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[leahnkain]

Resource Request FAQ

Summary
<a href="#resreq1">1. Welcome!</a>
<a href="#resreq2">2. What is Resource Request?</a>
<a href="#resreq3">3. Who can ask for resources?</a>
<a href="#resreq4">4. What sort of things can be requested?</a>
<a href="#resreq5">5. How to request?</a>
<a href="#resreq6">6. Who can work on the requests?</a>
<a href="#resreq7">7. How can ResReq help my mod?</a>
<a href="#resreq8">8. What are your conditions?</a>
<a href="#resreq9">9. Does it cost anything?</a>
<a href="#resreq10">10. What should I, as a requester, remember?</a>
<a href="#resreq11">11. What should I, as a helper, remember?</a>
<a href="#resreq12">12. I'm an artist/translator/voice artist/musician who would like to help out - who do I talk to?</a>
<a href="#resreq13">13. Why have ResReq? Surely people can come up with their own resources?</a>
<a href="#resreq14">14. How long will I have to wait for someone to take on my request?</a>
<a href="#resreq15">15. I've been waiting for weeks for my request to be fulfilled, and no one has taken it on yet! What can I do?</a>
<a href="#resreq16">16. I'm not satisfied with the work that has been provided. What can I do?</a>
<a href="#resreq17">17. Who runs ResReq?</a>
<a href="#resreq18">18. Who can I ask for help with ResReq?</a>

<a name="resreq1"></a>1.
Q: Hello!
A: Hello and welcome to the Resource Request Forum!

<a name="resreq2"></a>2.
Q: To the what?
A: The Resource Request Forum - or ResReq for short - is the spiritual successor to Sol Ek Sa, a forum which used to exist where Modders could ask for portraits and graphics for their mods. The Resource Request Forum is similar, except the area we work on is far wider, and that we do not have members. In ResReq, all Spellholdians who have talent in the field of the request can pick it up and help!

<a name="resreq3"></a>3.
Q: Who can ask for resources?
A: Modders, for mods. For personal art requests, go to the Layers of Reality forum. Resources is meant to help modders in their work and to get mods as big and beautiful as they can be. Also requesters need to be registered here at Spellhold Studios forums.

<a name="resreq4"></a>4.
Q: What sort of things can be requested?
A: Almost anything you could need for a mod, except for coding. Here are some examples:
-portraits
-bams
-description bams
-areas
-voice acting
-music
-concept art
-models
-ad banners
-web design
-translation
-textures

<a name="resreq5"></a>5.
Q: How to request?
A: First of all you must be registered at SHS to request. As for the requesting process itself - make a post in the ResReq forums, and label it clearly in the following way:
[CATEGORY] - type - info

For example:
[GRAPHICS] Portrait - Male NE Bard (Arayne mod)
[GRAPHICS] Website Banner - Iylos mod
[GRAPHICS] Website Design - Mage Trio Mod
[GRAPHICS] Textures for a new Imperial armor - Imperial Remade mod
[GRAPHICS] Description bam - Elven sword
[AUDIO] Voice set - Asian male (Iylos mod)
[AUDIO] Theme music - Iylos mod
[TRANSLATION] German - Iylos mod

Use our forms in the post depending on what you are requesting. The forms can be found in this thread, and there are six types of forms:
a) portraits
b) .bams
c) areas
d) music
e) voicesets
f) translations.
For anything else you can freely request and describe what you need. The forms help everyone to grasp what exactly you are after and get all essential information about it to help you out. What ever form you use or do not use, remember to go to details and describe thoroughly, and be ready to answer possible questions.

<a name="resreq6"></a>6.
Q: Who can work on the requests?
A: Anybody at SHS. If you have skills on what ever is requested, you are very welcome, even encouraged to help out fellow modders! For example, if you have the means and the voice to make voice acting, and you see a request for a voice set, do help out if you can! Remember though, that the requests here are serious, so be serious when you reply. If you promise to help, then don't break it! Pick up the job only if you know what you're doing and can finish it!

<a name="resreq7"></a>7.
Q: How can ResReq help my mod?
A: ResReq can help you get some special things you need for your mod. If you're missing character portraits, ResReq is the place to come. Same goes with music or voice acting, or maybe you need custom items and textures or bams for them? How about advertising - you need cool ad banners you can put on web pages and signatures. Don't give up on your mods because you can't make some special artsy things, write symphonic music or speak Swahili. Ask for help here!

<a name="resreq8"></a>8.
Q: What are your conditions?
A: 1) What you ask here must be for a mod. ResReq is not for personal requests - this place is to help develop bigger and more beautiful mods.
2) Give credits to those who help you out. Mention their names and their input in your mods ReadMe and/or your mods web site or forum. If you want to be super nice, you could mention ResReq too - so that other people have a larger chance of finding help to their mods as well! But all glory and fame to those who actually do the work!

<a name="resreq9"></a>9.
Q: Does it cost anything?
A: No price tags! Participating in ResReq and helping out those in need here is completely voluntary. People help out because they can, because they want to be useful, because they want more and better mods out, because they want to see their names in mod ReadMe's...

<a name="resreq10"></a>10.
Q: What should I, as requester, remember?
A: When you ask for something, be serious about it. Describe it in detail, answer questions, be nice, and remember to give credits for the helper. Also, please remember that all of this is on a volunteer basis, and that the people helping you out are doing this on their own spare time and are not getting paid to do it.

<a name="resreq11"></a>11.
Q: What should I, as a helper, remember?
A: Only promise to work on a request if it really is a field you are comfortable in, and if you really can finish the job. If you can't, be brave and say so with apologies so that others can pick up the job and the requester gets what s/he needs. Keep in mind possible deadlines and the requester's descriptions. Play nicely and have fun!

<a name="resreq12"></a>12.
Q: I'm an artist/translator/voice artist/musician who would like to help out - who do I talk to?
A: No need to! Hop right in, pick a job when you see something that suits your skills, and start making yourself useful!

<a name="resreq13"></a>13.
Q: Why have ResReq? Surely people can come up with their own resources?
A: Not all modders can paint their own portraits, have the means to record voice sets or make theme music, or know every language to make a bunch of fluent translations. This is where Resource Request comes in - here modders and members can help each other out so that mods can be as thorough as possible. Different people have different skills, and ResReq is the place where the skills meet to build a whole.

<a name="resreq14"></a>14.
Q: How long will I have to wait for someone to take on my request?
A: Depending on your own deadlines, maybe a week or two before bumping and asking again. Be patient, though, some things are harder to make and have fewer people who are actually into them and can make them.

<a name="resreq15"></a>15.
Q: I've been waiting for weeks for my request to be fulfilled, and no one has taken it on yet! What can I do?
A: Bump the thread! Post a reply to your own thread so that it bumps up, and is easier to notice. If that doesn't work, you could do two things.
1) Think if what you're asking is too hard or too much - could you make do with less?
2) Probably as a last resort - if you know of people who can do the things you are after, contact them personally and see if they could help you out.

<a name="resreq16"></a>16.
Q: I'm not satisfied with the work that has been provided. What can I do?
A: You can of course point this out to your helper - give nice constructive criticism and ask if they could work on it more. If you still do not get what you were looking for, politely explain this to your helper and ask if someone else would give it a try. No need for flaming, though, we all want the best for the mods and each other here!

<a name="resreq17"></a>17.
Q: Who runs ResReq?
A: SConrad and leahnkaintend to the ResReq forum together. You direct any problems or questions to them.

<a name="resreq18"></a>18.
Q: Who can I ask for help with ResReq?
A: leahnkain who loves to help. Ask him, or the mighty guru SConrad!

Thank you Ilmatar for all of your work. I have edited and updated your original post to refelct the stff change.

[Enkida]

Hi... mods can feel free to move this post if it's completely in the wrong place. Recently there've been some active portrait artists and couple of new portrait requests, and I thought putting some tips here might help smooth the way for some people searching for artistic help.

Tip #1:

If I can make a suggestion, and this, hopefully, will go for anyone who chooses to make future request for portraits, but adding up pictures of what you have in mind for your character really does help. Being descriptive is great, but if I told you: "Hey! I want my character to have blue eyes!"
It's kinda like: "What the heck? You know how many shades of blue there is?!" Now you'd have to guess which shade of blue I want. Even if I said dark blue, you know how many shades of dark blue there is? What if I wanted the blue to be so dark, it looked black?

Unfortunately, this has happen to me several times in leaving me to guess and assume what the requester wanted, only to have them go "No, no, no. This is not at all how I pictured the person to be!! Here, change the nose to make it look more long and stubby, and the eyes should be more orange-ish/purple ." Which means another round of me guessing and assuming what needs to be changed. And in my opinion, this goes on waaaay to long.

If people wish to be picky and precise in what they want in their portraits, that's fine. I have no problem with that. My problem is when these people are picky and precise but give you no real direction in where to go.
A lot of people will get a vision in their head of what they want. Though, it keeps changing, they somehow want the artist to just 'get it' and know exactly what they're thinking based on the description and their ever changing image of the portrait. Put that way, yes, it's crazy and tiresome trying to help that person obtain what they're asking for.

Like, for example, you say "Her face is mature, slender". What's slender? Your slender may be different from my version of slender. So to keep down on the confusion, finding a picture of someone with the slenderness you have in mind would really help the artist out.

But this just doesn't go for the face shape, I'm talking about everything; From her hair color, to her hair style, to her the highness of her cheek bones, to how much you want her eyes tilted, to her skin tone. Everything.

Anyway, hope that helps!

Tip #2 is from me:
Even if you do have a very specific image of your character in your mind, sometimes it helps to trust the artist and give them free reign with their imagination. Basic guidelines that are absolutely essential to your mod are ok, like "not in platemail, because it's a mage" and "elven, not human, and this particular subrace of elves, as described in the Forgotten Realms Wiki." Specifics essential for your mod are also very helpful, like, "a star-shaped scar under the left eye, because it's mentioned in the game dialogue" or "a ruby pendant, because it's a plot quest item for the character" or "he's got to have a big nose, and please, not too handsome, because he's got a charisma of 7."

And just so you don't have to go at it blind, it's fully within your rights as a requester to ask to see samples of the artist's work before agreeing to let them "use their imagination" so to speak. Personally I wouldn't want to make a request from an artist who is afraid to show you his or her portfolio. ;-)

Things that are not helpful for me are "powder blue eyes" or "an oval shaped face" or even "slanted eyes" because these descriptors are so subjective from person to person. Also not helpful: things that do not have to be included in portraits. For example: "a spiked tail" or "doeskin boots" or "a lance with a silver tip, intricate carvings on the wooden shaft and a weight at the end in the shape of a silver and gold fleur-de-lis." Remember that most portraits (with the exception of some Icewind Dale portraits) consists of busts. Head, shoulders, perhaps the handle of a weapon, and if you're really lucky, maybe there is a *part* of a hand in there too. That's it. Extra information is exactly that: unnecessary.

I have found I personally produce the best portraits the less input I have about how the character should exactly look. This does not preclude being given a photograph of what a character should look like, but be prepared for some static if you provide a photograph to an artist who produces a portrait from it, and then change your mind or worse yet, the photographic model, after seeing the result.

Last but not least, if you are searching for multiple portraits (from multiple artists) because you want a choice of alternates for you mod, make sure you make that clear in your initial request. There are many an artist who may see a repeated request for the same character as a sign that requester was not happy or appreciative of their provided work. It can cause some resentment, and nobody wants that.

Hope this is helpful in general, and if any artists have tips for making portrait requests more accessible to artists, I am sure requesters would like to know them. ;-)