Question about textures used in 3D art:

If the raw texture has some of these mentioned licenses, and gets used only temporary, to become later part of the final texture (let the transformation happen either through baking/render to texture/work in a 2D application) - and the original texture is not included within the uploaded asset - is it then okay to use a texture from a site where the license says something along the sense of "unlimited use, as long as the texture got modified in some way" ?

P.S.: I ask this since I am not 100% sure if you refer to a raw texture or the final diffuse/normal/etc map.

1. Document guidelines are missing ;) (We don't really know what to want/expect, right?)

2. This should probably be linked from the art submission page

@riidom: If the texture may not be redistributed unchanged and it could be extracted then one isn't permitted even (or especially) when it's only a source in a baking process. Compare it to a license that says you may not redistribute unchanged source code: Adding the source code to your project doesn't change the source code itself. You would have to change the source before adding it to the project.

On the other hand those licenses are usually meant to prevent mass re-distribution of textures (for a profit). The artist may be ok with that use. But strictly speaking he/she needs to license the texture to you under a different license that allows this kind of redistribution.

Or you may choose to customize the original texture to some extend beforehand.

EDIT: riidom, sorry, of course if the offending texture itself isn't included in the uploaded asset then it should be ok in your case - with only the derived assets.

Another remark, please have a look at this contribution (and my comment):

http://opengameart.org/content/untextured-saucer

I think we need some sort of entry level in regards to quality of contributions, or some sort of notice to make users aware that assets might be deleted by the editors to keep the database clean in case the work is deemed of too low quality (or lack of significant "creation level"... e.g. stuff that everyone would just quickly do themselves instead of even thinking about looking for it on OGA should be removed).

I know this is a little bit controversial as it might discurage beginners from contributing further, but a set of assets/database is only as good as its "signal to noise" ratio.

@riidom: I guess it would depend on the exact wording of the license. But there is also the problem that if possible you should provide the "source" of your work, e.g. a image file with layers intact or the .blend file used for baking etc. I realize this can not always be done in a complete way, but the more complex your work is the better is it to include as many "source-files" as possible. And I guess this would collide with the "redistribute only in a significantly modified form" sort of license.

IMO, concept art for characters should at least have illustrations of how the character walks, attacks, etc.  Also a front and right views should be presented if the artist is eyeing on having it made as 3D model.

~creek23

I removed the guidelines from this page and added links to the guidelines page and relevant pages.