deviantART and GT4 Photomode

[Jim Prower]

Okay.

this morning I was alerted that all of my GT4 Photomode photos on dA were deleted, due to the fact that they seem to be under the impression that they were "Ripped" from the game.

How do I explain to them Photomode's Nature and intention? I mean, If they hadn't intended for these to show up online, they wouldn't have included it as a feature. Or am I wrong, Is it really a copyright violation?

 

[Omnis]

Who cares? The purpose of DeviantArt is to upload what you actually create.



... and to be a total dick, fanboy, or stick in the mud.

 

[DustDriver]

Now what's the difference between real life pictures and photomode pictures?
You still made them yourself, the only difference is that you didn't take the picture with your camera, but with your ps2

 

[Omnis]

Take that up with the dA people. You may have just gotten all of your things deleted because you put them under the photography category. You should list them as screenshots.

 

[exigeracer]

Now what's the difference between real life pictures and photomode pictures?
You still made them yourself, the only difference is that you didn't take the picture with your camera, but with your ps2

I shouldn't even begin to tell you how wrong this notion is.

Photomode is the reverse of real photorgraphy. IRL, you select your exposure, and figure out your lighting, sensitivity, f-stop etc (this is a tenth of what you have to observe and adjust), then you frame your image and hit the shutter. Photomode, you first hit the shutter, then you can take as much time you want to adjust your settings and actual view (wtf?) to get that "perfect shot." Not to mention that the only tool you can use with a real camera to help you get a decent shot is a light meter, and with Photomode, every single setting change shows up in your "photograph" before you actaully "take" the picture.

If in GT4, there was no little screen that shows your image changing with the settings but instead you manually adjusted everything yourself, then hit the shutter, only then you would have an argument. Until then, not even close.

 

[F1GTR]

👍 @ Exigeracer

I want a simulation photomode in GT5, imagine moving up from P&S, then DSLR and then eventually medium format!

 

[Boz Mon]

Yea about that...I had about 300 photomode shots up and they had to delete them in 3 waves because there were so many of them. I sent them a nasty email about how PD encourages people to share the photomode stuff and they still wouldnt budge on the copyright infringement stuff so I gave up and moved on.

 

[DustDriver]

I shouldn't even begin to tell you how wrong this notion is.

Photomode is the reverse of real photorgraphy. IRL, you select your exposure, and figure out your lighting, sensitivity, f-stop etc (this is a tenth of what you have to observe and adjust), then you frame your image and hit the shutter. Photomode, you first hit the shutter, then you can take as much time you want to adjust your settings and actual view (wtf?) to get that "perfect shot." Not to mention that the only tool you can use with a real camera to help you get a decent shot is a light meter, and with Photomode, every single setting change shows up in your "photograph" before you actaully "take" the picture.

If in GT4, there was no little screen that shows your image changing with the settings but instead you manually adjusted everything yourself, then hit the shutter, only then you would have an argument. Until then, not even close.

I wasn't pointing at the way you take the pictures. I know that's totally different irl.
I was just pointing at the fact that you still need to adjust everything yourself. Not everyone can take stunning pictures in photomode, or adjust them with editing software, just like with real life photography (althought that's still harder then photomode in gt4)

 

[Duke]

I shouldn't even begin to tell you how wrong this notion is.

Photomode is the reverse of real photorgraphy.

If in GT4, there was no little screen that shows your image changing with the settings but instead you manually adjusted everything yourself, then hit the shutter, only then you would have an argument. Until then, not even close.

So it's not possible to take an artistic photograph with a point-n-shoot automatic camera?

I'm going to take exception to that notion.

 

[Jim Prower]

Take that up with the dA people. You may have just gotten all of your things deleted because you put them under the photography category. You should list them as screenshots.

They were listed as screenshots.

 

[Touring Mars]

I know this has happened to someone else here at GTPlanet. I think it's a shame because there is plenty scope for creativity in modifying GT4 Photomode pictures. Even a cursory glance through the GT4 Photomode Galleries here on GTP will demonstrate that. The only problem is that there are many different approaches to modifying GT4 Photomode shots, alot of which involve some very subtle changes using Photoshop tools, that can take alot of time and effort, but result in a shot which doesn't differ tremendously to the original to the untrained eye. Most deviantART users/mods etc. are not GT4 Photomode experts (or even novices) and as such, it is easy to see why people on dA take one look at any GT4 Photomode shots and disregard them simply as ripped.

My suggestion is to perhaps post your pictures with a description of the modificiations you have made, how you did them and why... this might give the uninitiated a greater appreciation of the creative elements you have added to the picture.

You may also want to describe the reasons behind your choice of car, location, shot angle etc.... since as we have shown abundantly here in the Photomode comps, you can still demonstrate a great deal of creativity without modifying the picture at all.

 

[nic_brix]

TM (and others), were the pictures not removed due to a copyright infringement issue, as opposed to whether the pictures can actually be considered art or not? I mean, I've thought many times, when posting my own shots in the photomode forum, did Sony really put that watermark at the bottom right for no reason at all? Seems unlikely to me...

 

[exigeracer]

I wasn't pointing at the way you take the pictures. I know that's totally different irl.
I was just pointing at the fact that you still need to adjust everything yourself. Not everyone can take stunning pictures in photomode, or adjust them with editing software, just like with real life photography (althought that's still harder then photomode in gt4)

When you take your Photomode picture, do you know what every single one of the adjustment categories does? Or do you just go up go down go up a little, okay that looks nice. If there was no preview picture, would you still produce the same images? What if you were to set your "camera" then try to capture the car driving by? Would you still turn nice images?

Not everyone can take great Photomode pictures, but I can tell you that an expert Photomoder will still be a baby-horse-standing-up-for-the-first-time with a real camera. It is literally a different world. It is definitely not taking a picture with your PS2 instead of your camera.

So it's not possible to take an artistic photograph with a point-n-shoot automatic camera?

It is very very difficult to take motorsport photography with a point-and-shoot. It's not impossible and I won't say it's wrong, but using an SLR completely opens up the effects and tools you can use to blow any point and shoot out of the water, especially in an evironment where motion plays such a huge role in the final crop of pictures. Knowing your basic digital camera really well, you can get some nice shots, but there is still a gret dependancy on the electronics of the camera, whereas an SLR, the main limitation is capturing the apropriate light. It's almost as if you're missing out with a point-and-shoot (but you certainly aren't missing thousand dollars).

 

[land sea air]

Regardless of how different photomode is from the real world (it is very different), I don't thing dA should be taking the shots down simply because the "think" they are ripped. IMO photomode pics are just as much art as real pictures and you should definitely contest them being removed as long as you do so in an informed, respectful manner.

 

[Touring Mars]

TM (and others), were the pictures not removed due to a copyright infringement issue, as opposed to whether the pictures can actually be considered art or not? I mean, I've thought many times, when posting my own shots in the photomode forum, did Sony really put that watermark at the bottom right for no reason at all? Seems unlikely to me...

Yes, indeed that may well be an important factor, but again the confusion arises because the people at dA have a stricter interpretation than people at GTPlanet might. I don't believe the (c) symbol implies that the picture is Sony property. It means that the game (or even just the name) Gran Turismo is copyrighted. I seriously doubt that PD or Sony created Photomode with the intention of not allowing people to share their pictures.

The reason the watermark is there is to inform people that the picture originated from Gran Turismo (a Sony copyrighted trademark), and (in my view atleast) is not a statement saying "This individual picture is copyrighted property of SCEI and may not be displayed online"... If that was the case, there should be a clear disclaimer or note either in the game or the manual, and there isn't. In other words, I consider my GT4 Photomode pics to be my digital property, and any manipulations of the pic afterwards would be my creative property.

On a wider note, however, I can appreciate why dA might have to make an all-or-nothing/black-or-white call on this issue. They either allow the pics or they don't. Depending on the amount of manipulation, the level of creative input by the poster/owner of the picture could be construed too little to warrant being described as 'original art' by the poster. A quick look through some galleries here show that little effort is required to post a GT4 Photomode picture, but alot of effort is required to make a really great shot.

Unfortunately, dA have obviously decided, for whatever reason, that they don't want/allow GT4 Photomode shots, and unfortunately dA users will have to respect that, whether we think they are wrong to do so or not.