[coconutmonkey]

Hey lately i've been doing a lot of game content like low poly meshes and skins for them. I dont really consider it "Art" but does anyone see a problem in using pictures for skins? like i'm making a female now and i took a photo of a womans face at something close to a 45 degree angle and used that and edited the hell out of it in photoshop. I think i've spent a lil over an hour on this face just doing stuff like fixing pupil placement shutting the mouth etc. Does anyone see anything wrong with this? I mean i dont really wanna do something that would make people call me "cheap" but i'm really tryin to do everything i can to make this look its best.

[Gimbal]

If you were doing skins for a game like Jet Set Radio I'd say it was a bad idea. If you were doing skins for models in a game like Rogue Spear it would be the best idea. So long as it jives with the rest of the games overall look and feel then I say go with it.
You will probably have to decide what is more important to you: What other people will say, or making it look its best. I'd go with making it look its best first.

[kurisu]

Hi coconutmonkey, I pretty much agree with Gimbal. Making games requires tight production schedules to get a lot of artwork done - and that usually necessitates 'whatever it takes to get the job done.' If photorealism is the target, then realistic textures make sense. As far as blatantly using the photo, I think it depends on how prominent the character will be in the game... if it's someone who rarely appears and only in the distance, so you'll barely see the face, I think this is absolutely fine. But, if the face will appear close-up or as a prominent character, there may be a problem. That comes down to copyright laws (if any). This reply may seem confusing, but overall "you must do what you feel is right, Luke..."

Personally, I'm not a fan of taking photos and manipulating them myself, but that's just me. I know many who 'blend' photos together for various texture work, and I think that's more of an exceptable form of creation - rather than just copying.

Just my thoughts, anyway

-kurisu

[coconutmonkey]

I've been workin on this and i think i might just draw a face from scratch because it might look odd if i have the body drawn but the face is photo-based. Whatever i do i'll post a pic when she's done and let yall tell me what you think