Using someone else's shader
So say you download a shader someone made from a place like highend 3d, and on there they have "license type: Freeware." Can that be used in professional work? Are you required to say "shader created by so and so"?
thanks
thanks
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and even though I didnt want to have to defend the question I will on the account of smartasses. I was wondering what the all the shaders on highend3d are for. strictly personal project use?
btw professor very cool tutorials. Not sure if you get a lot of people thanking you, but its really great to be able to watch quality free tutorials. so thanks!
If the creator doesn't want you to use it for commercial work they will put "Personal Only" or "Non-Commercial".
my point is it's silly sometimes to reinvent the wheel and if you do find something that IS useful to you and you can legally use it...why not?
Like Sonic said, freeware means you can use it for anything.
If the creator doesn't want you to use it for commercial work they will put "Personal Only" or "Non-Commercial".
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No. Freeware simply means, it can be used without paying indefinitely... there is no 'legal' definition of freeware, and it most certainly does not imply commercial use unless noted.
That said, I would just go ahead and use it, with some credit if possible.
Kozmo: thanks!
The author obviously wanted to let other folks use the shader, but you should always credit and prolly email the guy also.
As timman indicated lots of stuff gets shared im the games industry, using other peoples meashes/textures etc. its just a way to save time.
somethings are meant to be shared, underpants is not one of them:) beer is another.
Ephesians: Did you take that photo of the cross in your avatar?
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In fairness, he did write his own web browser which he uses, just don't ask him for a copy.
And i do not normaly respond twice in a thread to clarify a point that was made but, yes it does answer the question. In other words, DON"T USE SOMEONE ELSES STUFF REGARDLESS. Regardless if it is wrong. You save your own hide legally if you just do it your self.
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If he claims it is freeware and has no other licenses on it he has no legal grounds to sue you.
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And i do not normaly respond twice in a thread to clarify a point that was made but, yes it does answer the question. In other words, DON"T USE SOMEONE ELSES STUFF REGARDLESS. Regardless if it is wrong. You save your own hide legally if you just do it your self.
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If he claims it is freeware and has no other licenses on it he has no legal grounds to sue you.
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Technically he does (although there's virtually zero chance of him actually doing anything about it). Freeware doesn't mean public domain. Freeware means it's free to you (i.e. you don't have to pay to download it), not necessarily free for you to redistribute or make derivative works of. If you're going to use it in a commercial capacity, I would suggest you contact the author and make sure it's cool with him/her.
And what's the deal with everyone taking jabs at Ephesians (not you sonic)? Yes, it's a bit silly to suggest that you should ALWAYS do EVERYTHING yourself from scratch, but he's right about making sure that you absolutely know what kind of restrictions are on a piece of work before you use it in any sort of commercial capacity. If you're just going to use it for a portfolio piece, then I wouldn't sweat it as much, but obviously you better give credit (which should go without saying).
It leaves you with a since of originality. You feel good knowing that you created what you wanted to use and also you can take what you learned and reapply it to you own work. I think it's always good to learn.
As far as what everyone else said about the legalities, either way works ya know. But i guess my ultimate point, as i just stated, is to just avoid it all together. Learn there methods and try it your self.
the simple fact is that using pre-existing material is clearly cheating. Particularly when developing games, everything that an artist does should be, first and foremost, for self-improvement and self-fulfilment - the actual development process and end product are largely irrelevant. What do you think you're being paid for? To make an active contribution towards a large picture and plan towards a cracking game? Of course not. You're paid to sit and learn and enjoy your time watching others tear their hair out around you.
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What bollocks. Did it occur to you that, perhaps, the OP is in fact using existing material so that he can better self-improve where he needs to? I hate to break it to you, but everything you do in CG is 'cheating' by your definition- but maybe this doesn't apply do you, since you wrote your own 3D software, didn't you? Or, at least, if using an existing one, you went into the SDK and programmed all your own modeling tools, didn't you? Please tell me you wrote your own renderer, and aren't using 'mental ray'. If you are, you programmed all your own shaders, and didn't use any 'pre-existing' shaders, right? If not, then you should probably think a bit more about your definition of pre-existing- if the OP had what he was looking for already built into the program, and he used that, would you say 'you should learn how to do it yourself'? No, there probably wouldn't be a discussion. So next time you boot up Max, or record a macro, or render a scene, or bake out an AO, think about how much existing material you are in fact using, and the only thing that differentiates it is that it is included by default in your program of choice. A distinction, mind you, that is very arbitrary, as any 'cheater' who uses other's scripts/tools can tell you, default doesn't mean better.
In fact, it is these people that know how to find and use the scripts of others who have a much easier time working. Using pre-existing material isn't 'cheating,' it is smart. The artists who best know how to use and manipulate existing material to their own ends who will learn the best, while the others will either be behind the curve or 'tearing their hair out' trying to learn a load of topics they have no reason to know.
Hey, Bobby / Tubboy / Anonymous Artist / Ephesians 2:8-9, sometimes you just need to learn to STFU. I know you tried to make yet another quiet re-entry to these boards hoping that no one would pick up on who you are but it's always fairly obvious. Either decide to embrace the troll that you are and stop trying to hide behind various nics or just decide to have a little will-power and never visit the site again. Personally I would prefer the former as opposed to the latter; I have always felt that Polycount is a far more interesting place with you than without you. Thanks for deciding to grace us with your witticisms yet again
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Ahh, good call AZ. I wondered what was up with this guy's posts. They do have that Tubboy flava, don't they?