Concept art posting
by Nate "Nateholio" Watson · in General Discussion · 12/12/2004 (9:35 pm) · 11 replies
I was just wondering if it would be a wise idea to post a lot of concept art on a website. I would like to share it, but at the same time I dont want people to rip it off.
I'd better clarify my concerns before someone says a stupid comment like "then dont share it" etc. I'm looking for an INTELLIGENT opinion from those of you out there who have made and sold games.
Im not saying that my ideas are so new or cool that they WILL be ripped off, but theres always people out there who will rip off an idea without modifying it, whether its mine or someone elses. I understand it goes with the territory considering any type of art or design is basically building on someone elses ideas. The main reason I would like to share art is to get input from people on it, and possibly build interest in the project - and if it plants a seed of an idea in someone elses mind thats cool too.
Edit
If not sharing concept art, would it be better to share untextured models "rendered" in MS3D? That way one can get an idea of the shape, but not exactly where/what everything is.
I'd better clarify my concerns before someone says a stupid comment like "then dont share it" etc. I'm looking for an INTELLIGENT opinion from those of you out there who have made and sold games.
Im not saying that my ideas are so new or cool that they WILL be ripped off, but theres always people out there who will rip off an idea without modifying it, whether its mine or someone elses. I understand it goes with the territory considering any type of art or design is basically building on someone elses ideas. The main reason I would like to share art is to get input from people on it, and possibly build interest in the project - and if it plants a seed of an idea in someone elses mind thats cool too.
Edit
If not sharing concept art, would it be better to share untextured models "rendered" in MS3D? That way one can get an idea of the shape, but not exactly where/what everything is.
#2
I'm of the opinion that the more people share their work, the better, especially concepts artists, as there are precious few treading these boards. Just to mention it a third time, it really is part and parcel of what you're doing, but to think of it another way, how many concept artists' websites have you visited and thought "How cool!" You are influenced by them in some small and way and you will no doubt influence someone else. You end up sharing memes all over the place.
Good concept art also gets other people interested in your work, as it shows something beyond technology. It reminds us that behind the technology there is a human creating this, in a way screenshots and models just can't convey.
So go ahead and show your work. It would be great to see some more.
Cheers,
Paul.
12/13/2004 (2:15 am)
A trick a friend of mine used for countering that was by using PHP to introduce a transparent layer over the image. Right-clicking it would only allow the person to save the top layer, thus the saved file wouldn't have any information.I'm of the opinion that the more people share their work, the better, especially concepts artists, as there are precious few treading these boards. Just to mention it a third time, it really is part and parcel of what you're doing, but to think of it another way, how many concept artists' websites have you visited and thought "How cool!" You are influenced by them in some small and way and you will no doubt influence someone else. You end up sharing memes all over the place.
Good concept art also gets other people interested in your work, as it shows something beyond technology. It reminds us that behind the technology there is a human creating this, in a way screenshots and models just can't convey.
So go ahead and show your work. It would be great to see some more.
Cheers,
Paul.
#3
Nate, I wouldn't really worry, if I publish anything I'd keep the reeaally interesting stuff to my self until I was close to release on the complete package.
If someone would steal the idea you'd be miles ahead anyway.
12/13/2004 (2:49 am)
Paul, a offline web-cache browser would still let you retrieve the "real" image from the hdd. It keeps the "kids" from stealing it yes, not the criminals.Nate, I wouldn't really worry, if I publish anything I'd keep the reeaally interesting stuff to my self until I was close to release on the complete package.
If someone would steal the idea you'd be miles ahead anyway.
#4
12/13/2004 (3:04 am)
Concept art is rarely unique. A sketch of a anime character for example, if you look hard enough at all published anime and manga you will find one that looks almost the same. One sketch of a dragon is really not all that different from another sketch of a dragon. The point of concept art is to establish the visual style for a game, and the details often change from concept to finished version anyway. IMO a theft of concept art would be both unlikely and unimportant.
#5
If you want you can view a samples pic of untextured models in MS3D.
Im not sure whether to call this stuff concept art, or concept objects. But if anyone has any gripes or suggestions, let me know. I think it gives enough info to possibly be intersting, but not enough to reveal the final state of things. Of course, every sci-fi or action game isnt complete without something similar to the decked out "Yuke" from Aliens ;) - which you could probably guess is the urban combat vehicle.
The following are concept links not all of them are drawings, and not all of them are good. Also keep in mind that Im not posting these for people to snag for their own use (even though it may happen).
Truck
Truck
Reject
Reject
Sandflea
Badges
Vista
Design sheet
Rail cars
Hercules V1
Guns
Reject
Brainstorming
Deja Vu
Dagger
List
List
Ranks
Lightning
Raider
Stingray
Bowman
Exterminator
Building
Emplacements
Guns
Ammo Truck
Truck
12/13/2004 (3:17 am)
Thanks for the input, you all have really good points.If you want you can view a samples pic of untextured models in MS3D.
Im not sure whether to call this stuff concept art, or concept objects. But if anyone has any gripes or suggestions, let me know. I think it gives enough info to possibly be intersting, but not enough to reveal the final state of things. Of course, every sci-fi or action game isnt complete without something similar to the decked out "Yuke" from Aliens ;) - which you could probably guess is the urban combat vehicle.
The following are concept links not all of them are drawings, and not all of them are good. Also keep in mind that Im not posting these for people to snag for their own use (even though it may happen).
Truck
Truck
Reject
Reject
Sandflea
Badges
Vista
Design sheet
Rail cars
Hercules V1
Guns
Reject
Brainstorming
Deja Vu
Dagger
List
List
Ranks
Lightning
Raider
Stingray
Bowman
Exterminator
Building
Emplacements
Guns
Ammo Truck
Truck
#6
ive never been mad on americanised mechs (mechwarrior and the like) but im liking the vehicles, nice and chunky. lots of scope for texture creativity. i might be tempted personally to bevel a few of the really hard edges though, just to catch a little bit of light and make it look solid, without looking lo-poly.
good set of objects though, they all work as a whole.
12/13/2004 (5:38 am)
Bwaahaha! is that really a mecha toilet? :Dive never been mad on americanised mechs (mechwarrior and the like) but im liking the vehicles, nice and chunky. lots of scope for texture creativity. i might be tempted personally to bevel a few of the really hard edges though, just to catch a little bit of light and make it look solid, without looking lo-poly.
good set of objects though, they all work as a whole.
#7
12/13/2004 (5:44 am)
Yeppers, its a walking pooper, it goes in the same class as the urinal and kitchen sink. Im not kidding either.
#8
12/13/2004 (5:58 am)
That toilet cracked me up!
#9
'mortition' is spelled 'mortician', lol. Your images are a bit large and slow to load, you should probably reduce the size or quality on any which don't contain text. I've found that 800 pixels high is enough detail for almost all of my concept drawings, and I do human characters and clothing which are more detailed than machines.
12/13/2004 (7:20 am)
Concept art is art of concept objects.'mortition' is spelled 'mortician', lol. Your images are a bit large and slow to load, you should probably reduce the size or quality on any which don't contain text. I've found that 800 pixels high is enough detail for almost all of my concept drawings, and I do human characters and clothing which are more detailed than machines.
#10
12/13/2004 (7:28 am)
I think the example names in "Ranks" is the funniest one ;) Nate, you are twisted...
#11
As to the idea of concept art, I'm not really an artist myself...if you want you could watermark the picture (Picture Shark is a good free one)
Also, i recently read an article discussing jpeg headers, where information can be stored about an image. If you're really tight on not letting people steal your images, it could be a good resource (not sure about how to do it though...)
[edit]
dayam, the renders look niiiice!
[/edit]
12/13/2004 (10:46 am)
Wow, this brings back good old memories...I remember i used to draw these little robot men a few years back in math class, based largely on the Megaman series...As to the idea of concept art, I'm not really an artist myself...if you want you could watermark the picture (Picture Shark is a good free one)
Also, i recently read an article discussing jpeg headers, where information can be stored about an image. If you're really tight on not letting people steal your images, it could be a good resource (not sure about how to do it though...)
[edit]
dayam, the renders look niiiice!
[/edit]
Torque Owner Nauris Krauze
Look at it this way - you dont really care, if some k3wl teen posts your images on his black-on-bright-green website with 3 visitors per month, as his own. Yes, he might get some chicks, but what do you care.
If they use your art in their portfolios (and there have been such cases), they eventually lose anyway - sooner or later, if they are hired because of their portfolio, they ought to draw something themselves. If their own product differs significantly from that in their portfolio, they're gonna drop out very soon.