosaic will be, and eventually I could move to more complicated and higher resolution mosaics. So if you find this interesting and are willing to donate your screenshots, I'm willing to incorporate them into the next update.

I'd again like to thank Delmain and Andrea for their initial submission of screenshots. I'd also like to thank Breana and Fimlys at the Twisted Nether Blogcast for helping spread the word about this project. Thank you!

You could now send screenshots directly to


Get an email image like the above by visiting here

Last week a new Shared Topic idea over at Blog Azeroth was proposed by Larisa of The Pink Pigtail Inn. She revisited a hypothetical question posed by Matticus to Phaelia in an interview back in January.

"Let’s hypothetically assume Blizzard goes out of business and decides to shut down their servers and WoW for good. You have 5 hours before the server shutdown is permanent. What would you do in 5 hours?"

It's a very interesting question because it brings up experiences or even items we've possessed that could have some kind of personal or sentimental value. It's intriguing considering that everything in WoW is virtual. However I know for some there would be some places and things that would evoke a sentimental response and would revisit or reexperience them one last time. There are probably those that will take this time to experience something new, like visit that old world raid instance, or those areas they never got to see. Some will just see it as the end of a game and make nothing of it.

I for one had put a lot of time into this game and have for the most part formulated a few ideas, opinions, friends, and yes even sentiment over some things. So I'd be one of those that would probably do something with those last five hours.

One last Karazhan run. Why Karazhan? Because it was the first real end-game content that I was able to experience and participate in. When I first reached level 60 it was only a month before The Burning Crusade came out so when it was released, everyone was on their way to 70 and the new content. The old world was left behind and so were the old raids. So Karazhan was to be my first end game raid. In a ways it was like a rite of passage. I had to be 70, I had to be attuned (back when there was still an attunement), I had to be geared and competent in my class, I had to find a raiding guild, and then I had to have patience for a raiding spot to open. When I was finally able to go, I was truly nervous. Like a child anticipating the first day of school, I had all my things prepared beforehand, and anxiously awaited the invite. I enjoyed the chaos and fun working through Kara and one last run through would be a great time.

Following the Kara run, I would take Ziv back down to Razorfen Kraul and re-tame a Rotting Agam'ar. Back when I was a level 26 hunter, I solo tamed one that I had named Chops. He quickly became my favorite pet and was with me as I leveled to 60. I had to eventually abandon him and that was a sad day. Though I've contemplated going back and getting another one, I haven't done so yet. So getting old Chops back would be like reuniting with an old friend.

I would probably then make my way over the Dun Morogh. There's a small open water hole in the frozen Iceflow Lake down by the Brenall Village that I've always found very peaceful. I'd do some fishing, share my catch with Chops, sit down and enjoy the end of the world.

I have a project idea, but I'm going to need some help. An idea came to me the other day while I was watching my OSX Leopard screen saver create these fantastic animated mosaic photos from a folder of some of my own photographs. When the screensaver was running, I saw one of my WoW screenshots in there and wondered if people have made any with WoW related mosaic images.

A while ago, Blizzard made a wallpaper that was a mosaic of the World of Warcraft logo comprised of World of Warcraft icons.

I've seached around for some WoW ones but I couldn't find any. It doesn't mean they don't exist, it just means my Google search efforts haven't been very successful. Now photo mosaics have been around a while, and almost anyone can make one nowadays. So my idea isn't anything new or groundbreaking, it's just something that I'd like to try out for fun.

However the problem is that in order to make high resolution mosaics I'm going to need screenshots. Lots of them. We're talking hundreds if not thousands of them. I'm not kidding. I made a test mosaic with a library of a couple hundred photos and it looked pretty good, the more photos I added into the pool the better it got. So I'm thinking that I'm going to need a lot. What I'm going to make a mosaic of? I don't know yet, that will really depend if I could get a lot of screenshots, but the first test one will probably be a simple one.

Anyway, I know I don't have many readers to this blog, so I'm going to enlist the suggestions and help of the WoW blogging community over there at Blog Azeroth. Perhaps with their help I could see this project get off it's feet. If you have any screenshots you'd like to contribute you could send me a message through my Contact page and I'll give you an email where you could send screenshots.

You could now send screenshots directly to


Get an email image like the above by visiting here