Creating Characters

marty123

I know your not allowed to create toons that look like real trek actors, but could I create a toon based on something like this:

https://metrouk2-files-wordpress-com.cdn.ampproject.org/ii/w1000/s/metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/kirk-imgur.png?quality=80&strip=all&zoom=1&resize=480,716

It’s an amalgam of Shatner and Pines Kirk so it doesn’t look like either of them but is still recognisably Kirk.

I was considering doing a mission where you meet a young Kirk in the Discovery era.

spiritborn

I would say "no". I (and others) have said it's not "replicate apparence" it's "try to replicate an apparence" there's no mention of you having to succeed at it and an amalgam character could be seen as a "bad attempt at trying to replicate" either of those actors.

This is why we say that for newbies that rule should read as "don't use canon characters".

If you are adamant about including Kirk have him wear an EV suit for the mission or be on voice only coms so that his apparence is never "on-screen" so to speak.

thay8472

As long as it doesn't look like Kirk you should be good.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

duncanidaho11

Yeah, blending actors to create a character that still looks like their appearance does not make this EULA friendly. Best not to quibble with the exact wording (that all goes out the window if there's a serious problem and a rights holder makes a complaint.) Just make your own characters, the Foundry is not the venue to depict your favorites from the TV shows and movies. That requires negotiation with the actors themselves and only the devs are setup to handle and pay for that. You can drop names and use text-only logs but don't try to work canon characters into depicted roles in your Foundry mission (unless you completely change their likeness, such that no reasonable argument can be made that you've referenced the original actor(s).) In just about every case, an original character would not only work for the role but work better because you have full creative control and fewer preconceptions by the audience.

ashstorm1

duncanidaho11 wrote: »

marty123#3757 wrote: »

but is still recognisably Kirk.

Yeah, blending actors to create a character that still looks like their appearance does not make this EULA friendly. Best not to quibble with the exact wording (that all goes out the window if there's a serious problem and a rights holder makes a complaint), don't make canon characters which resemble the actors who played them.

Recommendation: please make your own characters, the Foundry is not the venue to depict your favorites from the TV shows and series. That requires negotiation with the actors themselves and only the devs are setup to handle and pay for that. You can drop names and use text-only logs but don't try to work canon characters into depicted roles in your Foundry mission (unless you completely change their likeness, such that no reasonable argument can be made that you've referenced the original actor(s).) In just about every case, an original character would not only work for the role but work better because you have full creative control.

I'm sure there are a few missions in the Foundry that are actually EULA-breaking. Given, they're pretty obscure, but at least one of them was openly featuring Wesley Crusher as a full character, if I remember right <.<

spiritborn

ashstorm1 wrote: »

duncanidaho11 wrote: »

marty123#3757 wrote: »

but is still recognisably Kirk.

Yeah, blending actors to create a character that still looks like their appearance does not make this EULA friendly. Best not to quibble with the exact wording (that all goes out the window if there's a serious problem and a rights holder makes a complaint), don't make canon characters which resemble the actors who played them.

Recommendation: please make your own characters, the Foundry is not the venue to depict your favorites from the TV shows and series. That requires negotiation with the actors themselves and only the devs are setup to handle and pay for that. You can drop names and use text-only logs but don't try to work canon characters into depicted roles in your Foundry mission (unless you completely change their likeness, such that no reasonable argument can be made that you've referenced the original actor(s).) In just about every case, an original character would not only work for the role but work better because you have full creative control.

I'm sure there are a few missions in the Foundry that are actually EULA-breaking. Given, they're pretty obscure, but at least one of them was openly featuring Wesley Crusher as a full character, if I remember right <.<

Of course there are and you should report them as soon as you find them. This isn't a case of "it's ok because someone else did it before me". Best not play with fire here, while so far there's been no issues with actors (that we know of), we also don't want it to become an issue, all it takes is one actor finding out his likeness was used without premission and complaining about it.

duncanidaho11

spiritborn wrote: »

Of course there are and you should report them as soon as you find them. This isn't a case of "it's ok because someone else did it before me". Best not play with fire here, while so far there's been no issues with actors (that we know of), we also don't want it to become an issue, all it takes is one actor finding out his likeness was used without premission and complaining about it.

The immediate course of action would naturally be taking down the mission, I think a "this is why we can't have nice things!"-scale problem would arise if Cryptic's management felt that the STO community wasn't using the tool appropriately. That would severely hurt the case for bug fixes, support, community events, and finding time for new assets. So, we do have to adopt our serious faces (though I understand that on a Tardigrade it's difficult to tell) and be very firm about saying "don't depict characters who appeared in the TV shows and movies."

(It's good writers advice anyway, developing complex and engaging characters of your own is a vital skill for top-tier foundrying. )

ashstorm1

duncanidaho11 wrote: »

spiritborn wrote: »

Of course there are and you should report them as soon as you find them. This isn't a case of "it's ok because someone else did it before me". Best not play with fire here, while so far there's been no issues with actors (that we know of), we also don't want it to become an issue, all it takes is one actor finding out his likeness was used without premission and complaining about it.

The immediate course of action would naturally be taking down the mission, I think a "this is why we can't have nice things!"-scale problem would arise if Cryptic's management felt that the STO community wasn't using the tool appropriately. That would severely hurt the case for bug fixes, support, community events, and finding time for new assets. So, we do have to adopt our serious faces (though I understand that on a Tardigrade it's difficult to tell) and be very firm about saying "don't depict characters who appeared in the TV shows and movies."

(It's good writers advice anyway, developing complex and engaging characters of your own is a vital skill for top-tier foundrying. )

I'll make sure to report it whenever the Foundry functions are available again.

spiritborn

ashstorm1 wrote: »

duncanidaho11 wrote: »

spiritborn wrote: »

Of course there are and you should report them as soon as you find them. This isn't a case of "it's ok because someone else did it before me". Best not play with fire here, while so far there's been no issues with actors (that we know of), we also don't want it to become an issue, all it takes is one actor finding out his likeness was used without premission and complaining about it.

The immediate course of action would naturally be taking down the mission, I think a "this is why we can't have nice things!"-scale problem would arise if Cryptic's management felt that the STO community wasn't using the tool appropriately. That would severely hurt the case for bug fixes, support, community events, and finding time for new assets. So, we do have to adopt our serious faces (though I understand that on a Tardigrade it's difficult to tell) and be very firm about saying "don't depict characters who appeared in the TV shows and movies."

(It's good writers advice anyway, developing complex and engaging characters of your own is a vital skill for top-tier foundrying. )

I'll make sure to report it whenever the Foundry functions are available again.

As Duncan said we don't want this to become "this is why we can't have nice things" problem so it's vital that we police this yourselves, to show cryptic that most people use the Foundry for its intended purpose and follows the rules and thus it's worth the effort they're putting into it.

EDIT:I'd say Tardigrades have been quite good at showing their "serious face" or at least it freaked the hell out my characters

thegreendragoon1

I'll just echo what everyone else has been saying. You really should be coming up with your own original characters. Be creative, you don't need Kirk or Picard in your story. Your story should be good enough on it's own that it doesn't need to lean on these characters. I know it's easy to want to tell stories about the people and ships we see on the show, but these are the work of others. What can you do on your own?

ashstorm1

thegreendragoon1 wrote: »

I'll just echo what everyone else has been saying. You really should be coming up with your own original characters. Be creative, you don't need Kirk or Picard in your story. Your story should be good enough on it's own that it doesn't need to lean on these characters. I know it's easy to want to tell stories about the people and ships we see on the show, but these are the work of others. What can you do on your own?

^ I second this.