Let’s pull this conversation back to the original topic.
My question is this: why can’t that someone be any of the people participating in this thread? I mean, we’re a community of people who make things… and we’re used to the the open source ethos of, “I see a problem; I’m going to fix it myself.” It sounds like this is something folks would appreciate (even pay for). Why not go and do it?
Exactly this. The OP suggested that “Someone should come out with some asset collections that reflect a broader range of appearances.”
Why cant that someone be the OP (or those who agree with their observation).
We have a powerful graphics tool at our fingertips which allows anything within the realms of our imagination to be realised. If you believe there is a gap - fill it, don’t wait for (or expect) others to do it for you.
That’s the beauty of something like Blender - you don’t have to be constrained to only using what other people create. Tools like Makehuman, Human Generator plugin, DAZ3d etc have controls to help create POC character assets - or you can just sculpt directly using Blender, Sculptris etc.
I completely agree. I have a fully textured high quality human that I would throw in. Unfortunately though it is a slender young white woman. lol.
This thread has been good for me; as I’ve reflected, I’ve found that I’m part of the problem, in that I typically create and work with very feminine cisgender women characters. I think I find it easier to make women than men or other gender options/presentations, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room to improve.
I think there’s also something to be said for comfort zone- not as a defense, just an observation. I usually make women because I live with a woman who, in her infinite patience of putting up with me, lets me use her body for observation. I don’t have a lot of opportunities to observe bodies other than that of a white woman or a white man (gotta love mirrors), and I would hazard a guess that’s a big reason why we see so little diversity on the asset stores. 3D art creation has always slanted a bit towards white men and women, especially in the game development field; that’s definitely changing nowadays, but there’s still an element of privilege in having a computer powerful enough to create 3D assets and free time to do it.
At this point in my thoughts, I’m finding a resolve to go out and find a way to diversify my body reference. I’m not sure what that means or how to do it, so I’m very open to thoughts and suggestions 
I have plenty of still images of reference, my difficulty is more that it’s important to have moving, live reference where you can observe muscles, skin, and fat interacting with each other from different angles and in different movements
The market has no responsibility, that’s what makes it the market. People have responsibilities, albeit only the ones they agree to take on. I recently had a conversation with a vegan friend who completely shifted to a right-wing attitude towards property and welfare (I know lol, keep up), saying “I shouldn’t be forced to contribute to society if I don’t want to” which is basic right-wing rationale, but kinda sounds like what you say about representation. Yes, everyone should be able to fend for themselves, but basic human qualities should lead most people to join that fight, to some degree, on the grounds of solidarity. I think that’s the gist of it : you can’t ignore what happens right beyond your borders, because it’s going to come back and smack you in the face anyway. If you want what’s best for all, including yourself, then you certainly want what’s best for your neigbour.
Ain’t that the mark of a good conversation. All that’s missing is a couple bottles, but then again I am french.
You crack me up. I don’t know how they do it, but they do have patience. Anyway, I see this as a vicious circle : privileged people in developed countries make 3D characters. These characters reflect the context in which they were made. More people, from diverse backgrounds, gain access to 3D (through games, film…) and tend to imitate what they watched, grew up with. Result : initial bias is reinforced. Does this sound too armchair ?
I just watched the demo reel on their homepage.
I saw white people, thin people, fat people, old people, african people, indian people, and pretty sure that was an asian baby at the end. There were also stylized people (of multiple colors), and a wolf (country of origin unknown).
What am I missing?
Very early in our friendship, before we were married or even dating, I would spend most of my time at her apartment working, doing homework, or doing something in Blender. (This was back in college and I hated my roommates at the time.) I think I started falling for her when I spent 5 straight hours sitting on her couch retopologizing some sculpted hair and somehow she didn’t kick me out- instead, she just had suggestions about things I could do to improve the makeup of the character I was working on. She still likes to make fun of me for retopologizing hair by hand back then.
I’m no sociologist, but this seems like a reasonable conclusion
That analogy is just about collectivising people into doing things you desire. Not everyone wants the same thing and this argument just leads down a path where people are pressuring others.
This is the same ideology that has led to people harassing artists for not creating a character with a certain shade of skin colour or a specific body type. You may not personally do any of that stuff, but I’ve been through this rodeo before. It’s an insidiously toxic path a community takes once it starts taking hold.
Just let people make what they want to make. If you want to make something different than the norm, be my guest. Don’t expect everyone else to follow suit.
This thread started with someone wanting to buy something that they found lacking in the market. There is a demand, and a lack of supply.
It’s a free market though - so if there truly is a demand (particularly for paid content), the market should quickly adapt to fulfil that demand.
Few opportunities go unexploited for long - especially if there is money to be made.
Markets don’t adapt to demand- if that were the case, insulin wouldn’t cost hundreds of dollars a dose. They adapt to production. There are many people in the United States with diabetes who go without insulin because they can’t afford it, endangering their lives. I think it’s reasonable to assume they have a pretty strong demand.
Here’s another example- if markets adapted to demand, GPUs and PlayStation 5s would be manufactured in sufficient quantity that anyone that wanted one would be able to get one. There’s a strong demand for high-end GPUs, so if the market adapts to demand, why are they impossible to get?
A third example- if markets adapted to demand, anyone that wanted tickets to Taylor Swift’s concerts would be able to get them. How could it be that enough people weren’t able to get tickets to trigger a governmental review of TicketMaster, a clear demand, if the market had adapted to meet that demand?
A fourth example- why can’t you buy Kinder surprise eggs, or many kinds of French cheese, in America? I know a lot of Americans that love that stuff and stock up on it when they go to Europe or Canada. If the market adapted to demand, I could go to my local store and buy some unpasteurized cheese right now.
A fifth example- why did the Batgirl movie get destroyed as a tax write-off by Warner Bros., despite massive outcry from fans (a strong demand), if the market was adapting to demand?
This thread started with someone making assumptions by first impression rather than using google.
Reallusion has a massive content store with all kind of characters and skins and styles and assets. The same applies to other big characters creator tools (Daz, Poser…)
How many fat people do you see on the streets?
How many fat people do you see in 3d asset marketplaces?
In business, demand is not when you ask for something. It’s when you are literally ready to pay for it. This is a massive difference!
I’m sure people dying of diabetes because they can’t afford insulin would love to debate the nuances of economics with you. I personally don’t care to
It appears they didn’t spend much time in the market, as the example they gave as lacking diversity (Reallusions Character Creator) literally offers it. https://www.reallusion.com/ContentStore/Pack/afro-hairstyles-vol-1
There were 3 issues they brought up, race was only 1
Depending where you live this might actually be proportionally correct as well as not. The important thing here however is comparing a product made for sale to a person is pretty ridiculous I think.
This is true of the education within the craft too. Everyone who’s done 3d for a few years can slap together a good skin shader with their eyes closed as long as it doesn’t have a certain concentration of melanin in it. Get too dark, and no one knows what to do with translucency.
“The CG market seems to favor slender youthful white people. Someone should come out with some asset collections that reflect a broader range of appearances.”
I’m sorry, what were the other two?
Youth, and weight? Because Reallusions has diversity there, as well.
The product/company is being used as an example of lacking diversity in body type, race, and age - when it takes all of a few moments to see that they are literally an example of a company who has made diversity part of their asset creation.