Guild Wars Wiki talk:Projects/NPC models

Bosses - aura-less renders vs. a good screenshot?
Hello, I've noticed this matter was (kinda) discussed before but I wanted to raise this again to ask specifically if there's a clear agreement on the matter of plain renders vs. a good screen shot on boss's page? Personally, I find it disappointing when I open a boss page and get greeted by a generic render (and tbh, it makes the wiki a bit more boring). Now I noticed at least one user said he misses the auras while 2 other people said they'd prefer plain renders with no screenshot but I'm bringing this up in order to hear a wider range of opinions, if there's a majority for renders I'll go away ;). Just to clarify, I'm not against putting up a plain render as an alternative to a bad ss, but if we have a high-res, clean screenshot I really don't think an aura-less render should take it's place.  Nate 23:05, 27 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I have to agree with the end of the last discussion about this: I definitely prefer renders if available, even if they are missing the aura. poke | talk 23:09, 27 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I guessed as much Poke, you're actually the reason I brought this up ;-). Another reason btw, is that from my observations there are a LOT of boss pages that don't follow this line and use a screenshot over an available (but auraless) render...if this ends up the majority opinion we should clean them up (though I still think it'd be a loss to the wiki). Nate [[Image:User Nate Alluran MyTalkPage.png|20px|User talk:Nate Alluran]] 23:22, 27 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I know that it was me who brought this up, that's why I thought I should answer even if I don't work in this project ^^ The reason that I only fixed your uploads is simply because I went through the recent uploads earlier (Today I had a wiki-cleanup-day :P) and noticed that you removed the render.
 * Well, I'll put this section on RfC so that also other people (not related with this project) will notice. poke | talk 23:25, 27 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I love the renders in normal monster articles, but I believe the image in boss articles should actually show the boss, not a generic image for the species and profession of the boss. I'd prefer a good screenshot, if it is indeed a good one. &mdash; Why [[Image:User Why s.png|User talk:Why Are We Fighting]] 00:10, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
 * The ideal, of course, would be a render which includes the boss aura (Image:Naga necromancer boss.jpg for example), but given Emily's limited time to devote to this, each boss render, usually used by one or maybe two NPCs, means one less non-boss render, generally used by a larger number of NPCs. So the question is whether to sacrifice the context of the boss aura (non-boss render), or sacrifice the image quality of a render (screenshot). Considering the sacrifice of the boss aura is fixed and small, while the sacrifice of quality is largely subjective and can be anywhere from minimal to huge, I'd prefer to stick to the former where possible. So I would say plain render. - Tanetris 01:23, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for putting this on the rfc Poke. Tanetris - you may consider discarding the auras a small sacrifice but I really can't say I agree...I'd take an 'ok' image (any pic that follows the basic formatting guidelines) over a generic render any day. Anyway, why not keep the good screenshots, while using renders on those pages where the screenshot quality is low? That way we can keep quality as high as possible without totally discarding the auras.


 * I've also invested some time learning how to get renders out of the game to see if I can render the bosses with auras myself...it turns out I can't (but now I can render normal monsters, yay!).  Nate [[Image:User Nate Alluran MyTalkPage.png|20px|User talk:Nate Alluran]] 18:17, 28 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Why don't we just do both? I've always felt that it was quite a loss when really good screenshots get deleted in favor of generic renders. -- ab.er. rant [[Image:User Ab.er.rant Sig.png| ]] 03:11, 1 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Renders that include external effects are a very low prioirity. Various auras are only one possibility of what could be added. Given that there are so many models we don't have a render of, that comes first. But as aberrant says, you could very well have a screen shot in the article without getting rid of the model render. It doesn't have to be either or. Backsword 14:16, 2 March 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree. Although I feel that a render with an aura would be ideal, IMO a screenshot with an aura is more useful for quick boss identification than a render without an aura. -- [[Image:User Gordon Ecker sig.png]] Gordon Ecker (talk) 02:49, 13 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Ok then, took me a while but I'm back. I'll be favoring good screenshots over generic renders from now on (please don't delete mah pics poke...;) ). Alternatively, would anyone with wiki-skillz care to show me how to make a page that allows the display of both the render and a screenshot within the template? That should keep everybody happy.  Nate [[Image:User Nate Alluran MyTalkPage.png|20px|User talk:Nate Alluran]] 15:05, 9 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Just to add my voice, I'd also like bosses to use a unique picture, or least have the render and the unique picture on their pages. Manifold 23:27, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Just my two cents....
I really dislike this project and what it's doing to the wiki. Renders are horribly sterile and eliminate all sense of context within the game. Also, it truly diminishes the "community" spirit of the wiki to have all the user contributed images replaced with ArenaNet generated renders. -- Wyn 03:00, 12 May 2009 (UTC)
 * This somewhat relates to the conversation above, but I'm fine with this project in terms of regular NPC's. However, I think, strictly speaking, the bosses should be left as in-game screenshots. It provides more of an in-game feel to what they look like instead of just a generic render of a common enemy. --[[Image:User Wandering Traveler Sig2.png|19px]] Wandering Traveler  04:54, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Miniatures & Forms Renders?
Are there renders for mini-pets and tonic forms? Can't find those –   Barinthus  15:01, 16 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Aside from the Black Moa Chick, minipets use the same model as their non-miniature versions, just scaled down, and similarly tonic forms use the model from whatever the form is. So if you want a render for the Mini Asura or for Asure Form, look under Asura models. - Tanetris 15:24, 16 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Ok but what about forms such as the Elf? There's no full-sized render for the elf, only the mini one. – [[Image:User Barinthus Magical Compass.png|19px]]  Barinthus  15:42, 16 May 2009 (UTC)
 * A larger version is used for Yuletide Tonic's Avatar of Holiday Cheer form. -- [[Image:User Gordon Ecker sig.png]] Gordon Ecker (talk) 04:51, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
 * That's a screenshot, not a render. Unless I'm missing something. – [[Image:User Barinthus Magical Compass.png|19px]]  Barinthus  06:05, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I misread your post and thought you meant that the full-sized elf model wasn't being used for anything. I don't think we have an elf render of any size, I didn't see any in the Miniature Elf or Avatar of Holiday Cheer page. -- [[Image:User Gordon Ecker sig.png]] Gordon Ecker (talk) 06:57, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Elf is under Events, though as Gordon said it is not currently rendered. - Tanetris 09:05, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I just added that entry. -- [[Image:User Gordon Ecker sig.png]] Gordon Ecker (talk) 10:14, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Huh. So you did. Logical place for it though! Good on ya, Gordon. ;) - Tanetris 16:33, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Yeh I typically add renders to the minature pages when they come, there have been quite a lot of additions in the last week whilst Emily has been uploading again. -- Lemming [[Image:User Lemming64 sigicon.png]] 20:28, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Tagging replaced screenshots for deletion
I have noticed that recently several screenshot images have been replaced with renders. I would like to remind people who are doing that to please tag the replaced screenshots with delete so they will not just bloat the Orphan file list. Thanks! -- Wyn  talk  22:06, 17 September 2009 (UTC)

Helping
I noticed that many of the images on the wiki are official renders provided by anet. There are still a lot of screenshots up though, I can provide a few NPC images with the backgrounds removed. The wouldn't be renders, but they might be the next best thing until the official renders are provided. Just thought it might be helpful. -- Phnzdvn  15:52, 16 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Everyone is welcome to help. Removing backgrounds is ok, I do it that way also. Just don't check it as "rendered", cuz it's not "officially rendered". -- Magamdy 07:50, 17 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Awesome! Thne I will start helping.  --User Phnzdvn sig.png  Phnzdvn  17:24, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

sorry for not uploading a lot of stuff lately, I have the flu so I am sleepin' a lot :P. -- Phnzdvn  15:50, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

Renders
Who is doing them now after Emily is gone? Rose Of Kali 20:34, 15 December 2010 (UTC)
 * No one really. Note that we have had a few users contribute them too,, but none of them are really active anymore. Corespondingly, this project is more or less in a coma. Backsword 06:57, 19 December 2010 (UTC)