3D Role Models

[snooze]

Does anyone know of some good sites to download pre-made 3D models that I can alter/animate in Maya? I'm looking for Cityscapes or really just anything interesting to play around with...

On the subject:

Does anyone know about 3D model copy right?
I mean, there has to be some kind of intellectual property restrictions, but if you alter the model significantly or animate it, does it then become (at least in part) your own creation?
Anyone know about virtual intellectual property?

Kewl...

[robotfunk]

http://www.3dcafe.com/ has a lot of free models

[holly]

Try Renderosity.com and turbosquid.com

[many2]

intellectual property in a few words (really easy to understand and it applies to all artforms)

"Any work of art is automatically considered the intellectual property of its author and cannot be used in any form using any media without the creator's authorisation"


about modifying someone else's work :

"Any modification of an artwork also requires an anthorisation from the author. This authorisation, which lawyers refer to as "moral rights", would give you the opportunity to change the original artwork."

[Amukidi]

"I mean, there has to be some kind of intellectual property restrictions, but if you alter the model significantly or animate it, does it then become (at least in part) your own creation?"

You couldn't make this shit up could you....?:jump:

[snooze]

You couldn't make this shit up could you....?:jump: [/B][/QUOTE]

Ummm....
Make what up? The models? Or the quote?

My question gets a little bit bigger then the immediate.
With regards to intellectual property, I'm wondering if, oh lets say five people create an animated short. One guy makes the models, one the textures, one animates, and so forth...

Does the finished work belong to them collectively (unless they're commisioned) or does each aspect of the work belong to someone individually?

Just curious.

[many2]

My question gets a little bit bigger then the immediate.
With regards to intellectual property, I'm wondering if, oh lets say five people create an animated short. One guy makes the models, one the textures, one animates, and so forth...

Does the finished work belong to them collectively (unless they're commisioned) or does each aspect of the work belong to someone individually?

Just curious. [/B]

That is a very good question. My intuition tells me each member of the team would be the owner of the part he has done but if you need a real answer then I would ask legal advice to a lawyer. Also consider that even though intellectual property laws are similar from one country to the other there are many little differences from country to country - another reason to go for legal advice. It's expensive but with a good lawyer you will be surprised how many pieces of useful information you can get in just an afternoon of consultation.

In the real world most big project have a big budget. A big budget means there is some kind of investment. Investment means the investors will want some return on the money they spend and that is the reason why everyone working on such projects are actually giving all their intellectual property rights to the company. With such contracts it doesn't matter who has done what, everything is the property of the company, not the individuals.

[holly]

Getting permission is SO fundamentally simple: ask! You would be suprised how generous artists can be when they are treated with the most basic levels of respect.
With regards to intellectual property, I'm wondering if, oh lets say five people create an animated short. One guy makes the models, one the textures, one animates, and so forth...

Does the finished work belong to them collectively (unless they're commisioned) or does each aspect of the work belong to someone individually?
Each part is still owned individually. Obviously, it would be a disaster to try to sell or make a commercial product this way: any one individual could prevent the product from being sold.... But it is a pretty good way to share your creativity at a friendly artist/hobbiest level.

This isn't as complicated as it sounds. Basicly holding on to your own copyright is a way to participate in collaborations while protecting yourself (or your creative work) from being abused financially. The guy can offer his mesh as a download for you to play around with, and as long as you don't try to sell the mesh as your own, or use it the next time George Lucas hires you as an animator..., you'll be fine. Make some loops, then send the guy a jpg and say "thanks!". Tell him you VJ at this party and his stuff was a really cool inspiration and everybody enjoyed it. Then he will be so flattered by the VJ community's good will that he will make lots of great meshes for you to show at your next parties.

If you really want to pursue the question of copyright ownership you should look through the Law and Ethics forum on VJf (http://www.vjforums.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=27) and maybe post a question about collaboration and copyrights. It's just too arguementative of a topic (and off-topic for that matter) to talk about in depth here, ok?
;)

[snooze]

Thanks for the advice...

[devonmiles]

there was an interesting lawsuit in germany recently. the owner of an online photo gallery sued someone who had taken images from his site, modified and used them on his own site.
the jugde pleaded him not to be guilty because the images he took where lacking the so called (schoepfungstiefe) "creative depth".
I guess, if I take a standard mesh of a torus or a scorpion from some online resource, put my own texture onto it and animate it, chances are good nobody can successfully sue me.
probably its a different thing if i hack the pixel shader that makes the models in monster inc. so hairy. thats a really unique one with a lot of creative potential involved.

but certainly: ask before you take something would be in most cases easy and succesful. and you show the originator that you appreciate his work and thats what we all looking for. (besides money/fast cars...)

[yogyog]

Sites like 3D Cafe or Polycount give away their models for people to use them. As for altering other peoples work and making it you're own - the moment's it's ok is the moment it's completely unrecognisable.

[FAZE005]

Some 3D models are for free use, but with some limits; this limitsa basically are that you cant modify it in a part or in a totality.

There are some others that you can modify as you want, with any restriction, but be ware that specify it.

Some others can modify as you wish but you have to put the author credit.

The ones who are for unlimited modifification are the ones you have to buy, but I think that a good model is going to be expensive for a unpaid work.

By other way for the question about what happens if a model was made by 3,4 N people, in most of the cases when you copyright the product you made it as a final product, it means that you dont copyright the work of the persona who model it, other the copyright for the texture,generally when is a gropuwork you can put for legal responsabilities all the ones who worik in the proyect for the simple reason to have the same rights and a equal decision oportunity, some times for a practice end, there is only one or two responsables for legal situation. Another copyright situation is when a workgroup is copyright as a company author that means that a work team develops a proyect and the result represents a company, the copyrights belongs to a company name not to the people who work on it. In this cases is more difficult to ask them if you can modify becasue obviously a company has an economic end so this will cost you some bucks, or in case you get the authorization it will be for a non commercial use.

Well this is what I can say about this point, I?m from Mexico and probably in some parts of the planet can be different but I have the idea that the copyright laws protects and works similar in all the world, imagine if not, you make the dirty work, I modify little things and then copyright as a new product:confused:

[fALk]

One Word: ZBRUSH

If you are already sufficent with the Maya workflow Zbrush 2.0 will just help create that model you have always been looking for. Building from scratch other then using the "premade" models from 3d cafe - which do not exclude you from copyright of the original author as some have pointed out - will be very beneficial for your final product. Zbrush for organic modelling - for anorganic modelling either modo or Maya itself (the modeller is not THAT bad once you get the grip).
It will make you feel good after all that rigging that still lays in front of you that you have your own model - made in a week. (or two days if you don?t crave for that last bit of detail). And then you look at your own beauty and not at someone elses that everyone else on the internet uses.
Another option might be Poser - so poser models also look like -yes- poser models.

any further questions mail me.....

[disassembler]

Zbrush rules.

My first zbrushing.....

http://www.dis-assembly.com/skintest.jpg

[Meierhans]

Aaaahhh! Disassembled Aliens! Looks really cool, just need some eyes.

I you want to make a model of yourself or other real live people check yout 3Dmenow. ;)

[Stuart]

what did you use as a skin shader/renderer?