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| TalKeaton
TalKeaton
βοΈ
[3524430]
[2006-11-11 05:44:25 +0000 UTC]
"Steve Rogers"
(United States)
# Statistics
Favourites: 45; Deviations: 69; Watchers: 22
Watching: 26; Pageviews: 7817; Comments Made: 295; Friends: 26
# Interests
Favorite movies: Hmm.... I dunno. I like quite a few...Favorite bands / musical artists: Switchfoot, Relient K, The Classic Crime
Favorite games: Psychonauts, Kingdom Hearts
Favorite gaming platform: Nintendo DS, Wii
Tools of the Trade: Everything I can find.
Other Interests: Snowboarding, gaming, drawing, anime, et cetera. Now if only I could find the time for any of those.
# About me
Current Residence: Burlington, VermooooooontFavourite genre of music: Christian Rock, mostly, but a random bunch of other stuff too, from classical to whatever.
Favourite style of art: I mostly work with anime-esque characters, and almost entirely my own.
Operating System: Windows XP for now...
MP3 player of choice: MuVo TX FM, 1 GB. I like these, this is my fourth one. The other ones....died. In freak accidents.
Favourite cartoon character: Ed and Al from Fullmetal Alchemist
# Comments
Comments: 69
Thank you for your help on my final project 
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Hey!
I went to Flagler with your sister for a few semesters.
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Haha, cool. Thanks for dropping by!
^_^
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Thank you so much! ^_^
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your icon is cool too
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S'up, Steve! Read a comment on someone's page that you're a games designer, and thought i'd stop by and have a look at your gallery. Some interesting work in there, man.
Anyway, what i wanted to say was that i'm intending to go into the videogames industry myself with my artistry, but i don't know whether i've got the skill for it. Would you be so kind as to have a look through my gallery, and tell me what you think? It'd be interesting to hear the opinion of someone who's already there.
Thankyou in advance!
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To say right off, my focus is more in the design aspect of games than the artistry (they're two separate focuses of the same major at the college I go to,), but I've taken most of the artist-focus courses up through this point. That being said, I may not have a ton of experience in the industry yet but I've got a very good idea of what's expected in it.
I took a look at your gallery, and it seems pretty good. You look like you've got a lot of the basic skills down, especially in terms of anatomy of characters (which is oh-so-extraordinarily important). I would like to know what programs you're using in most of your art in your gallery- It's good to have a lot of experience in Photoshop and Flash especially. Illustrator is good as well, but it's not as versatile.
Some things to note:
-Speed.
It's vitally important in the Game industry where everything's on a watertight schedule. Spend some time learning to do what you already do but faster. Set a goal for yourself with a time limit. I know, time limits sometimes get in the way of making better art, but with practice you can bring both speed and quality up.
-Modding
Modding is a good way to start a game-related portfolio. Find a 2D game that will let you edit the art legally, and create a new tileset or character design, or better yet overhaul the entire game's graphics.
-Concept Art
This is another instance where speed is a factor- in the game industry, when pitching an art direction you need a ton of quick drawings that convey the art style you're going for in everything from environment to characters to even the menu.
And the big one...
-3D
This is a stumbling block for quite a few artists I know in my major. A good percentage of them are excellent 2D artists, but cannot do 3D to save their lives. In the current state of the game industry, 3D modeling/texturing/animation is vital, so if you can get any access to a 3D modeling program like Maya or 3D Max, do so and start playing around with it as soon as you can.
Again, you look like you've got a good base set of skills, so now's the time to start branching out, broadening that skill base. If there's any other way I can help, let me know, and keep me posted on what you're up to!
-Tal
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Wow, such a detailed response! Thankyou for taking the time to reply to me, Tal - you're clearly very clued-up on the games industry, and i've learned from your expertise.
As for the programs i use, they are: OpenCanvas, GIMP 2, Microsoft Expression 3, IrfanView, MS Paint, and more recently, Adobe Photoshop. In addition to this, i use a Wacom Bamboo graphics tablet, alongside more traditional media like pencils and ink. A lot of the programs i use could be done away with and replaced with Photoshop, but i've been working with this suite for a long time, and i'm used to how the various applications operate.
And 3D... i had a vague idea of how important 3D modelling programs are to artists working in the industry, and now you've confirmed my suspicions. Not sure whether i've got the finances for Maya/3D Max at the moment, though.
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I've used GIMP (well, and MSPaint) before, they're good programs but not widely used... I know a few games made in GIMP, mostly through an effort to build games with entirely free software. I also saw a CG movie in Spanish where the texturing was done in GIMP. Photoshop is top-notch for its versatility and ease, though. I know I could never do texturing for Maya 3D models in GIMP, it would take too long.
Flash is a good one to get to know, because it's good for making simple games as well as prototyping complex concepts in a more basic form. That being said, I still can't use Flash worth anything. ^_^ It's one of my goals for this fall.
Yea, Maya and 3DMax are expensive... I don't encourage pirating software (you can't make commercial games with pirated software, lest ye be sued to death) but pirated versions are out there and are good for practice, though they tend to be a little buggier than the real deal. (Again, I don't encourage the use of pirated software. Just sayin' it's out there.)
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I have dabbled in Flash before, but more on the animation side than the programming - graphics are more my thing. It seems like a very flexible and powerful program if you can get your head around it, and i've seen some great results.
As for Maya/3D Max, thankyou for the heads-up. Pirating software's not my bag, so i think i'll wait and see how well i take to using the programs in college before i think about putting serious money down for them.
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Yea, same here about Flash, I'm trying to wrap my head around ActionScript 3 and it's not working, haha... I'm working on the animation end of things right now, I'm getting better at that.
Sounds like a plan for the 3D programs; In the meantime, you may want to try out Blender- It's an open source 3D modeler, and while it isn't widely used commercially it's good practice for thinking in three dimensions and learning the process.
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Again, thankyou for the heads-up. It's about 3am here, and i don't think i'm really in the position to start getting into any serious evaluation just yet - but when i've got a clearer head i may well look into procuring myself a copy of Blender.
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Forgot you're in England. ^_^ It's only 10:30 PM here.
OK, good luck!
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Hey I heard that your blaming one of my best friends for being a brawl thief!! but I know he's clearly not so could you please not bother him anymore cuz I've gone through exactly what he has and it really isn't fun!! So could you cuz I know he has a brawl game of his own and I bet he's been taking pictures off of his game so please will you not blame him cuz blaming and fighting never solves anything!! I know!!! I'm trying to be nice.
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Done arguing.
Point's been made, admins have acted.
Don't post here again.
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Uh.. sorry!! 
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Hi! ^_^ First of all, I want to let you know that I have nothing against you, and am not going to scream and shout about "leaving Agt-Ferret alone" or anything. I'm a friend of his, so I was curious about what the fuss was about, so I did some research. From what I've found, I think this whole thing was just a massive misunderstanding and a conflict of opinions blown all out of proportion. ^_^ I found out why you didn't like that he had uploaded Brawl screen shots, and on many accounts, I agree. There are some parts I disagree with too, but that's fine. ^_^ I also find it unfair that many people are accusing you of being directly responsible for what happened to his pics. While you may have had something to do with it, it wasn't you who actually moved them to scraps. You don't seem like a bad person at all, and I think it sucks the way you are being villanized. I also hope that you don't think Agt-Ferret is a terrible person because of the friends of his that are trying do defend him. I don't think Agt-Ferret understands the conflict completely, and so I posted a comment explaining the situation in more depth on his most recent journal entry to try to get him to calm down a bit. ^_^; I'd also like to thank you for your patience and understanding on the matter, as well as for keeping a level head under all the spiteful messages you've been receiving recently. ^_^; I'm sure it can't be fun having all these people be angry at you. And last, but not least, I'd like to thank you for actually bothering to read this ungodly long comment. XD; Sorry it got so long.
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Haha, thanks for the support. Yea, honestly I have nothing against Mr. Ferret, I'm just sick of people jumping on me about it... I don't think most of them read my arguments and the ones that did don't seem to understand it.
I just want 'em to leave me alone now. ^_^ Trying to be patient, I don't want to report anybody... the only person I reported in this whole thing did get banned, but that was only because he threatened to stab me. -_-
Anyway, thanks again!
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No problem! ^_^ I guess I just always like to know what I'm talking about before I start arguing, if I argue at all. ^_^;
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Hey! Leave Agt. Ferret alone, alright? He isn't hurting anybody with his brawl screen shots. If you don't like it, just keep it to yourself. You shouldn't even be complaining, he's giving credit to the game creators.
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Issue is said and done; your argument has been made by countless others already, you can go read my responses to them elsewhere if you want an argument.
In the meantime, I'm no longer in contact with Mr. Ferret, action has been taken, there's nothing more to discuss. So please leave me alone, as I have already left Mr. Ferret alone.
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79th stupid thing was to bother Agt-Ferret. And i'm probably not the only one who thinks so: [link]
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What, you don't think I haven't already read every post in that journal? I'm not blind, thanks.
Please stop commenting here. It's over and done with, nothing more to be said or done.
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Indeed, it's done. I'm gonna ask you to stop bothering him too, with all respect due.
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Already done. ^_^
Thanks!
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....I don't suppose you go to Champlain College?
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I do! I'm starting my junior year there this fall. Why do you ask?
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I just noticed you're a game designer and live in burlington, so I figured you must go there. My brother is going into his senior year there.
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Who's your brother? I know a lot of the seniors.
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his name is Nick... very short blonde hair, generally has his ipod with him everywhere, and can be very sarcastic.
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*Found him on Facebook*
Ah! I don't think I've met him personally, though I've definitely seen him around... I think I visited the Montreal campus when he was up there too. Awesome!
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OMFG U ASS!
Leave ~Agt-Ferret alone!
all of their hard work is gona because of you,you potlicker
go gt a life and leave us alone,plz?
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It's still there; it just got moved to his Scraps section.
Go look in his gallery. Nothing's been deleted, just moved, and it had little to do with me.
Also, PLEASE, NO MORE ABOUT THIS BUSINESS.
If you haven't noticed, I haven't said anything to Mr. Ferret in the last twelve hours. I AM leaving him alone.
One person has already been banned from DA over this nonsense, and the admins told me to write them if harassment continued. Which it is. So. Point has been made, action has been taken. Tis over. Leave me alone now, thanks.
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hi i am :iocnagt-ferret:'s gf but wait before you say leave me alone i just wanna get to know you...
what do you think will has done wrong?
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Simply put, he has his copyright attached to artwork he didn't create.
The problem isn't that he has a Brawl screenshot; the problem is that it was posted on DeviantArt, where it violates DA's rules and is attributed as 'his', whereas all the art in that picture was created by and is owned by Nintendo.
At this point, I have nothing more to do with this situation- I did notice the admins moved his shots to 'scraps', which I think is an alright compromise. To be clear, I didn't prompt them to do that, either.
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do you want me to tell him he can have them but he has to put them in scraps?
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The Admins already moved the shots to Scraps; look at his mainpage, they don't appear there, they only show up if you look in his gallery.
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Hey dude, don't you be making lies that my friend is an art thief. O.K.?
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I'm not trying to make him out to be a bad person; I'm just pointing out that his recent Deviations aren't in fact his own work, and are actually in violation of DeviantArt's user policy.
If they found him, the screenshots would be deleted, and he could potentially be kicked off of DA. If anything, this is for his own benefit.
I don't recall ever referring to him as an art thief.
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Dude, they don't mind this stuff. It's not against the policy and they don't care about what he puts O.K.? He didn't broke any rules and yet you're being the bad guy here by telling him it's a violation to the DA policy, so why don't you just quit it and just deal with the fact that he's giving DA entertainment?
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*sigh* Here we go, one more time... This is a DIRECT QUOTE from DA's FAQ #8, found here:
FAQ #8: What does deviantART consider to be Art Theft?
"Current deviantART policy defines 'Art Theft' to be any situation where a user takes the original art, photography, or writing of another person (a 'third party'
Generally speaking any submission which is directly built upon the existing work of another artist or photographer can be considered to be a case of art theft. These works may feature screenshots, official artwork or sprites taken from a video game, scans from an art book, artwork found on a website somewhere on the internet or a photograph of a famous person (just to name a few examples), but in every case the 'seed image' is the legal property of another artist. In many cases these 'seed images' are manipulated, colored over, blended with other images, and otherwise digitally worked over but none of this makes the use acceptable or allowed.
These submissions will be removed regardless of whether you have credited or linked back to the original source. Knowing where you βfoundβ the original image or knowing who created it or took the photo is not the same as actually having the legal permission to use it in your submission.
Only valid, legal, stock resources are allowed to be used as part of your deviantART submission. Public Domain imagery and works governed by certain Creative Commons licenses may also be used."
So yes. Yes it does violate DA policy.
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Hmm, yet it suppose to be a violation 'if' it came from the original photo. I look EVERYWHERE in DA and in the actually official site of Smash bros and I found no exact photo of this one that my friend posted. So dude, back off or else...
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Reread the policy, it applies to deviations that "feature screenshots, official artwork or sprites taken from a video game".
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So? Who gives a damn about it? DA don't care, other Deviants as we speak are putting these photo's in their gallery. So do us a favor and back off and don't be a jerk O.K.?
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