I've taken a look over the art design rules and boy are there a lot of them. The reason for this is to make sure we get quality results in a fair manner and there are all sorts of ways artists can use to attempt to game their submissions. However I think it's about time the rules get trimmed down and redone a bit to make the process a little less scary for newcomers.
Refer to this for the original: http://www.smogon.com/cap/process/events/art_submissions
The current version is my attempts to consolidate and cut down on some rules to make it shorter and easier to read. Similar rules have been merged and some clarifying statements removed. There's some expectation that submitting artists have enough common sense to be able to understand that something like, "plain white background", does not mean patterns or washes of colour for the background of an image. Anybody that breaks simply stated rules usually do not read them in the first place. A lot of the more personal language has also been removed.
Comments of the ease of reading and potential improvements would be nice. We want to make the process as smooth and fair as possible.
Changelog
Notice about not stealing other submitter's art has been added to the top and removed from both the main design and general rules section.
Main Design-
First three rules about a single pokemon on a white background with no cut offs are merged together. They cover similar topics and there were some repeating sentences.
No photos have been merged into the subject of 2D media. It's a subset of that topic.
The line, "Uncompressed bitmaps and/or high-resolution images are not allowed." Was removed, due to the former line mentioning that the picture must be in a compressed format. It needs no further clarification.
General Rules-
About excessive artwork, the line "Some artists don't realize that they are "crowding out" other submissions by spamming the thread. Whatever the reason -- don't do it, or you will be moderated." is replaced by, "Be careful with this rule, or you will be moderated." Since the previous line seems to cover it.
Multiple artwork rule completely removed. Is covered by the above.
Inconsquential updates moved to below the excessive artwork rule for smoother reading. "But, insignificant changes will be moderated as an attempt to spam the thread with your art.", line removed since it repeats the first sentence.
Rule about art size tweaked slightly with the compression rule added to the end.
Huge changes to rules about image posting, commissioning artists, bumping and reserving. Mostly trimmed down and merged image posting and artist commisioning together concepts together underneath 'this is not an idea thread'.
Merged the, 'doesn't look like a pokemon/digimon', rules together and cut out some of the more personal language.
Cut down the text in the 'this is not a help thread' rule. It just needs to be simple.
Removed, "It's pretty easy to see the art poll coming up in relation to the other threads in the project.", from the last rule. Line isn't needed.
Refer to this for the original: http://www.smogon.com/cap/process/events/art_submissions
The current version is my attempts to consolidate and cut down on some rules to make it shorter and easier to read. Similar rules have been merged and some clarifying statements removed. There's some expectation that submitting artists have enough common sense to be able to understand that something like, "plain white background", does not mean patterns or washes of colour for the background of an image. Anybody that breaks simply stated rules usually do not read them in the first place. A lot of the more personal language has also been removed.
Comments of the ease of reading and potential improvements would be nice. We want to make the process as smooth and fair as possible.
A "Final Art Submission" will consist of two things - a "Main Design" and "Supporting Material". A Main Design is the only required element of a Final Art Submission, Supporting Material is optional. Note that all material in both the Main Design and Supporting Material must be your own. Using another piece of art for inspiration is allowed, but blatant plagiarism will result in warnings or bans depending on the severity.
Main Design
The Main Design is intended to follow the same general posing and layout as the "Official Art" for existing ingame pokemon. The Main Design is the definitive design for a given pokemon and should be suitable for display in the CAP Pokedex section of the upcoming CAP Website, and any other CAP propaganda where a picture of the pokemon is needed. The comparison to "Official Pokemon Art" is only applicable to the basic content of the Main Design; it does not imply ANY standards or guidelines regarding artistic style or rendering technique. The following rules of content must be followed for the Main Design:
Supporting Material
While the rules for the Main Design are somewhat rigid -- there are almost no rules when it comes to Supporting Material. Action scenes, movement studies, interaction with other pokemon, animations, sculptures, cartoon strips -- anything goes! Also non-art supporting material is also allowed. This includes detailed descriptions of the art, background data, stories, etc. All supporting art and information must be related to the main design in some way. This rule is intended to prevent artists from posting unrelated art, in an effort to gain more attention or promote other designs or artworks.
Final Submission Post
All artists must make a Final Submission Post in order to be considered for the Art Poll. The post must be titled "Final Submission". The post should have the Main Design at the top, and Supporting Material (if applicable) below it. All supporting art must be included as links or as linked thumbnails no larger than 150x150. Do not include full images of supporting art in the Final Submission. Only make ONE Final Submission Post. Artists are welcome to work on multiple designs and get feedback from the community, but only one design can be submitted for final consideration. If you wish to alter any aspect of your Final Submission, then edit your post. Do not make a new one, even if you delete your original post. Any delete + repost will be treated as bumping, and subject to moderation.
General Posting Rules
Main Design
The Main Design is intended to follow the same general posing and layout as the "Official Art" for existing ingame pokemon. The Main Design is the definitive design for a given pokemon and should be suitable for display in the CAP Pokedex section of the upcoming CAP Website, and any other CAP propaganda where a picture of the pokemon is needed. The comparison to "Official Pokemon Art" is only applicable to the basic content of the Main Design; it does not imply ANY standards or guidelines regarding artistic style or rendering technique. The following rules of content must be followed for the Main Design:
- It must consist of a single pokemon on a plain white background with no parts of the pokemon cut off by the canvas.
- No props, action effects, move effects, or additional objects can be rendered on or around the pokemon. If a prop is part of the pokemon's basic design (ie Farfetch'd Stick), then it is acceptable.
- Any 2D digital or scanned traditional drawing may be used. It must be in full colour. 3D media and photos are not allowed.
- It must have a distinguishable outline on the entire subject in contrast to the background. No part of the design can be blurred into the background or blended into the background.
- It must be no larger than 640 pixels on either axis, no smaller than 320 pixels on either axis, and must be in a compressed digital format.
Supporting Material
While the rules for the Main Design are somewhat rigid -- there are almost no rules when it comes to Supporting Material. Action scenes, movement studies, interaction with other pokemon, animations, sculptures, cartoon strips -- anything goes! Also non-art supporting material is also allowed. This includes detailed descriptions of the art, background data, stories, etc. All supporting art and information must be related to the main design in some way. This rule is intended to prevent artists from posting unrelated art, in an effort to gain more attention or promote other designs or artworks.
Final Submission Post
All artists must make a Final Submission Post in order to be considered for the Art Poll. The post must be titled "Final Submission". The post should have the Main Design at the top, and Supporting Material (if applicable) below it. All supporting art must be included as links or as linked thumbnails no larger than 150x150. Do not include full images of supporting art in the Final Submission. Only make ONE Final Submission Post. Artists are welcome to work on multiple designs and get feedback from the community, but only one design can be submitted for final consideration. If you wish to alter any aspect of your Final Submission, then edit your post. Do not make a new one, even if you delete your original post. Any delete + repost will be treated as bumping, and subject to moderation.
General Posting Rules
- Artists can post any work-in-progress (WIP) artwork, in order to solicit feedback or to help develop ideas. WIP artwork does not need to conform to the standards of a Main Design. It can be in any medium or stage of completion. But, it must be related to an original art design by the poster.
- Do not spam the thread with excessive amounts of artwork over a short time. Apparently, some artists think they will improve their chances in the poll if they overload the submission thread with their artwork. Be careful with this rule, or you will be moderated.
- Do not post inconsequential "updates" to previously posted art. Otherwise, if you have made a significant change, and have not posted art recently -- feel free to post an update to the thread.
- No post can contain more than 800x800 pixels of included art, and no single picture can be larger than 640 pixels on either axis. Past the limit artists should post links to the additional art or use linking thumbnails. Each thumbnail can be no larger than 150x150. Any number of thumbnails can be included in a post, even if it passes the limit. All art must be in a compressed digital format.
- Do not post to state your intended design. Such posts are a weak attempt to "reserve" an idea, and serve no constructive purpose.
- Do not post images to serve as inspiration for artists or attempt to commission an artist in thread to do your idea. This isn't an idea thread, but an art one. It's fine for artists to post their own inspiration as supporting material.
- No bumping or begging, especially for feedback. If your design is any good, people WILL comment on it. If your design gets no feedback, then your design is not very good. The silence is the feedback.
- Do not declare any artwork as "the winner", "is clearly going to win", or similar. It's fine to post praise or support for an artwork, but don't make a statement indicating the results of a poll that has not been conducted. Such posts are insulting to all the other competing artists.
- Do not post that a design does or does not "look like a Pokémon/Digimon". There is no artistic style guide for Pokemon, so don't act like you know what a Pokemon should look like. If you like or dislike a design, that's fine, just say that. Such comments are unable to be substantiated or refuted.
- Do not post questions asking for help in making art. This isn't a tutorial thread.
- Do not ask when this thread will close. CAP threads do not follow a set timetable. If you want to know the overall sequence of events in a CAP then go to the CAP website and read the process guide.
Changelog
Notice about not stealing other submitter's art has been added to the top and removed from both the main design and general rules section.
Main Design-
First three rules about a single pokemon on a white background with no cut offs are merged together. They cover similar topics and there were some repeating sentences.
No photos have been merged into the subject of 2D media. It's a subset of that topic.
The line, "Uncompressed bitmaps and/or high-resolution images are not allowed." Was removed, due to the former line mentioning that the picture must be in a compressed format. It needs no further clarification.
General Rules-
About excessive artwork, the line "Some artists don't realize that they are "crowding out" other submissions by spamming the thread. Whatever the reason -- don't do it, or you will be moderated." is replaced by, "Be careful with this rule, or you will be moderated." Since the previous line seems to cover it.
Multiple artwork rule completely removed. Is covered by the above.
Inconsquential updates moved to below the excessive artwork rule for smoother reading. "But, insignificant changes will be moderated as an attempt to spam the thread with your art.", line removed since it repeats the first sentence.
Rule about art size tweaked slightly with the compression rule added to the end.
Huge changes to rules about image posting, commissioning artists, bumping and reserving. Mostly trimmed down and merged image posting and artist commisioning together concepts together underneath 'this is not an idea thread'.
Merged the, 'doesn't look like a pokemon/digimon', rules together and cut out some of the more personal language.
Cut down the text in the 'this is not a help thread' rule. It just needs to be simple.
Removed, "It's pretty easy to see the art poll coming up in relation to the other threads in the project.", from the last rule. Line isn't needed.
