Re: 256x256 px icons

[Warren Young <warren@etr-usa.com>]

On 8/16/2011 2:35 AM, Corinna Vinschen wrote:
>>On 15 August 2011 18:52, Warren Young wrote:
> The problem for me is that the Cygwin C is only a sidenote now, and
> that it lost its color.

On purpose.  Few cardboard boxes have full-color logos on them.

It would be trivial to bring back the color on the wedge.  I had to go 
out of my way to desaturate it for the rendering.  I may try that later.

While I could lift the box flap enough to let the entire logo show, I 
think the partial obscuration helps sell the icon's illusion.  The human 
mind is good at filling in missing bits, and gets a reward jolt when it 
figures out the mini puzzle.  Next time you're at a newsstand, observe 
how many covers have something partially obscuring the title; same reason.

In further service of selling the illusion, if I do decide to bring back 
the green on the wedge, I think I'll still keep it somewhat desaturated, 
as that's what happens when you print on kraft paper.  You rarely see 
deep black print on a cardboard box.

>> I don't think this replaces the newly finalized C logo on the first
>> setup.exe wizard page.
>
> Not so sure about that...  http://cygwin.de/angry-hippo-setup.png

That works for me, too.  I just thought you'd prefer the big C there 
instead, for branding.

Hey, here's a thought: maybe the boxed hippo is a setup.exe Easter egg. 
  Ctrl-RightShift-MiddleClick on a Thursday kind of thing.

> I just hope the hippo is free art.

The licenses and ownership of all the pieces that went into the 
rendering allow me to provide renders to the project free and clear.

The hippo model is free in the same way most fonts are free: I can't 
legally give you copies of the mesh and textures, but I can produce as 
many pixels as I'd like using it, and donate those pixels to an open 
source software project.  See section 4 in the DAZ content EULA:

	http://www.daz3d.com/sections/aboutus/eula/EULA_Content.pdf

If you want your own copy of the model, it's inexpensive:

	http://www.daz3d.com/i.x/shop/itemdetails/-/?item=4140

One could ask DAZ for a license to the mesh for the project, but I don't 
see that we really *need* that.  Rendered pixels are what we're really 
after, no?  Once we settle on the details, I can make nice high-res 
renders that would be free for future remixing.

The program you need to pose the model is free-as-in-beer for now:

	http://www.daz3d.com/i/software/daz_studio

It will go up to $50 soon, but DAZ says they'll be releasing a "light" 
version that may suit concurrently.  (Reference: http://goo.gl/auQsp)

(If you have any interest in playing with 3D, by the way, it's worth 
spending an evening playing with DAZ Studio.  Play with Google SketchUp, 
too.  Continue to ignore Blender. >:) )

If someone wants it, I can give out the DAZ Studio pose preset for the 
hippo.  With it, a single click will pose the model the way I did for my 
render.

I made the cardboard box model, and will give it to anyone who asks.

The cardboard texture is a heavily-hacked version of this photo:

	http://flic.kr/p/5EYA5Y

My version evens out the lighting and removes the distortion in order to 
make it a seamless texture.  I recolored it as part of that process.

The original is licensed CC-by 2.0.  My read of the license is that I 
can probably give out my version, since it's different enough to qualify 
as remixed art.  Attribution shouldn't be a problem, since the 
photographer disclaims the need for it on the photo's Flickr page. 
(You're being attributed here and now, Jacob Gube!)

The recycle icon on the box's front is like the hippo model: I can't 
give you the vectors, but anyone with a dingbat font installed probably 
has a direct substitute on hand.  I suppose it would be legal to give 
out the raster texture I made from the vectors.

So, bottom line, yes, some non-free software and non-free assets went 
into this composition.  But if you're still feeling your RMS senses 
tingling, ask yourself this: if I had managed to photograph this scene 
instead, would you be insisting that I provide[*] copies of my camera, 
the box, and the hippo before you could use the photo?

[*] For a reasonable shipping charge as provided under section 1 of the 
GPL v3, of course, insofar as shipping a hippo is reasonable.

> I really like the 3D box, but I think it would be better to have a 3D
> Cygwin C hopping out of the box.

I can give that a try, too.

But dang it, I *like* the angry hippo. >:)

Maybe the box art stays the same, and both a hippo *and* a beveled 
Cygwin logo are flying out of it...hmmmm...