VGMdb
Go Back   VGMdb Forums > VGMdb Site Related > Questions and Comments
Register FAQ Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old Apr 15, 2008, 11:49 AM
Gigablah's Avatar
Gigablah Gigablah is offline
VGMdb Administrator
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 2,403
Default Artist portraits implemented

Staff may now upload portraits for artist profiles (accessible through the artist editing page). It functions very much like the scan management page. Currently the profile page will display the image that's set to default. I'll think of a mechanism to scroll through different portrait images.

Also, all portrait images are automatically sized to 100 pixels in width. The filesize limit is set to 2 megs, that should be more than enough.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old Apr 15, 2008, 01:25 PM
seanne's Avatar
seanne seanne is online now
VGMdb Staff
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Sweden
Posts: 1,490
Default

Awesome. Tested it out by uploading Aihara's perv pic.

By the way, while 100 is fine as the default size, would it be possible to perhaps implement the same great pop-up feature we have in the album gallery, in order to view pics in full-size?

edit: Why is the thumbnail size set so low? It makes for some heavy pixelation on jpgs. Like here for example (the original image is 22.5kb).
__________________
VGMdb group on last.fm

Last edited by seanne; Apr 15, 2008 at 04:26 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old Apr 15, 2008, 08:02 PM
Gigablah's Avatar
Gigablah Gigablah is offline
VGMdb Administrator
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 2,403
Default

Yeah, I'll implement the pop up code. Meanwhile I've set the JPG thumbnail quality to 80, which is apparently the optimum:

http://www.vgmdb.net/db/artists-subm...do=edit&id=319

You can compare the two filesizes.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old Apr 18, 2008, 10:15 AM
seanne's Avatar
seanne seanne is online now
VGMdb Staff
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Sweden
Posts: 1,490
Default

I don't know if it's just me, but I can't tell any difference between the image I uploaded and yours. Going by the example on that PHP page, when using "80", the image quality retention should be (assuming it's universal) more or less transparent while shaving off 60-65% of the filesize. For some reason though, the thumbnails for both of our Kanno pics have retained only about 10% of the original size, with next to no difference between the two of them.

I don't know, it's weird.
__________________
VGMdb group on last.fm
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old Apr 18, 2008, 10:37 AM
Gigablah's Avatar
Gigablah Gigablah is offline
VGMdb Administrator
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 2,403
Default

The GD library doesn't perform as well as Photoshop, that's for sure. If any particular images end up looking really bad when resized you can upload them in GIF or PNG format instead, that might have better results.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old Apr 18, 2008, 12:10 PM
Secret Squirrel's Avatar
Secret Squirrel Secret Squirrel is offline
VGMdb Administrator
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 8,240
Default

Meanwhile, I've updated the recent artists page to include portrait uploads.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old Apr 18, 2008, 01:50 PM
seanne's Avatar
seanne seanne is online now
VGMdb Staff
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Sweden
Posts: 1,490
Default

Wow, PNG really gets the job done beautifully. Good example here.

edit: Even better here.
__________________
VGMdb group on last.fm

Last edited by seanne; Apr 18, 2008 at 02:01 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old Dec 31, 2010, 01:07 AM
Cedille Cedille is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Tokyo
Posts: 2,026
Default

According to our recent trend, I'd suggest we add the source of an artist portrait whenever possible from now on. I think, for the most part, we don't need to hesitate to reveal it, and artist portraits would require more careful treatments than album scans. Indeed, I've seen several negative tweets about us.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old Dec 31, 2010, 02:21 AM
Blitz Lunar's Avatar
Blitz Lunar Blitz Lunar is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 778
Default

so aside from the obvious thing of avoiding images from private/personal accounts on facebook etc., how do we know what images are kosher and what aren't? if an image is (intended to be) public, which most twitter profile pictures are, then i figured it's fair game for vgmdb. we're not mind readers, unfortunately.

(i have been careful to keep images private for this reason, and see it as my responsibility.)
__________________
iridescentaudio.co.uk
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old Dec 31, 2010, 05:25 AM
Secret Squirrel's Avatar
Secret Squirrel Secret Squirrel is offline
VGMdb Administrator
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 8,240
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cedille View Post
According to our recent trend, I'd suggest we add the source of an artist portrait whenever possible from now on. I think, for the most part, we don't need to hesitate to reveal it, and artist portraits would require more careful treatments than album scans. Indeed, I've seen several negative tweets about us.
What specifically are they saying?

We do have a source link for the portraits, and a lot of people do use it. The source shows up when you zoom on a picture. Besides a mention in the guidelines, we could require that the source field is filled out.

Beyond that though, from what kind of sites is it not appropriate to lift a picture (aside from login-restricted sites like Facebook)?
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old Dec 31, 2010, 06:45 AM
Cedille Cedille is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Tokyo
Posts: 2,026
Default

They seemed to dislike the choice of portraits (there were better pics of them out there, blah blah blah).

Quote:
We do have a source link for the portraits, and a lot of people do use it. The source shows up when you zoom on a picture. Besides a mention in the guidelines, we could require that the source field is filled out.
Yeah, but sometimes I see new pics added without credits so I just want to encourage users to credit a source whenever possible, since it isn't so difficult and hopefully makes it clear that we don't own copyrights outside of site code and design and respect the original ownerships.
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old Dec 31, 2010, 11:03 PM
Chris Chris is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 516
Default

Several artists in both Japan and Hollywood have remarked to me they object to the use of personal, rather than professional, pictures (as I found out when suggesting interview pics). Can't say any names, but it's considered quite a serious problem. I know already that there are still a considerable number of personal pictures on VGMdb, so it'd be a good idea to eradicate those.

Last edited by Chris; Dec 31, 2010 at 11:05 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old Jan 1, 2011, 10:35 AM
Datschge's Avatar
Datschge Datschge is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 745
Default

What an odd issue. I'd just add an easy to see (multilingual) button where artists and their agents can replace existing pictures with ones they deem professional...
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old Jan 1, 2011, 02:02 PM
PsychoZeke's Avatar
PsychoZeke PsychoZeke is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Sector 2814
Posts: 459
Default

I understand where they're coming from, and actually agree that the images that should be uploaded should be ones for professional purposes. Personally I've uploaded 5 portraits so far, and although admittedly I remember only 4 of the 5 artist portraits I uploaded, I tried to find professional images of them, avoiding places like Facebook and such.

I believe their concern is genuinely valid. Certainly there should be some artists that wouldn't mind, but even so, uploading personal images should be avoided.

Last edited by PsychoZeke; Jan 1, 2011 at 11:01 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old Jan 1, 2011, 06:24 PM
Datschge's Avatar
Datschge Datschge is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 745
Default

Maybe add an optional "professional" tag for portraits, with pictures without that being only visible to members logged in? That would equal to removing all "non-professional" pictures from the public.
Reply With Quote
  #16  
Old Jan 1, 2011, 07:38 PM
Chris Chris is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 516
Default

I think that would be deceptive and even more rude, unless the artists themselves are administering the pictures. To be completely legit and avoid copyright infringement, really permission should be sought to use any artist picture, including professional ones (unless a disclaimer is present saying it is free to use). I think this isn't something that will bring lawsuits, but it does tend to cause industry offence and grievances if not sought (some people are more sensitive than others). From personal experience through interviews, receiving permission often involves signing contract sheets, many translations, and long delays, so it isn't exactly practical for a database site (plus there is a risk of being ignored or refused permission for a multitude of reasons). It's frustrating, yes, but not necessarily strange -- I suspect many here (myself included) would be mad if they found their picture, especially private ones, on some public database without prior approval. This is less of an issue with album covers, given they are generally scanned and are less personal.

Last edited by Chris; Jan 1, 2011 at 07:46 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #17  
Old Jan 1, 2011, 10:47 PM
Datschge's Avatar
Datschge Datschge is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 745
Default

Chris, since you have plenty contacts and got told about the issue, what are the chances of getting all those professional replacements? If each artist would send in an official portrait instead complain publicly or privately the whole case would be a non-issue. It's just that people will naturally keep looking for photos of any kind as long as there is no single one. So maybe you can speed it up.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris View Post
This is less of an issue with album covers, given they are generally scanned and are less personal.
Somehow I find that quite hilarious considering all the old photos in them...
Reply With Quote
  #18  
Old Jan 1, 2011, 10:57 PM
PsychoZeke's Avatar
PsychoZeke PsychoZeke is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Sector 2814
Posts: 459
Default

Actually using professional images shouldn't pose any problem at all, because usually such images are done for a diversity of things related to an artist, and using it for profiling an artist is a perfect example.

Using personal images is an invasion of privacy, simple as that.

EDIT: Maybe a disclaimer could be added for when someone uploads portraits advising to avoid places like Facebook or Twitter.

Last edited by PsychoZeke; Jan 1, 2011 at 11:00 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #19  
Old Jan 2, 2011, 12:01 AM
Datschge's Avatar
Datschge Datschge is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 745
Default

Only you trusted editors can upload those portraits anyway, so not the usage is the problem, defining and then getting the "professional" photos is. I'm still looking forward to where the actual line will be drawn. Cedille, were the complaints only about clearly private photos or also about photos taken from game sites (photos taken at press events, concerts, interviews etc.)?
Reply With Quote
  #20  
Old Jan 2, 2011, 02:11 AM
Chris Chris is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 516
Default

Using personal pictures without permission is both an intrusion of privacy and a copyright issue. Using professional pictures without permission can be a copyright issue.

So both are potentially important, though it's the former that's most likely to cause personal grievances. The latter is unlikely to inspire personal upset, but can break policies (the Japanese game business is quite strict and bureaucratic in its administration).

For scans, I don't know what is new and old here, but I guess that's mostly an issue between sites and users, not companies.

I'm not sure how I can help here, though. The number of artists and photos featured here are overwhelmingly large that it's impractical to get permission for everything. It's probably just best to remove the personal pictures and then post a disclaimer / remove button for artists / companies to use. It's also often important the picture is sourced (including copyright owner, photographer, etc.).

As for the line, personal pictures include stuff drawn from Facebook, MySpace, most blogs, fan pictures, etc., etc. I'd deem professional pictures as those featured on an official webpage for a company, artist, or product, or the product itself. Those inbetween need to be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Last edited by Chris; Jan 2, 2011 at 02:17 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #21  
Old Jan 2, 2011, 05:45 AM
PsychoZeke's Avatar
PsychoZeke PsychoZeke is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Sector 2814
Posts: 459
Default

I'd say that adding a portrait that was scanned from a booklet and/or magazine shouldn't be a problem, neither would be those taken from official sources pertaining to the artist, product, companies, and such; I'd consider that "professional". Adding one from a blog, Flickr or one from Twitter or any other social media, as I've stated previously, is personal and should be avoided. A good example of this--professional vs. personal/private--would be Harumi Ueko and Hiroyuki Iwatsuki's profile image, which were taken from Kukeiha Club & Konami Kukeiha Club Best Vol.1 (KICA-7820) and GameSetWatch (interview), and Ayako Saso and Kohta Takahashi's image, which were taken from Flickr and Twitter respectively. However, regarding Flickr, it is often frequented by professional photographers, so their images, I believe, are worth using so long as proper credit is given.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Datschge View Post
Only you trusted editors can upload those portraits anyway, so not the usage is the problem, defining and then getting the "professional" photos is.
Are you sure? Because I uploaded the five images I mentioned earlier way before becoming an editor. I hope I didn't miss a memo on this...
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old Jan 2, 2011, 12:21 PM
Datschge's Avatar
Datschge Datschge is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 745
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by PsychoZeke View Post
Are you sure? Because I uploaded the five images I mentioned earlier way before becoming an editor. I hope I didn't miss a memo on this...
You're actually right. Looks like everyone can do that as part of "edit artist" for quite some time now (haven't seen it being announced that way though)...
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old Jan 2, 2011, 04:26 PM
Secret Squirrel's Avatar
Secret Squirrel Secret Squirrel is offline
VGMdb Administrator
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 8,240
Default

We need to figure out just how big a problem this is. I'm not so worried about the legal side of things, mostly because there are ways to deal with that (responding to infringement warnings, etc.) Technically, we don't have permission to show any images on the site, so it's part of a larger problem. I'm more concerned about the artist's perception of VGMdb.

If this is a serious concern, then the proper action is to disable all artist images, and then work our way through them and work our way through them, re-enabling the ones that come from professional sources, and writing to obtain permission for anything else. There are quite a few portraits though, so this would take a long time.

A lighter approach would be to require sourcing, and to remove anything that comes from private sources. Guidelines should be changed to match the new policy.
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old Jan 3, 2011, 07:08 PM
PsychoZeke's Avatar
PsychoZeke PsychoZeke is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Sector 2814
Posts: 459
Default

This shouldn't be made into that big of deal, not necessarily that is. Take the artists I named earlier as example, where for instance, I'm sure Kohta Takahashi wouldn't like to come here and see that picture as his profile image, same could be said about Keiichi Sugiyama.

What I mean to say is that, what they meant by "disliking the choice of portraits" is them essentially wanting to see their profile pages having--and I know I've said this word a lot in my past posts--a professional-looking image and not one where they're out of focus, are staring blindly at something else other than the camera, or simply were caught by surprise.

I agree that adding guidelines and requiring images to be sourced should be a proper approach. Asking for permission to use certain images should be done if said images come from an artist's Twitter or any other social page, but by now that goes without saying.
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old Feb 4, 2011, 10:46 AM
Cedille Cedille is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Tokyo
Posts: 2,026
Default

On a slightly related note, I think I'll reject a portrait submission without the source, because the first thing we have to affirm is if the portrait is real and thus we need the URL or such. There were at least two cases where a modestly-known composer was associated with the wrong photo (one of the composers posted even a blog entry about it, though it seemed to be Last.fm's fault). To be fair, many of my older submission lack the credits, so I must work on replacing them from now on.
Reply With Quote
  #26  
Old Feb 4, 2011, 06:33 PM
CHz's Avatar
CHz CHz is offline
VGMdb Administrator
 
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 3,977
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cedille View Post
On a slightly related note, I think I'll reject a portrait submission without the source, because the first thing we have to affirm is if the portrait is real and thus we need the URL or such. There were at least two cases where a modestly-known composer was associated with the wrong photo (one of the composers posted even a blog entry about it, though it seemed to be Last.fm's fault).
This sounds like a pretty sane policy, given the wrong photos we've had in the past. Pictures from Last.fm have been especially problematic, although I don't think we've had many of those submitted lately.
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old Feb 5, 2011, 07:30 AM
PsychoZeke's Avatar
PsychoZeke PsychoZeke is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Sector 2814
Posts: 459
Default

I've been wondering since I replied to this thread: will there be a portraits section implemented in our "My Submissions" pages? Would certainly come in handy just in case we end up forgetting which portraits we submitted ('cause I know I do).
Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old Feb 10, 2011, 04:12 AM
Dag's Avatar
Dag Dag is offline
VGMdb Advisor
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,348
Default

I'm thinking we could include the year (approximate) when the picture was taken in the "credit" field, and hide/replace those that are too old. Ie.- "Official Site (2010)".

Ex: http://vgmdb.net/artist/331 comes from a ~15 y.o. official site.
From what Cedille said about composers complaining, I don't think they'd like ooold images, even if these were 'official' at some point (ie.- from old albums). People and fashion change, etcetera.

And in general, I agree only accepting official+sourced pics is for the best (respecting privacy is important).
Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old Feb 12, 2011, 06:13 AM
Secret Squirrel's Avatar
Secret Squirrel Secret Squirrel is offline
VGMdb Administrator
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 8,240
Default

I changed the text on the submission form so that it says a source is required. Ideally, we could make it so you can't even upload unless something is in the credit fields, but I think the best way to change that is in the Uploder's javascript.

I think eventually all submissions will make it to the My Submissions page.

Dag's idea is a good one, too.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
CDDB/freedb access to vgmdb.net implemented Gigablah News and Announcements 287 Yesterday 08:58 AM
What to use on the ARTIST tag when tagging? Kewing Miscellaneous Discussion 3 Sep 26, 2010 01:15 PM
Caching system implemented quintin3265 Game Remixes Forum Archive 2009-2012 0 Dec 9, 2009 06:11 PM
RSS feeds partially implemented Gigablah News and Announcements 0 Dec 16, 2008 06:58 AM