Darkjedi

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..all I see in the poses window tab are.. well.. poses...

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While they might be called 'Pose', they're not all poses. Most of them will end up being pose sliders, materials, textures, or even pre-set preferences for items. I don't know why Poser calls them 'Poses' because actual poses are a small percentage of what's there. Look around some.

Let's say you have Victoria 3 loaded. If you go into the Poses folder, you'll see a whole number of sub-folders. The one called "!V3 All Morphs INJ" is the area where you inject the morphs, and "!V3 All Morphs REM" is where you remove them (for example).

As you add more and more content, your Poses folder will easily become your largest. I have perhaps 500 sub-folders in there.

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"... I can't grasp how a person is going to reach out to learn if they feel they shouldn't try to emulate any techniques they see in the art world..."

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We're talking about two different things.

It's good to say 'I like how Jim Lee crosshatches and will try to work that technique into my works.'

It's NOT good to say 'I like Jim Lee and I will copy him til I can replicate his works.'

The difference is pretty large. Absorbing different techniques you admire and working them into your work teaches you how to accomplish things other have already figured out, leaving you more time to advance beyond them. That's how art styles evolve. If you go too far and copy their works blindly, you risk losing the integration into your own works and fall into copy-cat mode.

We all use the same alphabet when we draw, but it's important to make your own words and stories.

The problem with copying other artists is that you not only learn their admirable techniques, but you also absorb their abysmal flaws.

In my early days, I tried to learn how to draw from anime sources because it was quick and promised instant gratification. I learned how to draw simple characters quickly in all manner of poses and expressions... but to this day, I have problems with drawing eyes too large. I have to consciously scale the eyes properly rather than being able to do it intuitively.

Furthermore, if you emulate another artist, you can only be as good as that person and never better.

If you produce works that are reminiscent of another artist, you're not offering anything new. To be noticed as an artist, you need to find your own voice and produce unique works. You may not impress yourself with your first few pieces, but you'll quickly find your own style.

As those that posted before me have said, the only way to get back into it is to pick up a pencil and start. Don't expect wonders from your first bunch of pieces... you're just looking to work the muscles some.

Like all things, the more you do it, the better you'll get.

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I'd like to voice my frustration with Dragonberry. Where do you get off, missy? WHERE DO YOU GET OFF!?

[/ QUOTE ]That's kind of a personal and lurid question isn't it?

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Not as lurid as asking HOW.

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Or if she has photos.

At Least He Calls It Like How It Is.

D'oh! Someone's been inking over a beautiful pencil!

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This forum is a place where people come to talk about City of Heroes, We come here to goof around, talk comics, and show each other our character art. At the end of the day it's a place where we come to honor escapism

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I like that!

So yeah sorry guys. Juggy has a point. My loss. My stupidity. My problem.


Lock er down.

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I disagree. The forum is a place for people to share information and resources - in the case of this particular forum, about art. If there's an ongoing problem with anything relating to art, I think this thread needs to serve as both a warning and enducation for others about how to commission and the possible pitfalls.

If the problem persists, so should the warning.

Locking the thread only serves as censorship, which I oppose in all it's forms.

As far as I know, Poser Pro was a way to update and repackage Poser without really adding much more than some basic fixes. I don't know if Poser 7 even had a 'pro' version. If it does, I have no idea what it's worth.

For the Poser newcommer, it's important to know that every single cool bit, morph, costume piece, texture, or set item needs to be added from the outside. Some can cost money, but there are hundreds of thousands of freebie items out there as well.

My two favorite Poser content sellers are RENDEROSITY and DAZ3D. Also note that Renderosity has a vast freebie section for those not inclined to pay for additional items.

As for morphs for your basic figures, there should be a lot available but you need to load them via the 'poses' menu. The old Poser 4 you used to have forced you to have all morphs loaded at all times, which was horribly wasteful. Now, you just load up the ones you want to use (which in my case is usually all of them =)).

Good luck, and lemme know if you need more infoz.

I keep Juggy on the short-list of friends over at DA, so I get to see everything as it's posted.

But here, I'm scarce enough that I didn't notice you were out. Sorry bro =)

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"...One more thing though. I never asked for or wanted a "bailout..."

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Fair enough

*deletes incredible, awesome, scrumtrilescent TA piece and all related files*

/jk

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"...In the future, I do suggest commissioning artists with good references and not paying full price upfront for anything over $50..."

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"...I won't even accept payment unless someone really insists upon it until I've finished a rough sketch..."

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I'm different in this regard; I insist on full payment before I even lift a pencil/wacom tablet. Because I've been screwed three times now.

I thought maybe that was a little harsh and I dropped my guard over the holidays. I had a guy contact me to do a piece featuring 3 characters... so I told him I'd go ahead and model the characters in 3D for him to approve before I required payment. This was not my normal method - I was just feeling soft-hearted. I spent 30+ hours modelling the characters. I sent the guy screenshots and... nothing. Never heard back. Several months and emails later and I assume I'll never hear back.

I'm back to my old rules of never lifting a pencil/wacom tablet until I have full payment up front. Don't wanna pay beforehand? That's fine... I got a list of other pieces to make.

I'm sorry to see that delays have caused another round of unhappiness. I hope Gill is able to get things together and make a comback... but each time this happens, it's harder to build up that karma.

Regrettibly, I don't have time for another bail-out package. Did it once, but not again.

I like the pose and all, but I REALLY like the colors! There's a real splash to it and the treatment is very unique. Great job.

I was thinking more like THIS

Thanks Darkether =)

I was having the browser-load-problem too, but I waited a few days and it's working now. I think they're re-designing the site and some sections are just settling into place.

But the duo-awards on Heromorph is really cool. Between that and the 'Daily Deviation' over at DA, I gotta figure out a way to keep up the momentum.

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ManMECH (Poster)

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Can we use for City Scoop? Please?

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Go for it.

And thank you everyone for the kind comments. This piece was especially fun for me because I *also* have a Robot/Force Field Mastermind, so I get why they're so fun.

I was asked to assemble an image of a Mastermind and his bots. I'd already modelled the first bunch of bots the Masterminds get, but not the second or third. As the piece developed, it became pretty clear that, to do ManMECH justice, I'd have to model the rest of the pets. Stack on that the custom legs on the Mastermind himself, shoulders, face, and other pieces required and we're talking a lot of custom props. It took a little extra time, but it was worth it in the end.



ManMECH (Poster)

Wierd. I can get in from work, but not from home. I guess it's time to clean the cache.

I've been trying to get to Heromorph all weekend and my browser stops before loading. Are they offline? It's been severa ldays now with no luck.

Nice pencil work on that one. And nice point of view... =)

You can post anything you want up there, but there's no mechanism that stops people from stealing the art/ideas. Be careful and tread lightly if you want to protect your intellectual property.

Heh, I have dreams of eventually releasing a book of colored 3D hero art, like Alex Ross' 'Mythology' or Greg Horn's 'The Art Of Greg Horn'. Do enough covers and the art should be easy to scrape together into a collection.

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I've actually been wondering about this! I do see artists that are/have worked for DC or Marvel or etc. that sell work of licensed characters as commissions or whatever. That's legit after you actually work for them?

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Just working for them isn't enough. Typically, once an artist is working for a company, there's room to negotiate print rights to certain images. In fact, allowing an artist to sell prints can lessen the amount the company has to pay for the art in the first place, since print rights can be part of the compensation. Companies will also have to make sure certain details are observed, such as not releasing the print before the comic it's part of, and not making prints of an image the company wants to make prints of themselves (so there's no competition).

But my observation is that comic companies really aren't into making prints, so they let their artists do it. WOTC was that way back when I did MAGIC cards.

As far as why I don't have prints on my DA site - none of those characters are mine. I have images designed that I intend to release as prints, but I'm adamant about the characters/images being my own and not a rehash of someone else's commission. I would find it cheap if I'd paid for a commission and found the artist making side-cash on prints of my character - so I won't do that to others.

Now... should I get into DC/Marvel, you can bet your hats I'll be making a big push into prints. I've been doing all my images poster-size recently to allow maximum quality.

Input given, FOO. G'luck with it.