ive run across many people who don't look up copy right laws, or think art is free or out there for use (some of it is though, for people who like stock art sites). As an artist copy right laws are important things i feel should be shared and understood so that artists of all kinds can continue making a living off what they love.
As a fellow artist who will very soon be feeding himself via his creative work (not quite to the interning stage yet, but it's coming in the next few months), I'd like to take this opportunity to kindly let you know there is an enormous stick in your bum. Not going to tell you what to do with it, just letting you know it's there. (If it were me, I'd pull it out, but that might just be me.)
Copyright laws are set up to protect people from losing their livelyhood: true. People repurposing your art in sigs or on custom Magic cards isn't going to cost you a dime, though. In fact, nine times in ten, it's free publicity which will equal more exposure for you, which is just opening more doors for potential employers to see that you exist. Same thing for if you happen to find your art on a MtG proxy. I looked through your gallery and you have good stuff: it might just happen one day. However, you shouldn't get snooty about it. That makes people not like you, which translates to bad reputation and, if it goes far enough, fewer jobs. Think of it as a feather in your cap that people see you as good enough that they want to "wear" your work (either almost literally in a sig or slightly more abstractly as a custom proxy).
If someone was taking work you did and making money off of your labor, yeah; there's a problem with that. Sigs, however, are never sold for monetary profit (leastways not to my knowledge...if they are, I need to find out where so I can get on that boat ) and proxies are only sold when it's done by hand—ergo, your labor is not what's being profited on.
I'm not peeved that you want to protect your intellectual property. I totally understand that. What's miffing me is that you just seem to be being rather elitist about it. I might be being oversensitive too, so if that's the case I apologize. If you were an established world-class artist who doesn't pick up a pencil for less than $35k, I'd probably feel different. Art students shouldn't be parading around our brand-new knowledge like we're better than other people or demanding that people treat us differently.
I'm curious... what exactly did you expect to change by enlightening us woefully uneducated masses to this gospel of copyright law? Did you want people to stop making proxies, altered cards, and sigs bearing artwork by our favorite artists? If that's the case, it's a futile effort. Did you expect nothing to change? in that case, it's also a meaningless gesture. The only thing I can logically expect from this is that one or two guys will lose interest in a hobby they like (not the altered cards—more than likely sig making) that really wasn't harming anyone. Seems to be an effort with no real positive outcome.
But then again, that might just be me.
<EDIT> — Upon further reflection, it is my opinion that if you're worried about your livelihood, you should really be after stock art sites. They're the biggest shot to the wallet the art community took, basically ever. Who want's to pay $400 for an original illustration when they can pay $50 annually for unlimited stock images? That's where artists are losing money. Fan communities should be left alone.
So is your intent to make the art section basically shut down, then..? Or do you just have beef with people who alter cards and trade/sell them?
No I don't think MTGS should have to explain all that. It's written on the internet for anyone to find, and the fact that MTGS has their caveat decrying copyright infringement covers all the bases that need be covered.
I'll agree that altered cards are derivative works. I don't see why you're making a big deal out of it. They're not hurting WotC any and they're certainly not hurting you.
Illegal Activity
Do not discuss your latest Kazaa or BitTorrent adventures here, and do not link people to files which may not legally be distributed. Keep such discussions outside the forum.
I think it means that the forum is officially covering its own butt to make sure it (the forum, as an entity) can't be accused of encouraging illegal distribution of copyrighted materials. It gives them the right to say "Noooo! We don't condone that! We even have laws against it! Those naughty forum members!" if something comes into play like that. Then it's just one user that suffers the wrath of the lawyers and not the community as a whole.
...at least that's the theory, to my understanding.
Honestly, it depends on the capture. Sometimes i have to do quite a bit (like the phone one in Before+After), and other times it's just more subtle color enhancement. The one called "words" was probably the least edited, with just a few edits to warm it up and then a touch of cropping. "stay cool" was another one that only has very minimal edits.
The first 10 (the newest ones) are all shot on a PowerShot, which is, if you look it up, a piece of cheap crap haha. (The one in the link looks way newer than the one I'm being forced to use, but it's probably the same sort of deal.) My Nikon (a D5000) is in New York at the moment being fixed. The shutter came off its track last week.
Compression settings. When I use gif, I normally start with tossing colors as I'm exporting. If that doesn't work, you might have to remove frames of animation.
I moved the rarity up on purpose actually to allow the type line to go under it and alleviate some of the space issues there, especially with some of the larger icons like the new core set symbols. I do see what you're saying, though. I should have raised it a few pixels. Grr... that's not an easy fix.
A recent school project, through a few twists and turns, ended up with me having an opportunity to once again take a stab at redesigning the MtG card template. This time through I decided to try to emulate a bit of the 'Planechase' card style since I feel it's the most flavorful of Wizards' graphic designs for Magic, so far as a more classical fantasy feel goes. The sort of stained glass impression I get from it feels very fitting for the genre while still being new and fresh enough that it's not the same-old same-old for fantasy.
So! Without any more ado, here's my latest attempt for your consideration.
Comments and critiques are of course welcome and encouraged! Not sure if there will be a PSD release... the way it's set up now is actually in a file tree using InDesign, so to compile it into a PSD would be rather time-consuming... Unfortunately, I just don't have that much free time.
As a fellow artist who will very soon be feeding himself via his creative work (not quite to the interning stage yet, but it's coming in the next few months), I'd like to take this opportunity to kindly let you know there is an enormous stick in your bum. Not going to tell you what to do with it, just letting you know it's there. (If it were me, I'd pull it out, but that might just be me.)
Copyright laws are set up to protect people from losing their livelyhood: true. People repurposing your art in sigs or on custom Magic cards isn't going to cost you a dime, though. In fact, nine times in ten, it's free publicity which will equal more exposure for you, which is just opening more doors for potential employers to see that you exist. Same thing for if you happen to find your art on a MtG proxy. I looked through your gallery and you have good stuff: it might just happen one day. However, you shouldn't get snooty about it. That makes people not like you, which translates to bad reputation and, if it goes far enough, fewer jobs. Think of it as a feather in your cap that people see you as good enough that they want to "wear" your work (either almost literally in a sig or slightly more abstractly as a custom proxy).
If someone was taking work you did and making money off of your labor, yeah; there's a problem with that. Sigs, however, are never sold for monetary profit (leastways not to my knowledge...if they are, I need to find out where so I can get on that boat
I'm not peeved that you want to protect your intellectual property. I totally understand that. What's miffing me is that you just seem to be being rather elitist about it. I might be being oversensitive too, so if that's the case I apologize. If you were an established world-class artist who doesn't pick up a pencil for less than $35k, I'd probably feel different. Art students shouldn't be parading around our brand-new knowledge like we're better than other people or demanding that people treat us differently.
I'm curious... what exactly did you expect to change by enlightening us woefully uneducated masses to this gospel of copyright law? Did you want people to stop making proxies, altered cards, and sigs bearing artwork by our favorite artists? If that's the case, it's a futile effort. Did you expect nothing to change? in that case, it's also a meaningless gesture. The only thing I can logically expect from this is that one or two guys will lose interest in a hobby they like (not the altered cards—more than likely sig making) that really wasn't harming anyone. Seems to be an effort with no real positive outcome.
But then again, that might just be me.
<EDIT> — Upon further reflection, it is my opinion that if you're worried about your livelihood, you should really be after stock art sites. They're the biggest shot to the wallet the art community took, basically ever. Who want's to pay $400 for an original illustration when they can pay $50 annually for unlimited stock images? That's where artists are losing money. Fan communities should be left alone.
No I don't think MTGS should have to explain all that. It's written on the internet for anyone to find, and the fact that MTGS has their caveat decrying copyright infringement covers all the bases that need be covered.
I'll agree that altered cards are derivative works. I don't see why you're making a big deal out of it. They're not hurting WotC any and they're certainly not hurting you.
I think it means that the forum is officially covering its own butt to make sure it (the forum, as an entity) can't be accused of encouraging illegal distribution of copyrighted materials. It gives them the right to say "Noooo! We don't condone that! We even have laws against it! Those naughty forum members!" if something comes into play like that. Then it's just one user that suffers the wrath of the lawyers and not the community as a whole.
...at least that's the theory, to my understanding.
Ever try downsizing for sharing purposes?
The first 10 (the newest ones) are all shot on a PowerShot, which is, if you look it up, a piece of cheap crap haha. (The one in the link looks way newer than the one I'm being forced to use, but it's probably the same sort of deal.) My Nikon (a D5000) is in New York at the moment being fixed. The shutter came off its track last week.
(click me!)
http://virb.com/firepenguinmaster/videos/5664473
It's a school project I put together a month or two ago.
PS—If someone knows how to embed the video directly into the forums so it displays here, that'd be awesome!
You must have looked somewhere different than I did.
Compression settings. When I use gif, I normally start with tossing colors as I'm exporting. If that doesn't work, you might have to remove frames of animation.
So! Without any more ado, here's my latest attempt for your consideration.