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Story Artwork

Eddie Davidson ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

Edit: original question was answered and the thread has long since been hijacked by the more toxic members of the community..

Advice to new members of the community is never ask a question in this forum. There are many patient and kind members of the community but they are out voiced by the toxic ones. It is incredibly frustrating because a forum to ask other authors questions and share advice would be highly valuable if it wasn't just a platform for trolls.

Ernest Bywater ๐Ÿšซ

@Eddie Davidson

I use GIMP for all of my artwork and image manipulation work and find it easy to use and very versatile. I don't do any motion or 3D work, so I'm not sure how well it does on those.

www.gimp.org

Renderosity is a site where a lot of people post all sorts of image work.

www.renderosity.com

Mushroom ๐Ÿšซ

@Eddie Davidson

There used to be an old software called "The Movies" - it was a video game, but it also let you make movies. It had a pretty clean interface and if it let you show boobs/butts I would say it was perfect for my needs because I could screen cap stills and turn them into the adult graphic novel I want.

I have used Second Life for doing that in the past. And a lot of creators have used it as well for Machinima.

Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ

@Eddie Davidson

The problem with what you're planning, is that you'll likely 'borrow' copyrighted material, and will open yourself to lawsuits if anyone recognizes their material in your posts. Chances are, you can likely get away with it, but it's not a wise move, either for your reputation or from a ethical standpoint (most on this forum are understandably against copyright violations, for obvious reasons).

To put this into context, I've always had a knack for very realistic freehand sketches, yet aside from my latest book, I've never attempted to illustrate them with my own work. Instead, I use Stock images, where I legally purchase the images I use to illustrate my story, so the ownership is free and clear. Yet even there, I've had several purchased images vanish from the Stock Image library, as someone reported the images as copyrighted by someone else, and rather than admit it, they simply remove the images, expected users to 'notice' it's no longer available and simply stop using them on their own.

There have been a few authors who've simply 'requested' images on photo sharing sites (i.e. DeviantArt). I tried that myself, and could never get a single reply, so he either had an 'in' or had a previous relationship with the artists.

As far as best software, there are various products (the only one's I've noticed are on iPhone and iPads) where you can add elements to images you already own the rights to (thought and speech balloons, for example). Those seem easier than attempting to master a complicated software for 'managing' artwork, as most of the images end up with disjointed limbs (ex: limbs extending from their chest, or hands disappearing into their thighs), which therefore appear amateurish.

Replies:   Dominions Son
Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@Vincent Berg

here have been a few authors who've simply 'requested' images on photo sharing sites (i.e. DeviantArt). I tried that myself, and could never get a single reply, so he either had an 'in' or had a previous relationship with the artists.

There are artists on DeviantArt that do commission work. And there are other sites where you can find artists who take commissions. It's not cheap and will likely be even more expensive for something you want to use as a book cover. But if you want quality art work specific to your book, it's an option.

Replies:   Vincent Berg
Vincent Berg ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

It's not cheap and will likely be even more expensive for something you want to use as a book cover.

Plus, if he's discussing a graphic novel, those costs will substantially increase with each additional page. Frankly, a better idea is to locate a local struggling artist and convince them that the book's likely to attract attention and pay for itself. That way, rather than paying for the artwork outright, you'd only need to market the hell out of the book, so the commissions would cover the artist's expectations.

That's how the other author supposedly did it, convincing the Deviant artists that his stories would bring new fans for their art.

irvmull ๐Ÿšซ

@Eddie Davidson

Do you want cartoon art or more realistic images?

I can produce fairly realistic images using Daz3d. But it is a lot of work just to do one. An entire graphic novel, no way. Not going to happen.

Daz can produce cartoons as well, but in my opinion, they're entirely unsatisfactory, compared to what a human artist can do.

As Vincent Berg noted, capturing images from a game seems like a bad idea, legally.

Replies:   Eddie Davidson
Eddie Davidson ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@irvmull

Yes, i was looking for a storyboard/comic creator with art, backgrounds, props like Daz.

Not sure how we got onto stealing copyrights, or using video games. The clip maker is literally created to make stories.

Ill mess with daz.

Replies:   irvmull  Mushroom
irvmull ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@Eddie Davidson

Go to deviantart (dot) com and search for daz3d.

Best not to do this at work.

You'll see that in the hands of a real artist, it can create some great illustrations.

In other hands, not so much.
But ain't that true of everything?

Replies:   Dominions Son
Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@irvmull

You'll see that in the hands of a real artist, it can create some great illustrations.

It's not the tool that makes it art, it's the artist.

Mushroom ๐Ÿšซ

@Eddie Davidson

Not sure how we got onto stealing copyrights, or using video games. The clip maker is literally created to make stories.

*laugh*

Since I was the only one that seems to have mentioned anything like a "game", I guess that means me.

Second Life is not a "game", as much as it is a "visual chat space". But it also has some rather detailed and advanced visuals, including a lot of customizations. And because of this, it is very popular for use in the area of Machinima, or making movies with other assets.

The advantage is that you can do almost anything, odds are the capabilities already exist inside the world. I have even used it myself for images I used in a game I started to create with Ren'py, but grew bored with after a while and abandoned.

And I find it strange that you are so dismissive of "a game", as you yourself mentioned "The Movies". As I myself not only used that, but made several that got quite a bit of recognition before the Lionhead website was shut down.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-zTwVDMJAk

And having done both Machinima and done both video and audio editing for over 20 years, Second Life is a great solution for both as it is easy to use, and there is almost no limit to the number of characters you have involved. Either find other people to help you, or load multiple instances and characters and go to town.

Want a werewolf? A vampire? A 20 person orgy, beach setting or set something on top of Mount Everest, it is all there. With complete control of lighting, camera, and a great many other effects from lighting and environment (rain, fog, snow) to clothing and bodies, along with almost anything else. Much of it free, and easy to use.

elevated_subways ๐Ÿšซ

@Eddie Davidson

About the copyright violations: if there is some generic image like a photo of the Statue of Liberty, nobody can tell if you took the photo or someone else did. With what you're planning, there is a chance that it will be recognized.

On Getty Images, say, all the photos of celebrities have the Getty Images name across them. What are the chances of having your own photo of, perhaps, Sarah Miles? Unless you took a shot at what is obviously a movie premier or some such event, the odds are against you.

The only programs I know are Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. If you are doing 2-D non-animated, you could scan what you need and maybe one of those could do what you want. Illustrator might be best if you wish to draw anything within the program.

Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@elevated_subways

What are the chances of having your own photo of, perhaps, Sarah Miles? Unless you took a shot at what is obviously a movie premier or some such event, the odds are against you.

Even if you did have your own photo of Sara Miles, unless it's for a news article, you can't legally publish it without a model release form.

Replies:   elevated_subways
elevated_subways ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

I had forgotten about that. Obviously, I don't have any private celebrity photos of my own, but it's as if Sara Miles herself has a copyright.

In fact, I think if someone snapped a photo of me walking down the street, they'd need a release to use it under certain conditions. Yet there was a photographer named Bruce Davidson who took many pictures of Brooklyn teenagers in the 1950s. Did he actually get releases from all of those people? When he published a book in 1998, how could he even find most of them? Or is there a time limitation?

Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@elevated_subways

I don't have any private celebrity photos of my own, but it's as if Sara Miles herself has a copyright.

Has nothing to do with copyright. My understanding the model release requirements come from two places. Prevention of fraud in advertising (leaving a false impression that someone endorses a product) and age verification requirements.

Ernest Bywater ๐Ÿšซ

@elevated_subways

In fact, I think if someone snapped a photo of me walking down the street, they'd need a release to use it under certain conditions. Yet there was a photographer named Bruce Davidson who took many pictures of Brooklyn teenagers in the 1950s. Did he actually get releases from all of those people? When he published a book in 1998, how could he even find most of them? Or is there a time limitation?

Yes, it most circumstances you need a release by all involved today, but the relevant privacy laws didn't exist in the 1950s so that photographer is safe with the old photos.

Ernest Bywater ๐Ÿšซ

@elevated_subways

About the copyright violations: if there is some generic image like a photo of the Statue of Liberty, nobody can tell if you took the photo or someone else did.

They can if there is an embedded watermark, which is what a lot of the professional photographers do. Also, be careful with sites like Getty Images as they do not always have the correct permissions to be allowing you to use the images for commercial use. There's one famous US photography who found a swag of their photos on Getty without her permission, instead of getting her knickers in a twist and running up lawyer bills she simply handed the collection they had and several other collections of hers to the Congressional Library with a special copyright approval which placed all of her images in the public domain in such a way as no one could legally charge anyone for access to them or for using them. Thus you can now get her images free from her website or from the US Congressional Library and Getty Images had to take them down off their website or make them free to anyone to use.

Replies:   Dominions Son
Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@Ernest Bywater

@elevated_subways

About the copyright violations: if there is some generic image like a photo of the Statue of Liberty, nobody can tell if you took the photo or someone else did.


They can if there is an embedded watermark, which is what a lot of the professional photographers do. Also, be careful with sites like Getty Images as they do not always have the correct permissions to be allowing you to use the images for commercial use.

There's another potential legal issue with photo's of distinctive monuments and buildings. The monument/building itself may be protected by copyright.

In which case a photograph constitutes a derivative work and I've heard about cases of photographers and/or movie studios being sued by architects and/or building owners over this.

Switch Blayde ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

There's another potential legal issue with photo's of distinctive monuments and buildings. The monument/building itself may be protected by copyright.

You can take a picture of the Eiffel Tower and use it anyway you want, but not if it's lit up at night. That is copyright protected.

Replies:   Dominions Son
Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@Switch Blayde

You can take a picture of the Eiffel Tower and use it anyway you want, but not if it's lit up at night. That is copyright protected.

AFIK the base monument design is old enough to be off copyright. The lighting set up is not that old.

elevated_subways ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

Yes, in 2002 the Sony Corporation was sued by building owners in Times Square when the Spider Man movie superimposed new images over the real advertising signs. Somehow they thought it would hurt their ability to sell more signs. I don't know how the case was resolved.

Eddie Davidson ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@Eddie Davidson

I didnt want this to devolve into a yet another copyright argument.

I never said anything about stealing copyright material. I was looking for something that was specifically designed to tell visual stories. I cant draw. Daz looks close enough.

Can we let this drop and close the thread?

Its incredibly frustrating to ask a question and have it clogged up with an unrelated argument.

I will investigate Daz and maybe find a blog to post it on. Thank you everyone for your help.

Replies:   Dominions Son
Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@Eddie Davidson

I will investigate Daz and maybe find a blog to post it on.

Read the licensing carefully. There may be restrictions on using their models for a commercially published image.

Replies:   Eddie Davidson
Eddie Davidson ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@Dominions Son

I do not intend to charge any money. Daz provides paid dlc to download and use their art. I don't plan to animate. I plan to use it for 2D.

I appreciate the advice, but my question is answered and this topic can be closed.

Replies:   elevated_subways
elevated_subways ๐Ÿšซ

@Eddie Davidson

Sorry, I guess we thought this might have a bearing on what you're trying to do.

Replies:   Eddie Davidson
Eddie Davidson ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@elevated_subways

Sorry, I guess we thought this might have a bearing on what you're trying to do.

I keep saying that my question was answered and asking that the thread be closed since it is now strictly about copyright infringement and that was never my topic.
The thread got hijacked a long time ago for a completely different purpose despite the many times I have mentioned that wasn't asking about any of this.

There are dozen threads where amateur lawyers argue the universal laws of copyright. I've intentionally tried to stay out of those conversations because there are literally thousands of fanfiction stories on the internet and no one really cares as long as money doesn't change hands.

It's not a topic worth arguing about. Fanfiction is floating around the internet and it will continue to do so.

I hate that copyright infringement is associated now with this thread and it keeps getting bumped. I literally never brought up that topic. My question has been answered.

I truly regret asking the original question.

Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@Eddie Davidson

I keep saying that my question was answered and asking that the thread be closed since it is now strictly about copyright infringement and that was never my topic.

Our host generally does not close threads for topic drift. And it happens to every thread eventually.

Your question was answered. Move on and ignore the topic from now on.

Be happy it didn't drift into a flame war or a pun fest.

Dominions Son ๐Ÿšซ

@Eddie Davidson

See, now it's going to turn in to a pun fest.

Replies:   Eddie Davidson  joyR
Eddie Davidson ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

Yep. Trolls.

Thanks.

joyR ๐Ÿšซ

@Dominions Son

See, now it's going to turn in to a pun fest.

You basically invited a respunse

:)

richardshagrin ๐Ÿšซ

@Eddie Davidson

Fanfiction

Stories about devices that move air, fans.

"/fan/

noun
plural noun: fans
1.
an apparatus with rotating blades that creates a current of air for cooling or ventilation.
"a couple of ceiling fans, lazily turning"
Similar:
air cooler
air conditioner
ventilator
blower
aerator
punkah
2.
a device, typically folding and shaped like a segment of a circle when spread out, that is held in the hand and waved so as to cool the person holding it by causing the air to move.
"the girls were giggling behind their fan

verb
3rd person present: fans
1.
cool (especially a person or a part of the body) by waving something to create a current of air.
"he fanned himself with his hat"
Similar:
cool
air
aerate
blow
ventilate
freshen
refresh
2.
increase the strength of (a fire) by blowing on it or stirring up the air near it.
"gusty wind fanned fires in Yellowstone Park"

Keet ๐Ÿšซ

@Eddie Davidson

Some links to software that might just be what you are looking for:
Pencil2D
OpenToonz
Synfig Studio
These are all open source and available for multiple platforms.

joyR ๐Ÿšซ

@Eddie Davidson

I just want to see if I can tell stories with an entirely graphic medium

Your new writing partner is an exhibitionist clairvoyant?

Didn't she see this issue cumming?

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