Kit Bashing...Is it taboo?

Hey guys,

Well I came to thinking the other day about making a CG character (for my fanfilm)with similarities to General Grievous but with a different head/parts and textures. Kinda like a precursor design to GG.
Knowing that I am very bad at creating my own version of him or finding someone to help me... I was wondering (with the permission of the artisit) would it be frowned upon to alter a 3d model in order to get my vision across?

I'm sorry if this is probably an insulting question, but this is something I need to ask before commiting to this idea.

Thanks
~Rory

 

I guess it's up to you, I mean, the sci fi 3d models are open to anyone, and there arn't really any restrictions to what you do with them. I actually think it's a pretty good idea...

 

I think kitbash is ok until you get busted. More seriously, I have no problem with kitbash if you're grabbing part from your own model : If you compare my Ewing and my Headhunter, some parts will look very close, maybe because there are the same, but it's only in the small details. Or several of my characters have the same hands. It's only things you don't really notice. What I mean is if you use a character as a strating base to make a very different one (my lara croft was made from my first stormtrooper) it's ok, because you can't see the kitbash. But if the result only make you think: "that's grevious with a differente head and longer arms" then you failed.
So, you may try, but you'll have to work hard to make people forget it was grevious at first.

 

I think kitbash is ok until you get busted.
Well it's not like I want to take credit for creating the model or anything. I will still base my credits by the actual 3d model name and artisit (plus sci-fi!).

But I do understand what you're saying OC. Some of the parts I am grabing is made by me (ie: simple shapes.) Plus most of the altering is done through just editing the mesh itself to create new shapes, but of course it will still look like GG, and is an excellent excuse for the whole precursor look!

~Rory

 

Trust me... Dr.Jones is being very liberal about it... and very nice. Kit Bashing is a NO-NO in our community... in any community. In fact it's a rule just about everywhere you go AND many authors include in their text file with their model NOT to do this. Think about it... you're stealing somebody elses work.

Like copying a movie or music... nobody cares what you do in the privacy of your home with yourself. But don't post kit-bashing works on the internet. You'll cause a firestorm of hate mail and your thread will just be deleted anyway. So you can play around with the models if you want but NO you can't just do anything you want with them. There are lots of things you can't do with them actually. And if you do dabble in kit-bashing you better make it beyond recognition of the original model. And if you go through this much trouble why not just make your own. You're really doing a disservice to yourself too. It's not only frowned upon but it makes you look like a total noob too.

If you want to play around, not sure anybody really wants to see that, and you think it's that good then you can get the author permission to do it and post it on the internet. They can give you permission to do whatever "they" want with it.

 

Think about it... you're stealing somebody elses work... But don't post kit-bashing works on the internet.
I think you're misunderstanding me Zoo. I think calling it "stealing" is a bad analogy for what I want to do. I would like to use the model for a fanfilm just like using any other model here on Sci-fi...the only difference is altering the look.

I have no intention to post kitbashed work and take the credit for it. I am asking in the aspect of "Using it (& altering it)in a fanfilm".

So I guess I should rephrase my question: Is it bad to kitbash a model, stircly for the use in a fan-film? Unless given permission.



Oh and Zoo, I'm a terrible modeller!

~Rory

 

Well think about it like this... each part of a model is a model in and of itself. The head, torso, armor, clothes, fingers, rigging of fingers, etc. Somebody may have spent an hour on the head/helmet or they might have spent weeks. You're still taking it... whether it's a part or the whole thing.. it's still their model. "Altering the look" could be as simple as just changing the color of it. Or maybe you want to "alter" it by making it a toon wtih big feet and hands. "Kit-Bashing" is a totally separate issue and it's highly frowned upon by artists. It's like taking "Mona Lisa" and trying to put a different background behind her.

I'm telling you some people are VERY sensitive about this. Some could care less. But don't assume either. Get permission to kit-bash, get permission to alter the model. Somebody who busts their hump making something doesn't want to see it altered and then used stupidly. For example... putting a Shrek head on JJ's stormtrooper then putting him on a toilet. Always error on the side of protecting the author's work or they might get so upset they pull their models.

Yes. You should never "rape" parts of other people's models. Some people make entirely new models doing this. Taking parts from all over and never making anything...not even part of it. If you want to do something with it ask the author. They might not care.

 

Thank you Zoo, for explaining it to me and for understanding my P.O.V. I will try to contact the author, to see if he doesn't mind.

~Rory

 

So, say I (not me, but the 3D guy on my FanFilm...but I'll say we for simplicity) take an X-wing cockpit and throw it onto a Jedi Interceptor body or something. If we give credit to and have permission from the original artists of the X-Wing and Interceptor, is that OK?

Personally, I think that if they're putting their work on the internet and getting credit for it, they shouldn't be picky, but it's when I take someone's Y-Wing engines and someone's TIE cockpit and arm-things and say it's my TIE-Wing (yeah, that's a real EU ship) that we've got a problem.

And if someone made a Rodian model or something, and I liked everything but the clothes, could I change them but give credit to the original artist for head/hands/everything else unaltered?

 

I think I already said this here (read it all over again), in this "old" thread that's been bumped up, but in the end we have to do what the author wants. Hypothetically... a guy could say he doesn't like fan films and will allow his work in anything BUT a fan film. It's his model. Some authors specifically say they don't allow kit-bashing. So as long as the text file with the model doesn't say that, and you get permission it's ok. If you don't get ahold of the author then you CAN'T do it. Normally it is not liked by many.