Using concepts for 3D work
polycounter lvl 12
With the increasing amount of art theft threads showing up, it has gotten me a little worried over what would and what wouldn't be considered art theft now.
Let me explain my situation.
I'm currently working on expanding my portfolio, and I plan on using a concept to form up the general idea of my environment. So I found a really nice one, and I want to modify it just a little to make it slightly more interesting.
Once I'm done with the modification, I want to make it in 3D. Thing is though, would using someone else's 2D idea to form the foundations of my 3D environment be considered wrong? Every time I've tried contacting the artist who made the concept, not once have I ever gotten a response. Of course, this is 100% portfolio work, so no profit will be made from any of it, but I just want to know for sure.
I know there is a thread concerning this around here somewhere, and I've searched, but I couldn't find it.
Long story short, I want to use someones concept, add a few personal touches, and reproduce it in 3D. When the artist doesn't respond... what would you do?
Let me explain my situation.
I'm currently working on expanding my portfolio, and I plan on using a concept to form up the general idea of my environment. So I found a really nice one, and I want to modify it just a little to make it slightly more interesting.
Once I'm done with the modification, I want to make it in 3D. Thing is though, would using someone else's 2D idea to form the foundations of my 3D environment be considered wrong? Every time I've tried contacting the artist who made the concept, not once have I ever gotten a response. Of course, this is 100% portfolio work, so no profit will be made from any of it, but I just want to know for sure.
I know there is a thread concerning this around here somewhere, and I've searched, but I couldn't find it.
Long story short, I want to use someones concept, add a few personal touches, and reproduce it in 3D. When the artist doesn't respond... what would you do?
Replies
move on, find some more inspiration, and go from there.
always get in touch and try obtain permission, but if they say "nay" or don't respond, don't take it personally.
in all honesty, i love your stuff, and think you will do just fine by finding inspiration and creating something you can call your own without having to site concept work.
while i can see the benefit of saying "here's the concept made by someone else, and here's my rendered environment." to display your abilities of following a concept... i don't think you really need to demonstrate this now that you are gaining production experience anyway. just my 2cents on that particular area.
@Firebert: Thanks for the kind words man! I guess I'll keep that in mind and sleep on it.
I guess art directors do like seeing concepts being followed through, but creativity is something they also like. Both are important I'd say.
Better even, perhaps making your own concepts?
They shouldn't even have the right to tell you to take it down or threaten to sue you over it. Again unless they have a copyright license on it I think they technically don't even own it and someone could strait up steal it/copy it. Sure doesn't make it any more right to do and you would be known as a fraud once found out but legally speaking I believe you could.
If you post there concept, even a modified version on your website would be the only possible way I could see them taking action against you.
I could be wrong here and if there are any legal scholars out there to correct me go ahead.
Its always best to ask to use someone else concept art before using it but it is in no way required or necessary. It just a polite but if you really want to use there concept and they dont respond and it was for my portfolio I would use it anyway. If they said no then I wouldn't but that's just how I feel about it.
It would be smart to clearly state on your website that it was based off a concept done by "insert artists name" and a link to there website. I like the link to the website better then linking to the concept art itself, again just my opinion. Use your better judgment here. If the concept is something very inspiring to you and you really want to do it then go for it I say. If not well there are a TON of other amazing concepts out there for you to do.
The thing I think people need to be more careful with is when they do fan art/art based off existing games/art work. To many times do I see, Gears of War gun, Halo weapon, World of Warcraft Orc done without stating it is a re-creation/re-imagining of work already done by someone else. I see them all the time, they just label them Gears of War Lancer and a lot of times even slap a Gears of War logo onto the page.
This I think is the absolute worse, its as if these people (although i am sure they don't mean it in this way) are passing the work off as there own/as if they worked on the game or created this prop them self's. To many times have I seen pieces done that don't credit the original artist or at least the original studio for the creation of the original artwork. They make no mention that the work is a complete copy of something already done.
If you are going to do something that is a re-creation/re-imagining of something someone or some studio already did you need to credit the studio/artist for the original work and clearly state that you are doing a re-creation/re-imaging of said asset. And if it wasn't done for something like an art test, a project with said studio or your worked on the game dont use there logos on your rehashes of there work.
Generally, if you ARE going to do that, you'll want to show the concept along with the 3D work to illustrate the origin of the idea and your ability to work off of it. However, I'd think you certainly can't host the image on your website or your portfolio without their expressed permission - even if you give them credit for it. Which would leave you with 3D work and then having to link to the concept...?
I'm certain you can't copyright an idea, so someone draws a girl with huge hands and sunglasses, well someone else could do a different girl with huge hands and sunglasses so long as it was different enough from the original image. I mean seriously, how many f*cking tripod alien things have we got in different movies and games?
Though at the same time, you likely couldn't take someone's exact concept design (even as a 3D character), implement the character into a game and give it a different name and sell it without encountering some legal problems... Not too sure, but that's not what you're trying to do.
My personal take - feel free to use other concepts as inspiration. However, always make explicit note of where the concept originated from - and yet, never host the concept (or even paintovers/alterations of it). You could probably just link to their website with a simple note like "Inspired by the concept art of Example Artist."
In addition, and this may sound odd. But...just try and use concepts from cool people. If you can find them on some art forums and see that they seem like reasonable sorts, if you really can't get any direct contact from them, you're still probably pretty safe.
This does bring up an interesting thought, though. As a 2D artist I hadn't considered that maybe some day far off in the future a 3D artist would want to use a concept of mine to work off of. I may have to make a small notation somewhere that I'd be just fine with that, assuming at least receiving appropriate mention in return - incase I don't get around to responding to any emails.
Not talking about making a 3D version of some random concept-art you find online. But taking a well-known piece and making a version of that. Like something out of Blizzard, or the Thundercats or what have you. Where it's well-known enough that it's obvious it's fanart.
Fine/Not-Fine?
As long as you're not trying to pass it off as something it's not, or making money off of it, or altering the concept to the point where it is offensive then it's hard to imagine anyone getting worked up about it.
Fan art and the like are signs of healthy interest in a product, and I think one way you can gauge how "inspiring" something is to the public is by seeing how much fan arts it has generated. I don't see anything wrong with it.
You are only sortof right here. Not having registered copyright doesn't stop someone from suing you. They'll just have to register before they start the lawsuit. Registration is only $35 dollars in the usa. Their lawyer is probably going to charge more than that per hour.
from here:
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html#what
and always give credit where its due! if you give credit, with a link to the guys portfolio, it means more coverage! its the least you can do in return.