Portrait Packs

Arkathan

Arkathan

Emperor Mongoose
There is a request for Mongoose to put out Portrait Packs in the Ask Mongoose threads.
Obviously, something like that would take time.
So I'm suggesting that anyone who owns the IP to their portraits and wants to put them out for free, do so.
The images in this thread are free for non-commercial use. Anyone posting images is asserting that they are the creators of the images, or own the IP.

I didn't get an answer on a preferred size so I am starting with 900x900 and 91x91, as those seem to be the size I made for myself when I was DMing on Fantasy Grounds.
Attached in the zip are 17 Human Males.

Constructive criticism is welcome, but remember that this is what I am capable of (in a day), and it is free.

Two bonus images for future stuff if there is interest:

Human Female 1.png:
Aslan Male 1.png
 
18889357.jpg
 
Arkathan said:
So I'm suggesting that anyone who owns the IP to their portraits and wants to put them out for free, do so.
The images in this thread are free for non-commercial use. Anyone posting images is asserting that they are the creators of the images, or own the IP.
Click to expand...
Under current case law in the US if you create the image with a version of AI you cannot own the IP to the image as they are not copyrightable.
Those images are free to use by anyone who wants to use them.

Where that line for create vrs modify is still being litigated. For photographers in particular it is a very very messy world right now.
 
Anstett said:
Under current case law in the US if you create the image with a version of AI you cannot own the IP to the image as they are not copyrightable.
Those images are free to use by anyone who wants to use them.

Where that line for create vrs modify is still being litigated. For photographers in particular it is a very very messy world right now.
Click to expand...


I don't use AI. I use a 3d model in DAZ Studio that I purchase the license for. Art license vs gaming license. Any images rendered under the license are my IP. Can't use the model in a game without a gaming license, but stills, or an animated series of stills is fair game.
This is a model manually shaped to get different faces/body types, manually dressed, manually posed, manually lit, and a virtual camera, with all of the settings of a real camera, positioned, set up and then the virtual image rendered.
If it was AI, I wouldn't have to spend an hour on developing test shots to get the lighting right.
 
Very glad you are doing them that way.

There are new interesting cases coming along through the system about Photoshop. Can someone use it to modify an image? Two years ago the answer was yes. Now that Adobe has re-branded and added more "AI" elements the answer is unclear.

I was discussing with a professor about their "no AI work in my class, you will write everything, no AI help. No Grammarly either" But they refused to make a statement if their students could use the grammar and spelling check in Word. That is based on the same set of algorithms.

We are in a messy time for IP.
 
I use Paint Shop Pro, because PS is expensive. My flow for post is desaturate the image, Gaussian blur @ radius 5-7, copy-paste as a new layer, set to overlay, reduce to 30%, clear the haze over the alpha channel.

Some full images, I'll pump up the vibrancy. Others, I'll draw a shape in the middle and paint everything outside it black, then guassian blur that to r100. Reduce opacity to 10-25%.

Paint in light/dark masks for burn/dodge. Highlights/shadows and plasma glows.

So no AI there either.
 
Arkathan said:
I use Paint Shop Pro, because PS is expensive. My flow for post is desaturate the image, Gaussian blur @ radius 5-7, copy-paste as a new layer, set to overlay, reduce to 30%, clear the haze over the alpha channel.

Some full images, I'll pump up the vibrancy. Others, I'll draw a shape in the middle and paint everything outside it black, then guassian blur that to r100. Reduce opacity to 10-25%.

Paint in light/dark masks for burn/dodge. Highlights/shadows and plasma glows.

So no AI there either.
Click to expand...
I did as well, though I swapped to Paint.Net a few years back because I have a nifty plugin for making normal maps, and honestly it's probably a little simpler to use.
 
I really think that free art for any game is problematic. It is important that publishers support artists. The writer isn’t the only one who needs to get paid.
 
Looking at the original message, these portraits are for non-commercial use so not something publishers could use. But, having never published anything on DriveThru (and really not purchased much either) I'm curious if there is the ability to UPDATE a document? Like put Version 1 up for sale as a Text only format with the intent that, with enough sales, it would be updated with art etc. and Version 2 released.

If this graduated system became widespread enough that things published without Art didnt get ignored or discounted, then it would allow small publishers who can't afford art to earn the money to afford the art.
 
Last edited:
ross said:
I really think that free art for any game is problematic. It is important that publishers support artists. The writer isn’t the only one who needs to get paid.
Click to expand...
This thread was in response to someone bemoaning the lack of VTT tokens for Sci-Fi rpg's.
So I made some that I then used in my own game.
I donated them to the community, thus the non-commercial use.

Even when I have been paid, I kept the costs low, because it's a hobby.
A few posters for BattleTech conventions - got a couple of $5 books for those. That was back when one of the better free 3D programs was POV-Ray. Coded in several articulated mechs and tanks with procedural additive-subtractive geometry and variables at the top to pose them.
Then some images for computer screens in the background of a nerdy podcast that Microsoft partnered with for store credit.
 
Tforbes said:
Looking at the original message, these portraits are for non-commercial use so not something publishers could use. But, having never published anything on DriveThru (and really not purchased much either) I'm curious if there is the ability to UPDATE a document? Like put Version 1 up for sale as a Text only format with the intent that, with enough sales, it would be updated with art etc. and Version 1 released.

If this graduated system became widespread enough that things published without Art didnt get ignored or discounted, then it would allow small publishers who can't afford art to earn the money to afford the art.
Click to expand...
I have gotten updates from venders other than Mongoose, so some form of revision is supported. But I have no clue exactly what the process is or current rules, post Roll20 are..
 
boggo2300 said:
Well I have a Vargr ex INI courier as my campaign McGuffin, so any hint you can give me before the players find him would be appreciated ;)
Click to expand...
I might try again later, but the initial run was plush and cartoony. Have to mess with settings when I have more time and motivation, or skip the fur and see how that goes.
 
Arkathan said:
I don't use AI. I use a 3d model in DAZ Studio that I purchase the license for. Art license vs gaming license. Any images rendered under the license are my IP. Can't use the model in a game without a gaming license, but stills, or an animated series of stills is fair game.
This is a model manually shaped to get different faces/body types, manually dressed, manually posed, manually lit, and a virtual camera, with all of the settings of a real camera, positioned, set up and then the virtual image rendered.
If it was AI, I wouldn't have to spend an hour on developing test shots to get the lighting right.
Click to expand...
I've been using Daz Studio (albeit with older models) for over a decade now and I think I may do just that to generate my character portraits/avatars - I'll have to obtain new clothing/gear/weapon props though as most of my Daz runtime is devoted to generating Belle Epoque/Edwardian-style art (hence my forum name!) (Though my mains, in their current stage of development, come from a world where the local dress styles are very strongly Edwardian-influenced/reminiscent, so...)
 
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