Unwritten Rules Revealed

We have a pretty good rule set for every image type already, but sometimes they just don’t cover every possible scenario.
Hopefully this will clear up a few things.

First and foremost the site motto should be reiterated here.
“No Image is Better Than a Low Quality Image”

Something else to consider is The Devil Is In The Details

We understand that sometimes there just aren’t very good sources to work with, but in those cases you should either get very creative and do your best to re-create the art in higher quality, or upload it to one of the many other fanart sites that don’t moderate. Our goal is not to have an image for every single show/movie/album, but to have a Great Image for every single show/movie/album.

Understanding this might help to explain the types of image we are striving for. There is an essence to the site that we would like to achieve, and some images just don’t fit into that scope, even if they strictly adhere to the posted rules.
It’s also a good thing to remember that just because an image doesn’t work well for our library here, doesn’t mean you can’t use it in your own media center. If you think your image is perfectly fine for your needs, then you should use it on your system.

• Similar Images:
  Do not try to create every type of logo/image combination you can think of. Each image should be unique and stand on it’s own. If you want to offer a different logo option, you should create an entirely new image for it instead of just slapping it onto the same image as the other logo. What you end up with is a bloated library section of basically the same images that someone has to wade though.
  The same goes for different zoom levels of the same image, or images that are only “slightly” different from each other.
  You should treat each image as it’s own unique entity and stand-alone piece of art.
  
• Similar Images Part 2: AKA Languages
  Each user will now be limited to creating a piece of art in a maximum of 2 languages.
  We really don’t want to swamp our database with a zillion images in every possible language/format that exists. If there is an interest for some art in a language that is not available, it will prompt that user to either create that artwork themselves, or they can use the request system. This way only images that are in demand are getting produced, and we are not filling up our pages with art gathering dust.
  Our goal should be to try and fill in or make artwork where there is none. This is much more helpful to the site. One look at our Incomplete Section should give plenty of opportunities for people who want to produce a lot of art and want to really help the site at the same time.
  
• Clearart Shadows:
  As the rules states, you are allowed to crop on the bottom and right sides of an image. When this shouldn’t be done is when there is no need for it. If you are using a full uncropped image for your clearart, then there is no reason to crop the shadows either. The exception to this is when using perspective shadows that are almost an image unto themselves.
  
• Clearart Canvas Usage:
  This one is very subjective but you may get a denial when your clearart doesn’t use up as much space as it could. You should always strive to use as much of the canvas as possible. Sometimes this isn’t easy to do depending on the source you are working with, but it usually just means you need to get a little creative. Usually a mod will give you some pointers on how to achieve this if this happens to you. If not, it might just be an image that doesn’t work very well as a clearart.
  
• CdArt Cropping:
  I don’t moderate CdArt, but this was phoned in from a mod who does.
  All text must not be cropped by disc edge OR center hole – titles/flags/actors etc
  If using characters from movie on custom disc art – do not crop their faces over center hole.
  Partial cropping may be allowed but is at the moderators discretion.
  
• Collection Art:
  Collection art should reflect characters or elements that were in all the movies. The idea of collection art is to represent the entire collection, and not just one movie. This can be difficult sometimes but creativity should win out in the end if the effort is there. In the case where the main actor has changed, you could have all the main role actors in the same poster/clearart/banner etc. Or even an element that spans all the movies. Point is, if you make an art with a main character and a villain from a single movie, then that should be used for that movie and not as collection art.
  
• Languages: *Updated 1/23/2016*
  If the title of a Movie/TV Show is identical in any country to the title in English, the image MUST be uploaded as English. It is your responsibility to check imdb or tvdb before you upload it.
  English is the default language as well as the fallback language in Media Centers, this will ensure the artwork is available to the widest audience possible. When we move to the new site, we will have an option to set a piece of art to multiple languages which will make this rule obsolete, but until then please observe this rule.

There will be more added to this list as I have more time to work on it, so stay tuned.My body may be aging rapidly, but my mind is still tarp as a shack!

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