OCR Mascot Bios - 20 more up for grabs!

[Abadoss]

Oh, I really have no idea, only that we're getting new ones to "fill out the X-tinged void", as Polo put it. I'm hoping it'll happen before a mix submitted today would hit the far end of the judges' panel, but who knows.

So, you're hoping within the next three years?

[Mirby]

It'll be before the next avatar update.

So never :C

[Dafydd]

So, you're hoping within the next three years?

What. It doesn't take three years for a remix to hit the far end of the panel, unless you get a no resub and take another 2 years to submit the new version.

[Abadoss]

What. It doesn't take three years for a remix to hit the far end of the panel, unless you get a no resub and take another 2 years to submit the new version.

It was a zinger on the speed of the judge's queue... Don't mind me.

[Dafydd]

I'd think djp is the bottleneck as of a while back now. Seen the list of to be posted ReMixes? Not that the judges' queue is up to date, but most mixes seem to get either no'ed or yes'ed within 3 or 4 months after submission (which is a long time, I agree, but it's not 3 years). Anyway, it might not have been the best comparison on my part to begin with. I think it'll be longer before we see new mascots than it'll take us to write the bios, haha.

Edited December 13, 2012 by Dafydd

[Dafydd]

It'll be before the next avatar update.

So never :C

Well, apparently not!

[Liontamer]

I'll talk to djp and we'll see what we can do to move this forward. One important thing will be to take making new mascot images off of his plate if possible, and that means other people in the community being able to produce new mascots at the same exact standard of quality he does.

1) We need to know what minimum size & format makes for a high-quality-enough source image

2) I'm no Photoshop expert, but it takes some skill to do the transparency properly rather than sloppily

3) The shadowing used would have to match djp's style; and

4) There are probably certain settings and dimension limits we need to be working under.

The gist is we need someone meticulous & detail-oriented enough to make new mascots so that we can just pass them on to djp to implement. That way, you can work on bios while being confident the mascots images could be made and used.

I'm not opposed at all to some bios being written preemptively; if you're excited to write a bio, don't let the lack of a mascot dissuade you, we could still conceivably add it. Just do some legwork and fine a viable source image available to work with that could go with the bio, and we'll make it a mascot.

[djpretzel]

Actually I'm cool if I just get artwork, I can do the masking/transparency stuff no problem.

Sorry in general for not being on top of things - trying to to get FF6 and V6 out the door is taking its toll on my time, but I'm psyched for new mascots.

If I can get the list & characters and artwork for each as a nice bundle, I can absolutely power my way through the Photoshop side of things & get 'er done.

[Liontamer]

Y'all heard the man. Get your mascot images (no Squenix stuff though) and have at it as far as writing more bios!

Actually I'm cool if I just get artwork, I can do the masking/transparency stuff no problem.

Sorry in general for not being on top of things - trying to to get FF6 and V6 out the door is taking its toll on my time, but I'm psyched for new mascots.

If I can get the list & characters and artwork for each as a nice bundle, I can absolutely power my way through the Photoshop side of things & get 'er done.

What's the ideal size for an image to start with? Is something like this Isaac too small?

[djpretzel]

Y'all heard the man. Get your mascot images (no Squenix stuff though) and have at it as far as writing more bios!

What's the ideal size for an image to start with? Is something like this Isaac too small?

That's a good bare minimum to start with. Obviously the mascot images themselves are smaller, but it's far easier to mask at higher resolutions and then resize. I think a general guideline should be 250px minimum for either dimension.

Also, personal request... I think we should add Teddy from Persona 4.

[Polo]

I'll just leave these here:

Blue Tap Runner

Q*bert: this or this, maybe?

If I can get the list & characters and artwork for each as a nice bundle, I can absolutely power my way through the Photoshop side of things & get 'er done.

You still up for the community nomination + voting rounds like last time? You can upload the mascots you want first (Super Meat Boy and co.) and let others offer their suggestions. Or would you prefer we (or I) choose a set number of nominees (10 or so?) from the last few pages of this thread and post high-res art for you to pick and choose from?

[WiFiSunset]

Could Blinx be a mascot?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/Blinx_-_The_Time_Sweeper_Coverart.png

or

Banjo, from banjo kazooie?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/Banjo-Tooie_Coverart.png

(If the right image sizes are found).

[Dafydd]

Sorry in general for not being on top of things - trying to to get FF6 and V6 out the door is taking its toll on my time, but I'm psyched for new mascots.

If I can get the list & characters and artwork for each as a nice bundle, I can absolutely power my way through the Photoshop side of things & get 'er done.

... yeah, what happened to the community poll? I sent you an PM back in... 2012-11-11 listing all the candidates for it (no images, though). Do you want me to re-send it, or should I just quote it here in the thread for all the world to see?

Anyway, if TMNT ever makes it, I can't think of any other image than this. I just, you know, wanted to have said that, just in case.

Banjo, from banjo kazooie?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/Banjo-Tooie_Coverart.png

I don't think it would be appropriate to have Banjo as a mascot without Kazooie

But... we can't just nick images from all around the internet without running into copyright issues, can we? Does it fall under fair use if the image is resized to puny OCR mascot size?

Edited April 17, 2013 by Dafydd

[Liontamer]

... yeah, what happened to the community poll? I sent you an PM back in... 2012-11-11 listing all the candidates for it (no images, though). Do you want me to re-send it, or should I just quote it here in the thread for all the world to see?

Nah, forget that poll. If you like all those candidates, y'all can get crackin' with images & bios and we'll get 'em going once a solid sized set is ready.

But... we can't just nick images from all around the internet without running into copyright issues, can we? Does it fall under fair use if the image is resized to puny OCR mascot size?

The much smaller size is one aspect, and also that we're tying the visibility of these images with the educational component of the bios. Let's go!

[WiFiSunset]

I don't think it would be appropriate to have Banjo as a mascot without Kazooie

XD, that's so true . Due to her personality I actually think that she could have her own mascot page. (They could separate in banjo tooie). Maybe a mascot with both of them, and each separately....?? (just floating an idea).

[Abadoss]

But... we can't just nick images from all around the internet without running into copyright issues, can we? Does it fall under fair use if the image is resized to puny OCR mascot size?

What happened to the fanart idea instead of the copyrighted images?

I still think we need to have the OCR-tans...

[Polo]

So instead of djp posting the mascot images first and having us write the bios second, it's the other way around? I think we need some clear guidelines in the first post or the FAQ, like:

- Your character cannot be from a game/series that Square-Enix developed or published (or claimed ownership of).

- Your character MUST have a clear, high-resolution pic (250x250 or higher) that shows their full body (no cutoff) somewhere on the internet. You must link to it before you can write about your pick.

- (For now,) your character image must be official game art that appears in instruction manuals or promotional materials. Fan art is (temporarily) off-limits until we work out a plan for implementing it. (This'll help us with the "Pictured from: [Game]" lines.)

In any case, I call Q*bert's bio. I probably won't finish it quickly as I'm kinda swamped with college work right now.

[Liontamer]

So instead of djp posting the mascot images first and having us write the bios second, it's the other way around?

Not quite:

I'm not opposed at all to some bios being written preemptively; if you're excited to write a bio, don't let the lack of a mascot dissuade you, we could still conceivably add it. Just do some legwork and fine a viable source image available to work with that could go with the bio, and we'll make it a mascot.

The legwork to find good images should come first. I'm saying more like, if you wanna write something for (hypothetically) Esmyrelda Maximus from Cryamore RIGHT NOW, just go for it and start working on it. Just be sure to check for a good image before you devote a ton of writing time, though if someone happens to write a bio first and finds the good image second, more power to 'em. When we have a good amount of images gathered, djp can implement them, and bios can be added to the Wiki when ready.

I'm basically saying, don't worry about any polls for what characters are wanted. You guys are empowered to pick what you want and work on them with the priority that you want.

I think we need some clear guidelines in the first post or the FAQ, like:

- Your character cannot be from a game/series that Square-Enix developed or published (or claimed ownership of).

- Your character MUST have a clear, high-resolution pic (250x250 or higher) that shows their full body (no cutoff) somewhere on the internet. You must link to it before you can write about your pick.

- (For now,) your character image must be official game art that appears in instruction manuals or promotional materials. Fan art is (temporarily) off-limits until we work out a plan for implementing it. (This'll help us with the "Pictured from: [Game]" lines.)

Done. Spruced it up. http://ocremix.org/info/Mascot_Project_Guidelines

[Dafydd]

You guys are empowered to pick what you want and work on them with the priority that you want.

By "you guys", do you mean the people running the project, or anyone? I'm a little worried about just anyone being able to post a bio out of nowhere at any time, even though the community should of course be able to participate in suggesting new mascots (and writing bios for them). Would it be alright if we ran polls ourselves, limiting the number of "winners" to, say, 20, and then didn't accept new mascots until that batch of 20 was written (on a first-come, first-serve basis, as we have done previously) and uploaded to the wiki before running another poll, and so on? Otherwise, this is going to get chaotic real fast, and I don't want us to need a whole subforum for this project in order to be able to organize it.

Edited April 17, 2013 by Dafydd

[Liontamer]

By "you guys", do you mean the people running the project, or anyone? I'm a little worried about just anyone being able to post a bio out of nowhere at any time, even though the community should of course be able to participate in suggesting new mascots (and writing bios for them). Would it be alright if we ran polls ourselves, limiting the number of "winners" to, say, 20, and then didn't accept new mascots until that batch of 20 was written (on a first-come, first-serve basis, as we have done previously) and uploaded to the wiki before running another poll, and so on? Otherwise, this is going to get chaotic real fast, and I don't want us to need a whole subforum for this project in order to be able to organize it.

I mean both you and Polo, since you guys are overseeing this. No bios are going up without your oversight.

As far as polls, you're definitely empowered to run your own polls, BUT... we don't need to for now.

I've actually found over 100 viable images that I've already picked out thanks to Creative Uncut. So I'm checking with djp to see if he has, say, 5 characters he'd like to see get their bios worked on first. If I can actually get a fuller list of what he plans to add later, there'll be enough characters on deck to keep everyone busy for a LONNNNNG time, and we can do a poll of 10 choices, with 5 winners advancing. I think we're going to have an overabundance of great choices. Hold tight for more info.

Once we get back in the groove of adding more mascots, we can also figure out also how best we can include fan art explicitly submitted by the artists on bio pages (not as mascots, according to djp), if we do indeed go that route.

Edited April 17, 2013 by Liontamer
100+ mascots candidates found; awaiting djp's priority picks for character bios

[Mirby]

Django from Boktai. There's only one mix from a single game on the site, but hey. It's there.

i'm still nominating this guy, just so y'all know

[Liontamer]

i'm still nominating this guy, just so y'all know

Don't worry, I didn't miss that.

[Dafydd]

As far as polls, you're definitely empowered to run your own polls, BUT... we don't need to for now.

Right, I still have the list djp asked me to put together that we can pick from for the time being. And it should still be in his inbox, dated 2012-11-11.

So I'm checking with djp to see if he has, say, 5 characters he'd like to see get their bios worked on first.

He said he'd have a "lock" on a few he wanted, yeah.

If I can actually get a fuller list of what he plans to add later, there'll be enough characters on deck to keep everyone busy for a LONNNNNG time, and we can do a poll of 10 choices, with 5 winners advancing. I think we're going to have an overabundance of great choices.

Sounds good. I really like doing things in batches. Makes it feel like you're making progress, as opposed to working on a list that just keeps growing. I don't know how you judges do it, honestly.

Once we get back in the groove of adding more mascots, we can also figure out also how best we can include fan art explicitly submitted by the artists on bio pages (not as mascots, according to djp), if we do indeed go that route.

Oh, so even fan art is a no-no in the mascot corner? I'm sorry to hear that.

Edited April 17, 2013 by Dafydd

[Mirby]

Ah, good to hear my McRib-loving associate. Just as with Zero before, if Django makes it in I'll be more than happy to write that bio. ^.^

[Liontamer]

Five New Spring 2013 Mascots Added! Vote for 10 More - Cutoff is May 31!

Teddie (Persona 4 Arena), Meat Boy (Super Meat Boy), K.K. Slider (Animal Crossing: City Folk), PaRappa (PS All-Stars), and Crash Bandicoot (CB: Warped) have all been added!

I've made placeholder articles for the 5 new mascots (click 'em), so we need new bios! Dafydd and Polo, take it away.

Edited April 24, 2013 by Liontamer