Digital Art Zone

Sorry, I always read the readme files when I’m installing something, and I came across something I don’t understand.

Someone said that her freebies were allowed for commercial and non commercial renders, but NOT allowed for “tubes.”

I thought that all that a tube is is a png render… ya know, transparent background.

SO does that mean if you make a picture, say, you applied the texture for a character, styled, added clothes and etc, and rendered as a png, you couldn’t share it?

I hate confusing terminology :(

I ALWAYS do my utmost to honor the terms that a creator sets for their freebies, but sometimes its hard when terms are so vague and unclear.  And quite very sadly, i cannot ask this person what they meant. :’(

So I hope you can help me understand.

Huh… I never heard the term myself…

Trust me, you’re not the only one who hates computer and 3D art terminology…

I only read readmes when things don’t work

But I believe tubes are like decals, I see them for PSP all the time. Basically it is the rendered character with a transparent background that can be pasted in pictures and such. I may be wrong and I am sure someone will post a better explanation.

That is an odd one I’d never herd of, but it’s the artist’s content so they can put what ever restrictions on it they want.

I thought ‘tube’ was slang for a video, probably derived from YouTube. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the word used that way.

Nope. Looked it up, a photo shop/paint shop tube is just what I said, a brush/stamp/decal you paste in to a scene or picture, sharecg has a ton of them.

No, a tube in this context is as ManStan says - an image that can be painted or stamped onto other images using a tool like PSP’s paint tube or Painter Image hose tool.

Richard Haseltine - 29 June 2012 07:20 AM

No, a tube in this context is as ManStan says - an image that can be painted or stamped onto other images using a tool like PSP’s paint tube or Painter Image hose tool.

I never heard that before. I was thinking of stuff like Tubehunter, a program for downloading videos. I’m sure the definition you gave is is the right one in this context.

arg, so even if i made a rendered picture using the texture… I mean its not even alone or whatever…. i can’t distribute it??? That kinda makes the whole “free for commercial renders thing” a moot point.

thanks for the explanation. :(  Sad that I wont ever be able to clarify with the person… but off to delete a whole bunch of content :/

The freebie makers ban on tubes probably has to do with the fact that some users will create a png, turn it into a tube and then sell the tube. 

I just don’t see the issue with that. It’s not like you’re giving away JUST the texture, you’re giving away a picture sans the background.  Pretty much the same as a picture.  Sigh.

The hard part is that the person put a retroactive ““btw tubes are not allowed for all the previous freebies either” so I’m digging through my runtime to figure out which freebies I need to remove, because their previous readmes did not include this rule about the tubes. 

They are brilliant and wonderful freebies too…. I will be sad to not use them now. :(

belovedalia - 29 June 2012 09:36 AM

The hard part is that the person put a retroactive ““btw tubes are not allowed for all the previous freebies either”

AFAICS that’s legally unenforceable, you can’t impose a restriction retrospectively and how do you enforce it on someone if they may never have seen the later freebie? I’d probably feel morally constrained to obey the restriction, but I’d be very unimpressed.

Allowing commercial renders, but not tubes, seems particularly bizarre!

belovedalia - 29 June 2012 08:26 AM

arg, so even if i made a rendered picture using the texture… I mean its not even alone or whatever…. i can’t distribute it??? That kinda makes the whole “free for commercial renders thing” a moot point.

If they allow commercial or non-commercial use, but not tubes, then I think you’re okay just as long as you don’t specifically release it as a tube. If someone else turns it into a tube later, then that’s not your problem.

Something being a PNG (or any other render format) does not mean it is automatically a tube, think about the difference between a render and one of the textures that go into that render. They may both be JPGs, but they have different statuses.

DWG - 29 June 2012 09:53 AM

belovedalia - 29 June 2012 08:26 AM

arg, so even if i made a rendered picture using the texture… I mean its not even alone or whatever…. i can’t distribute it??? That kinda makes the whole “free for commercial renders thing” a moot point.

If they allow commercial or non-commercial use, but not tubes, then I think you’re okay just as long as you don’t specifically release it as a tube. If someone else turns it into a tube later, then that’s not your problem.

Something being a PNG (or any other render format) does not mean it is automatically a tube, think about the difference between a render and one of the textures that go into that render. They may both be JPGs, but they have different statuses.

Yeah see its just so unspecific.  But I do respect the maker of the freebies and to make sure I honor that person’s request, for safety I have gone and removed the ones (that I remember… erk) were by this person. 

If only they had explained what was meant by “tubes” :(

belovedalia - 29 June 2012 08:26 AM

arg, so even if i made a rendered picture using the texture… I mean its not even alone or whatever…. i can’t distribute it??? That kinda makes the whole “free for commercial renders thing” a moot point.

thanks for the explanation. :(  Sad that I wont ever be able to clarify with the person… but off to delete a whole bunch of content :/

Well from what you’re saying it sounds like you are free to distribute it as a rendered picture just not as a tube. I realize a tube is also a form of rendered picture but it’s a special form of rendered picture that allows you to quickly add the image in the tube to other artwork.

So in essence you can make a render for a company that is an ad promoting something (for example) using this freebie and get paid making it a commercial render, without having to get permission from or pay royalties to the creator of the freebie. You can not however make a tube and distribute it as a tube which is a device to allow others to easily use the same image in other artwork. See if you sell a tube you’ve not really created anything if you use this freebie and so you’d be profiting off of someone else’s creativity and work. A commercial render on the other had likely has other elements to it that came from your own creativity making it unique to you and a product of your own creativity and work.

Tubes are as people here have told you an add-on for Paintshop Pro and they work the same way more or less as brushes work in Photoshop

Tubes = Paintshop Pro
Brushes = Photoshop.

belovedalia - 29 June 2012 09:36 AM

I just don’t see the issue with that. It’s not like you’re giving away JUST the texture, you’re giving away a picture sans the background.  Pretty much the same as a picture.  Sigh.

The hard part is that the person put a retroactive ““btw tubes are not allowed for all the previous freebies either” so I’m digging through my runtime to figure out which freebies I need to remove, because their previous readmes did not include this rule about the tubes. 

They are brilliant and wonderful freebies too…. I will be sad to not use them now. :(

You weren’t even sure what tubes were so you’re obviously not making them and since you’re not making them this shouldn’t be an issue for you and you shouldn’t feel the need to delete a bunch of content that prohibits you from doing something you don’t do anyway.

LordHardDriven - 30 June 2012 04:15 PM

belovedalia - 29 June 2012 09:36 AM

I just don’t see the issue with that. It’s not like you’re giving away JUST the texture, you’re giving away a picture sans the background.  Pretty much the same as a picture.  Sigh.

The hard part is that the person put a retroactive ““btw tubes are not allowed for all the previous freebies either” so I’m digging through my runtime to figure out which freebies I need to remove, because their previous readmes did not include this rule about the tubes. 

They are brilliant and wonderful freebies too…. I will be sad to not use them now. :(

You weren’t even sure what tubes were so you’re obviously not making them and since you’re not making them this shouldn’t be an issue for you and you shouldn’t feel the need to delete a bunch of content that prohibits you from doing something you don’t do anyway.

Actually it IS a problem… I was making character pngs for a couple DnD groups- making character renders on transparent backgrounds so they could put their character into the background/story of their choice.  I didn’t knw it was called “tubes” and I STILL dnt’ see anything wrong with it- its not like they are artists and they just wanted their characters, plain and simple.

I NEVER keep content on my computer that requires credit or has limited usage.  That way I hopefully know that whatever image I make is allowed for any kind of commercial work.  That’s why reading a retroactive readme like this causes me a great deal of trouble.  And its why I had to go and delete a lot of content…. and I still need to do more “digging” in my runtime to make sure I got it all.  Sigh. See this is why readmes need to be more concise and clearly explained. 

And see why I’m so bothered about it? :(

So hard to honor a content maker’s wishes if they didn’t specify in the first place.  Even if I think the wish is kind of weird.