I am hereby making an announcement that the new group,
alt.binaries.pictures.tv.scifi-fantasy
has officially been created.

What this means:
You most probably cannot just immediately go over there and check it
out. You will need to ask your provider to add it. This is not
absolutely the case, but most likely.

And since we want to get this group alive and kicking as quickly as
possible, I am officially asking everyone reading this message, poster
or lurker, to write to their support department and request it. It is
the most persuasive thing we can do to make this work. If you're not
interested in the OT stuff, you don't have to actually READ it, but
please do request it. We need your help.

I am including the FAQ here, after my sig, so that anyone who is curious
can read it, too.
--
Cheri Stryker

I have a tendency to wear my mind on my sleeve...
[Barenaked Ladies, One Week]

alt.binaries.pictures.scifi-fantasy.tv Frequently Asked Questions
available on the web at: http://dancingbones.org/xena/abptsff.html (Who's computer is this?)
v. 1.0 - Created 7/30/2001 - Copyright C. Stryker

Table of Contents:

1.0 - What is this place?
1.1 - The Story
1.2 - The Charter as originally proposed
1.3 - What that means in practice

2.0 - How does all this work?
2.1 - Caps/Scans
2.2 - Using the original material provided
2.3 - Where to see examples

3.0 - The Etiquette and Finger-Waving admonishments and disclaimers
3.1 - Uploading etiquette
3.2 - Downloading etiquette
3.3 - Standard Finger-Waving disclaimers

4.0 - A note about Erotica

5.0 - I'd like to learn more about….
5.1 - Some good places to look for further info.

6.0 - A final warning and disclaimer [tic]

[1.0] What is this place?

[1.1] - Once upon a time there was a multimedia newsgroup dedicated to
the Xena and Hercules television shows (see 2.3, Where to see
examples). In the fullness of time it evolved away from a focus on
sound and video posts, to the posting of still images captured from the
broadcasts. The community was made up of artists and aspiring artists,
who then worked with these images to produce wallpapers, calendars, and
other items of digital beauty. However, some of the folks who had
worked with and loved the topic for a number of years, felt a desire to
expand their subject material. Since anything but Xena and Hercules was
Off Topic, the brave adventurers struck out into the wilds of Usenet to
find a new homestead. And here you are.

[1.2] - The Charter (a thing that we had to write to satisfy
Officialdom and get the group created) contains a list of posts that are
NOT acceptable for this group. It reads like this:
Charter:
This newsgroup is for fans of Science Fiction\Fantasy television shows
and films who wish to show off their artwork based upon said shows.
Accepted posts will focus on desktop wallpapers, and will include other
images in standard graphics formats (namely jpeg, bitmap, or gif), as
well as screen-captures, scans, and other related images, again in the
standard graphics formats. All posters\subscribers are expected to
follow the proper Netiquette guidelines, and although we will encourage
the discussion of any artwork posted, all unmarked off-topic materials,
advertising (spam), excessive posting, trolling, cancel attacks,
html-encoded posts, virus infected binaries, and abusive cross postings
are prohibited. Additionally, this is intended to be a family forum,
and pornographic or erotic material, in any form, is expressly
forbidden.

[1.3] - What this means in practice: We like to take images from SF/F
tv shows and movies, and play with them digitally, to make wallpapers
for computer desktops, primarily, but also just pretty pictures. Then
we share them on the newsgroup, and the other members of the community
give feedback. Thus the purpose of the group is twofold: to share our
work, and to give support, assistance, and criticism where warranted, to
fellow artists. This group was created as a separate entity to
distinguish it from groups dedicated to the distribution of work by
known professional artists, like Boris Vallejo, Royo, and Julie Bell.
Discussion of the images posted is welcome and encouraged, as is
discussion of related techniques and technologies (software packages and
their use, scanning tips, capture card advice, etc.), provided the
volume of such discussion is not excessive.


[2.0] - How does all this work?

[2.1] - Caps/Scans - In order to do digital manipulation of images, you
first need images to work with. This is served by people posting
(uploading) images that they have captured from a television broadcast,
captured from a DVD or video tape, scanned from a flat image, or caused
to be digitized into one of the commonly accepted graphics formats.
Since there is such a broad range of subjects included as On Topic, one
cannot expect to always find the precise images that one is looking for,
but requests are welcome. Whether any capper/scanner is willing or able
to answer that request is entirely up to them.

[2.2] - Using the original material provided - a variety of software
packages are used, with Paint Shop Pro and PhotoShop being the most
popular. Most images are referred to as Wallpapers, but realistically
there's not often a lot of room left for icons. Do whatever you want to
do.

[2.3] - That last paragraph's awful vague, can you give me a better idea
of what the heck you are talking about? - Sure. Go to our sister
group, alt.binaries.multimedia.xena-herc, and check out some of the
fabulous work there. Or, here are some web page references:

http://dancingbones.org/xena/xenaindex.html (Who's computer is this?)
http://www.mikes-images.com (Who's computer is this?)
http://home.freeuk.com/scott.fisher/ (Who's computer is this?)
http://xena.wall.papers.dr.ag/ (Who's computer is this?)


[3.0] - The Etiquette and Finger-Waving disclaimers -

We all do a lot of hard work producing these images. While none of us
actually "own" the images (they are copyrighted by their respective
production companies, etc.), it is important that we respect each
other's time and effort. A scanner may spend quite a lot of time to
adjust colors in a picture, or clean up any defects, as well as spending
money on the stuff to scan. A screen capper most likely needs to spend
time cropping, deinterlacing, and generally improving any screen shots
he or she obtains. And of course the art that we produce is a labor of
love. Respect should be our watchword.

[3.1] - Uploading etiquette - If you'd like to post either some
original images, or some artwork, we ask that you follow these
guidelines. When posting any kind of image, please try to include in
the filename either some initials or other recognizable code so that
people who use the pictures later can keep track of where they got
them. When posting a finished piece of art, please credit the person
who produced the original images. When posting a set of images captured
from a television show or movie, we ask that you post no more than 25
per day, over how ever many days it takes. Due to most servers not
retaining messages for more than a day, if a group is "flooded" with 100
messages from one person, it's likely that posts from others will be
pushed off prematurely. If you are posting more than one image, common
practice is to include a set of thumbnail images (pasted together into
one image) of the images you plan to post in that session, so that your
fans will know if they missed any. If you are reposting an image
originally provided by another person, please say so, do not try to take
credit for work that is not yours. If you do not know where you got an
image, say so. If you got the image from a website, say so, but please
be sure that the owner of that website does not mind your reposting it.
There has been some ugliness in the treatment of this form of artwork,
namely others offering an artist's work for sale on EBay, adding it to
their website without permission, etc. One convention that has
developed in response to that is an artist signing their work, either
with a unique icon, or simply by adding their name. A signature also
helps those fans who organize their collection by artist, and may
accidentally rename the file (because the filename will have your code
in it, too, right?).

[3.2] - Downloading etiquette - If you see an image here, you may
assume that you have permission to download it for your personal
enjoyment, or for use in creation of other artworks. You must obtain
permission from the original poster if you wish to do ANYTHING other
than that.

[3.3] - Standard Finger-Waving admonishments and disclaimers - This is
worth saying again. The only entity who "owns" any of these images is
the original copyright holder, namely the production company, etc., who
caused them to exist in the first place. DO NOT try to sell any of this
stuff, in any way, either individually, or by putting it in a
compilation and selling the compilation. Those companies have been
gracious enough to tolerate fan sites and image distribution, but let's
not test their patience with abuse, neh? If you PERSONALLY know of a
particular company that does not approve/allow screen caps of their
productions to be distributed, please contact the FAQ maintainer at
macha@dancingbones.org, and we will update the FAQ to include such
information. To learn more about copyright and Usenet, check out this
site: http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html (Who's computer is this?)


[4.0] - A note about Erotica - While we are philosophically not opposed
to the occasional nipple, there is an important factor in why the
charter of this group specifically forbids pornography/erotica. I quote
here from the alt.config FAQ (http://www.alt-config.org/ (Who's computer is this?) )
"Although far less of a problem in North America, Usenet/Netnews is
global, and there are places that do not want pornography or are not
allowed to have it. … it can get news services sued, shutdown, and/or
get the people who run a news server thrown in jail. … Remember, in its
simplest form, erotica=nudity. In other words, you do not need sex for
erotica."


[5.0] - I'd like to learn more about…(capping/scanning/using my
software)

[5.1] - Some good places to start when looking for further info. -
While the purpose of this FAQ is to direct activity on the newsgroup, we
know there are many related interests. There are many good resources
out there, and one of the best places to start looking is Usenet. There
are newsgroups devoted to most of the major graphics software packages,
just do a search with the software name. Another fabulous resource is
the ABPA-L.FAQ, usually posted by John O. Knopf under the subject of
"Lurkers' FAQ" on the following newsgroups:

news:alt.binaries.pictures.fine-art
news:alt.binaries.pictures.artpics
news:alt.binaries.pictures.clip-art
news:alt.binaries.pictures.fantasy-sci-fi
news:alt.binaries.pictures.art.pin-up
news:alt.binaries.dragonz

Or you can do a search on Deja News/Google with his name. This FAQ is
extensive and covers references in the areas of the internet, news
reader software, graphics software, and scanning.

A good place to begin a search for more artistic information is detfig's
An Artist's Haven, the Links page, at http://www.detfig.com/Links/ (Who's computer is this?)


[6.0] - A final warning and disclaimer (tongue in cheek) -
Wallpaper creation is viciously addictive, and there will be no one but
yourself that you can blame for your loss of sleep, declining
performance in the workplace, neglect of your children, and degenerating
health. Get out there and have fun!