What is a Merchant Resource???
ArtXtreme101
Posts: 68
I've been seeing a lot of merchant resources around a lot and I was wondering what does it do/what is it used for?
Post edited by ArtXtreme101 on
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Think of it as a starter pack for creation of what it is intended for. MR for characters are intended to be a base to build upon in creating your own character, adding imperfections, tan lines, hair, jewelry, second skins, makeup, changing the skin tone, etc.. Doing one from scratch is quite a bit of work and takes some more skill than using a MR.
A merchant resource provides a basis for creating a for-sale item -- start with the merchant resource, then add your own enhancements.
Can you use a merchant resource just as it is?
Basically, a merchant resource is a 'starter kit' for building other products. Many are only for use in building 'for sale' products. Most don't come with directly usable items...like a skin resource will most likely just be the skin texture maps without (some do include one, but it's a basic one with no fancy settings/shaders) material poses/scripts. All of them are designed to be significantly altered before use/inclusion in a product.
Another example would be a clothing resource. It could be some basic meshes and probably a 'donor rig', but no material settings or textures.
If you want to just use it for making renders, that's fine. If you want to create something for sale, you have to change it significantly.
If you want to just use it for making renders, that's fine. If you want to create something for sale, you have to change it significantly.
Would it look like any other texture for victoria 4 when you render it?
Would it look like any other texture for victoria 4 when you render it?
Yes, it'll be somewhat plainer than most, and they don't always come with the material presets, sometimes they are just the raw texture files.
Would it look like any other texture for victoria 4 when you render it?
Yes, it'll be somewhat plainer than most, and they don't always come with the material presets, sometimes they are just the raw texture files.
What I am mainly looking at is something like this: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/gfr7-v4/73737
You can use it for whatever you want on your system. You cannot give any of it away as a freebie and if you sale a product with it you will have to alter it.
Yes, it'll be somewhat plainer than most, and they don't always come with the material presets, sometimes they are just the raw texture files.
What I am mainly looking at is something like this: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/gfr7-v4/73737
This product is face texture only. You would have to check with the vendors other sets to see if there is a close match to use on the rest of the body or use it with another body texture which could give you some odd results.
Before you buy a Merchant Resource, it is a good idea to read the readme. If vendors have special guidelines, they will be spelled out there.
Merchant resources can be used for personal use out of the box. If you wish to use them as a base for making your own textures, you will have to alter them using human resource photos. The generalized rule for altering to take an MR to your own original texture is at least 50% although some may require more.
Most creators of MR's will not allow the MR to be used to make freebies.
All of this will be in the readme. If it isn't or you're not sure, email or site mail the vendor and ask. It's always better to know than to guess. It's been a couple of years since the last one but copyright infringement and all that goes with it is nothing new in the Poserverse.
If you are looking for human resource phots, 3dsk is the best source. You can also find packages at Rendo.
Great forum subject. I purchase a lot of merchant resources and most state that you have to modify them before you can use them. But they are never specific on how to go about this. My question to this forum is, how can you modify a merchant resource.
Photoshop or Gimp :)
They are not supposed to be 'specific" on how you modify them, that is your job. To elaborate on Diva's answer, use an image editor such as Gimp or Photoshop and change the hue.color, shade or saturation of the skin. Add moles, blemishes, freckles, birthmarks, tattoos, genital variations, etc. Then there are makeup options, facial markings such as tribal designs, sci fi designs, fantasy skin designs, etc. Nail colors and designs, Then you have the other textures you need to create such as bump maps, normal maps, specular maps, SSS maps, and/or displacement maps, not to mention the specific IRAY settings to go with these maps. In closing, basically they are a starting point for you to do your own work.
I find Merchant Resources to be a really weird thing when you take game licenses into consideration. You can create a new character or object using a merchant resource and then sell it. If you also provide a game license, that item can be used in a game. But you can't skip the "selling" part and use the new figure directly in a game. Then there are Merchant Resources that say they are meant for use in a game, but that vendor offers no game license. It's all very confusing. I think the simplest example I've seen of this is MR morphs. If you bake them into your character, they can never be extracted. But you can't use it in a game.... unless you also sell the character and offer a game license. Then it's fine.
Some thumb rules that come to mind:
1) You cannot use a merchant resource to create a competing product. That is you cannot make another merchant resource out of it (if it is exactly the same). That's the reason why the PAs insist on modifying them in ways that cannot be reversed to derive the original product.
2) Some PAs may allow their textures/materials to be used as-is provided that they are "baked in" into the final product (i.e. not distributed as textures/materials that could be used in another product).
3) Check the number of copies of your product that you can distribute with a single MR license. Selling more copies of products based on the MR may require buying additional copies of the MR from the PA/vendor. EDIT: This is applicable for "extended license" at Rendos.
4) For humanoid skin textures some PAs may require that you use it only for the generation of characters they are intended for and not on other generation of characters.
I recently bought photo references, how do I make them usable for genesis, genesis2,3,8 etc. Is there a program that flattens them down? Thanks
Hello,
Quick question please. On the topic of new characters and modifying a Merchant Resource, are PNG transparent files used when doing a blemish that is optional to be used? Or for creating the different makeup looks? Or are these options added to the base area itself and choosing a base area will display the blemish or makeup?
I am betraying how little I know about the idea of texturing/character building. I'd like to know more.
I'm not sure what you are asking. Most people making textures will work in layers, so that it is easier to edit, but the output textures will usuaklly be a single, collapsed image in a non-layered format (normally jpg).
Also, check the read me file; if I remember correctly, that vendor does not allow use of their MR’s for figures that do not use the base UV mapping. Example: you purchase a merchant resource pack for Genesis 2 Male, you cannot use any of that product foe any Genesis, Genesis 3, Genesis 8, Michael 2, 3, or 4 or any female models at all.
Thank you. This answered the question that I so poorly worded.
On the topic of merchant resources, can a new character be made that relies on the buyer already owning something (e.g., 200 Plus Head and Face Morphs for Genesis 8 Male(s))? I read through the store page and didn't find a 'you cannot' but I also did not see the words 'merchant resource'.
Thank you for your time.
sure, when you use another (morph) product and YOUR product requires that product you are not including those third party morphs into your product , they are just a requirement for your product. This happens all the time when creators do characters that require the DO Head and Body Morphs, or for clothing add ons, you need the base product , maybe the creator leaves some of the original maps references in their presets (but of course does not copy them over to their own product folders, it is only a reference) (happens also often for clothing add ons). Or any character that requires Michael 7 or V7. They creator did use the base character to create their own character but did not include the mesh or parts of it into their own product. The base product is a requirement and they do not need to be labeled as MR, since you do not use them as MR. You use them as requirement for your own product.
You find lots of characters or shape products here and other stores that require the Daz Head Morphs and Body Morphs for instance. They were all built the way you mentioned.
On the other side there are products labeled as MR but may not be used as MR in that understanding, they need to be a requirement still. In my opinion there are NO Merchant Resource then because in most cases the license you purchase allows the usage in the way that it is a requirement anyway. The commercial usage AFAIK is allowed by the licenses for all mayor brokerages.
A MR in my opinion is something that you may actually include into your own product without beeing a requirement, like a skin texture resource. You may need to alter the maps. Some vendors require that, others not.
As other already said usually there are usage restrictions, so other MRs, no similar products, limited to a specific figure etc.
If you are not sure, it is a good idea to ask the creator.
Thank you for this explanation. It makes a lot of sense now how things work differently than others.
you are welcome. Glad it helped.
And yes, all the MR stuff is confusing sometimes because each vendors makes their own terms there.
I once forgot to include a limitation for a specific base figure for one of my sold MRs. Well, then it was too late when I noticed that 5 months later :) I did not forbid it , so people were using it according the usage terms at the date of purchase.
I wish the web developers would add a Merchant Resource flag to the database so the shop could include a filter to help buyers find MRs for purchase.
Currently the best you can do is search for "Merchant Resource" in the shop, then use your eyes like a hawk to scan product descriptions, because the results will include both products that are MRs and products whose descriptions specifically say they are not merchant resources.
Plus the products that say they did or did not use merchant resources in their development. Just to add to the confusion fun.
that would be very useful!
That would be awesome. It would be evne cooler if I could tag things myself for a custom filter.
MR resources pop up all the time like everybody using DAZ came from a background of 3D modeling where texturing models was a basic skill, but there are precious few tutorials out there aimed at the complete beginner who has never used a MR before.