I have a question. (rant)

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 minutes ago, Qie Niangao said:

I have some preconceived notion that (however they pose their avatars) the amateurs vastly outnumber the serious photographers

Oh, definitely. Even on Flickr, a platform that is at least putatively for "serious" photographers, the vast majority of shots crossing my feed are clearly amateur pics taken . . . for whatever reason. I think that's brilliant, personally: SL photography has provided a lot of people with a simple and easy way to express themselves and their creativity to replace what we lost when mesh became the norm, and in-world building tools more or less obsolete (although I still use them for the backdrops I build).

6 minutes ago, Qie Niangao said:

those on that more populated side are the ones where a "timed-demo loophole" might present a problem for the demo maker.

I am sure that's true. Although static poses are typically pretty cheap (usually in the L$125 range each, and cheaper still if you hit up the sales, where there are typically a great many on offer each week.

Another point: the BD poser allows you to "capture" your pose for modification. I've never tried this, because I don't know that I've ever seen a timed demo for poses, but I'd imagine you could run a demo and then capture it on the poser, and save it to your library of BD poses. In other words, you could effectively steal the pose.

10 minutes ago, Qie Niangao said:

But it would be fascinating to hear from a clothing creator who uses timed demos specifically to encourage their products to be used in casual photos, no sale expected.

Again, I've never seen anything like this, although arguably it's effectively what creators do with bloggers, providing them free copies of garments and objects on the condition that they are credited in any pics that are published. The difference there, or course, is that the exchange is sort of contractual and one-on-one.

[Love Zhaoying]

I have a feeling that if Andy Warhol were alive today, he would be creating Art with the word "DEMO" splashed across it in final form.

*ETA* I is on topic surpreme!

Edited September 29, 2023 by Love Zhaoying

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 minute ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I have a feeling that if Andy Warhol were alive today, he would be creating Art with the word "DEMO" splashed across it in final form.

*ETA* I is on topic surpreme!

I.

Am.

SO.

Stealing.

This.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

1 hour ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I'm reminded of a guy who was chatting me up a year or so ago. In the course of our slightly flirtatious banter, I mentioned that I was an SL photographer. His response was "Oh, so you take screen shots of other people's creations?"

After I'd doused the many small spot fires, and propped up the broken wall that were the unfortunate side effect of my explosion, I gained an additional revenge by treating him to a miniature 20 minute lecture on landscape art, the importance of lighting and composition, a short digression on Aristotle's response to Plato's strictures on poets, and Ansel Adams. So, I asked rhetorically, the real creative force of this image comes from the guys who built the church, and not Adams, who merely "snapped" the pic?

That argument makes me itch. Sure, let me just go and create a mesh head, body, skin, hair, a full face of makeup, an entire outfit, all the scenery and props, and accessories just to take a photo for my Flickr. While I'm at it, I'll also ignore the years of training in lighting and composition and posing and angles and ... 😒

 

1 hour ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I rarely credit stuff I'm wearing in my pics, or anything that I've bought for the shot, but I do include SLURLs for places I've taken them, in part as a "thank you" to those who've generously built them for me and others to use, and in part as an acknowledgement of their creativity.

Yeah. Another example for Qie of a modified pose. This is a much much simpler shot, using a commercial pose, but with head and face, both arms, and especially the left hand modified. OMG, I spent . . . 45 mins? . . . getting the hand holding the cigarette the way I wanted it to look.

I credited more when I was doing fashion photography. It seemed far more important there since the focus was actually on the outfits/avatars, and I figured I'd save anyone the effort of asking "what are you wearinnnng?" if they were interested in scoring any of the items I styled with. For the more artistic photos I've been doing lately, I don't credit anything in the description - occasionally just in the tags. Everything is purchased or a gift, however. I will never use demos, even though I'm a simple hobbyist.

And yes, you know the hand troubles!!! It's also quite frustrating that fingers don't quite move the way you'd expect, so it's all rather fiddly. ACK.

 

1 hour ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I have a feeling that if Andy Warhol were alive today, he would be creating Art with the word "DEMO" splashed across it in final form.

*ETA* I is on topic surpreme!

Interesting idea. Creators should definitely feel free to weigh in on this, but using demos specifically to create artwork around the concept of demos doesn't seem unethical to me. Doing that with an entire Flickr portfolio, however - probably not a good idea! Knowing me, I'd likely still buy the full version, though, and then use the demo version. Some of my favorite creators put soooo much work into their art that I'd feel bad not making a purchase, even for a one-off project.

[Katherine Heartsong]

1 hour ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I.

Am.

SO.

Stealing.

This.

I am so gonna paint this tonight.

[Missy Starchild]

I like to put full looks/outfits together to see the fit before I buy everything, so if a part I'm demoing is timed to like 2 minutes, I'm just not bothering. Into the trash it goes.

[Shining Sun]

I'm going to begin sending complaints to these stores with the vanishing clothes. Perhaps they don't read the forum.

[Belephannt]

this elephant walks nude through our virtual world without hassle

[Rowan Amore]

20 minutes ago, Shining Sun said:

I'm going to begin sending complaints to these stores with the vanishing clothes. Perhaps they don't read the forum.

 

1 minute ago, Belephannt said:

this elephant walks nude through our virtual world without hassle

Always wear your socks!

[Belephannt]

2 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

4 minutes ago, Belephannt said:

this elephant walks nude through our virtual world without hassle

Always wear your socks!

noooooo, Rowan.   this elephant has tough leather feet, and needs no shoes