Custom Skybox or single Panoramic Image?

Trevor

I am in the planning stage of an environment project which will be displayed in my portfolio. I have tried multiple methods of creating my own skybox and tried a couple of premade panoramic images.
If i did use a panoramic image (purchased or free) not made by me, would that hurt the effect of the presentation on any potential employer?

EarthQuake

This is really more of a general usage question and not really related to skybox panoramas specifically.

For your own learning purposes, generally using an image from the internet would fall under fair use.

If you're redistributing it or making money off of it in any way you need to make sure you have the rights to do so. Generally, you would check the rights agreement with the website where you downloaded/purchased the content, or contact the author directly to negotiate rights.

Using it for your portfolio would generally be fine for images downloaded/purchased from the internet. Again read the copyright notices for the content. As long as you came across the content legally, there shouldn't be any issues. If you found a random image on someone's website and saved it and are now using it, that could be problematic. I would stick to sites that specifically offer this content for purchase/download to be safe.

In terms of showing a skybox not made by you in your portfolio and if that would have any negative effect in getting a job, no. Absolutely none.