Anytime anyone traffics in copied software or 3D Models (that are for sale) they should be nailed by everyone on this forum and any other forum. There is a strange concept among some internet users, some of which visit this Renderosity (and the other forums) that Poser and other programs should be freely traded. It is a practise that everyone one of us must work to end. It is THEFT! People that do this are THIEVES! They are also weasels that steal other peoples livelyhoods in a new internet economy. There is nothing COOL about it. People that do this are thieving weasels...

Going off on a slight tangent, I was wondering if anyone has heard of any digital watermarking system for 3d models, much akin to the Digimarc plug-in as seen in Adobe Photoshop? Get the major 3d software companies on board and support a digital watermarking plug-in technology across the board... It may not stop piracy dead in its tracks but it'll sure help modellers seeking compensation and certainly assert and protect their ownership rights. Nuke

I agree Fox, the scary thing is that most of these people don't even give it a second thought. Kinda like "the end justifies the means" type of thing. Problem is that is is pervasive throughout our community. Not enough people are willing to call a spade a spade 'cause nobody will "like them". Just look at all the BS that we let our "Authorities" get away with. The honest people are few & far between in the public eye.

No, wilf, I am convinced that most people are honest. I am not saying that most people are saints....everyone has been tempted to cheat once in a while. But true weasels such as Fox-Mulder mentions are a thankfully small percentage. They just seem more numerous because they tend to be loud and/or destructive. We should not lose sight of how few they are, however, if there is a Satan among us, two of his most effective tools are the phrases, "Aw c'mon, EVERYBODY does it" and "If you dont do it, someone else will....." Scarab<-the highest office one can aspire to in life is to be a "good man" (or woman)

I put hidden and obvious lines of code in my models that do not effect the model but If a dispute ever arose I could pretty much prove that its my model. besides everthing I have offered is free and if you read the read me I don't care how you use it. If its for sale Zip it up with a password and change it every so often. That way only legit people who buy it can get the password. Not by any means foolproof but will tend to frustrate the people stealing your stuff.

Scarab, I totally agree that most people are honest. It's the people that are allowed to speak their minds through the "media" in general who portray otherwise. This is because the media is looking for individuals who will attract tension & controversy. Who would watch if normal thinking & honest people are allowed to have their say?

Some points: Greyskin: Larry Weinberg told me that the moment a model is resaved the comments Poser doesn't create itself are destroyed. I'd probably 'brand' a logo into the roof of Vicky's mouth (where no one will see it) or the heel of the foot (where everyone will see it). There are other subtle changes that could be made to the mesh that morphs would be unlikely to reproduce or cover. Re: Digimarc: Has anyone tested Digimarcing the model's texture, rendering the image and putting the render through Digimarc's Check Watermark function?

Duane, Interesting idea! I'll give it a shot and get back to you on that. Nuke

Duane, I marked a texture with my digital watermark from Digimarc using the strongest target setting which is "For Print" with a strength level of 4. At this level, the watermarking has a visible effect on the image itself. It appears more grainy, with the colours being more "spotty." I rendered in Poser itself and exported the image as a 10% compressed .jpg image and loaded the rendered image into Photoshop. No luck, it didn't find any watermark in the image. :( Nuke

Well, it was worth a try. Thanks.

Digimarc says they have no current plans for creating a watermarking system for digital models. Ah well... Nuke