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| Oekaki |
General Information |
| What is Oekaki? |
| Oekaki is a Japanese word meaning "scribble" or "doodle". This name is given to a series of Java applets which allow drawing and posting of images online. There are many sites on the Internet, including OekakiCentral.com, which host the Oekaki applets, and provide display space for the posted pictures. |
| What is a tablet? |
| A tablet is a wonderful tool for those who are very serious about drawing. It is basically a board with a special pen that you can connect to your computer to use as a mouse (and hence draw). Price ranges from 99USD to 3500USD. Several companies make them (Wacom being the most popular). While a tablet will make it easier and faster to draw, it is not a magical tool that will make you better. You already have to know how to draw for it to be worthwhile. |
| What is the Java Virtual Machine? |
| The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) allows the oekaki applets to function on your computer. If it is not present, you will not be able to run them. We recommend using the one from Sun Corporation. You can get it for free by going to here http://java.com/en/download/help/download_options.xml and following the instruction to get the right JVM for your Operating System. (JavaSun main page: http://java.sun.com/) There is also the Microsoft JVM, which you can download here, but we do not guarantee it will work on your system, or that it will work with the Oekaki Central site: http://www.oekakicentral.com/msjavx86.exe |
Account Information |
| How do I sign up? |
| Be sure to provide a valid email address, as your confirmation will be sent to you in this fashion. Please note: check the Member List to see if your account is present (see at the top of the page, Search/Memberlist). If you made a mistake (eg. you entered a wrong e-mail address) DO NOT MAKE ANOTHER ACCOUNT, but immediately contact a mod in the Message Board: help forum. Double accounts are not permitted and you only get yourself suspended and warned. |
| Why is my account always disappearing? |
| We automatically clean out: - anyone who signs up but doesn't click, within two days, on the verification link that is sent to them via email; - anyone who signs up to our site and verifies the account, but does not comment or post any images within the first five days; |
| What is the Rank system? |
| The ranking system is a gauge of your overall participation level at OekakiCentral.com. You earn points when you draw and when you comment. You lose points when you get stuff deleted. Be reassured, if you delete something yourself, the systems takes this into consideration (this means no points lost). You can virtually draw anywhere on the board, after you joined; some features on OekakiCentral will not be available to people who have an insufficient rank, though. For example, you need at least 100 points to enter the paintchats, and you must have a positive rank to view animations and draw in the 2-star and 3-star rooms. Please note that you lose more points than you would earn if you draw something that gets deleted, so it is useless to spam. Also little comments like "Cute" or "Nice XD" will probably be deleted. We want real comments, not little ones, and getting comments deleted is really bad because they cost a lot of points. Also note the ranking system has nothing to do with your skill level: people can have low rankings and be gods at drawing, and vice versa. About the Workshop: to be able to draw in this room, you must draw at least 25 images in the 1star rooms, first. This isn't related to your rank, it's just a way to be sure you have done enough practice before posting a picture in the room and asking for help. |
| Can I have multiple accounts? |
| No, we dont allow people to have multiple accounts, as it loads the database for nothing and makes management of the site a lot harder. That is why you should choose your username very carefully. Please note: check the Memberlist to see if your account is present. If you made a mistake (eg. you entered a wrong e-mail address) DO NOT MAKE ANOTHER ACCOUNT, but immediately contact a mod in the Message Board: help forum. Double accounts are not permitted and you only get yourself suspended and warned. In the event you have a sibling, or someone else in the same household, who also wishes to use OekakiCentral.com, please be sure to notify a moderator immediately with both user names. This way we can update the records to show that they are not illegal multiple accounts. |
| Can I share my account with someone else? |
| Due to past problems that we have encountered with people doing mischief on the site and then claiming it was their friend or sibling, we no longer allow people to share their accounts. We will suspend for three days anyone who shares their account, and may ban them all together if other problems occur. All reasons for applied suspensions and bans are explained in the Message Board: Ban/Suspend list |
| What should I do to retrieve a lost password or change my actual one? |
| To retrieve a lost password: enter a room, click on the 'login' button from the menu on the top of the page, and select 'retrieve password' >> http://www.oekakicentral.com/stove/lostpass.php To change your actual password: open your Profile (Admin > Edit profile) and change your password using the form at the end of the page. You'll have to type your current password and the new one (twice), then click the 'edit' button. |
| How can I view account information? |
| Your account information, including what personal information you've made public at Oekaki Central, your ranking, and a list of your current finished pictures, is available in your profile. In many places at the site, such as when a person has drawn or commented, the names are links to their profiles. Yours, and any other profile, are accessible this way. If you don't see a link to the person you're looking for, you can always search the Member List with the Search/Memberlist links at the top of each room page. |
| What is a Star Rating? |
| Stars are just our way to name the various skill levels; 1-star means "oekaki beginner", 2-stars means "intermediate user" and 3-stars means "expert user". To know at what level you're at, in order to avoid deletions and loss of rank points, just use the Star Rating page. Access this page by clicking on the link in the menu bar at the top, then request a rating of one oekaki image of yours, preferably one you think is the best example of your work. Please use any of the 1-star rooms to draw your submission pictures, and remember to add a link to the image in your message. A moderator will judge it and tell you where you can draw safely. Please note that you can either be "one/two/three star" or not. The "half star" we use to name some rooms (WorkShop, Coloring Book) is only a "special label" for those hybrid places -- the WorkShop is a help room for people *close* to the 2-star level who need help in order to improve, and the Coloring Book is a room for both 2-star (coloring) and 3-star (linearts) artists. Keep in mind that the star rating is NOT a way to evaluate YOU, but your knowledge of the oekaki tools and drawing techniques. |
| How can I edit my comments or delete my pictures? |
| If the comment is the first one you wrote on a picture of your own: click on the "Admin" button on the top menu bar, choose "Edit Picture", select the comment you need to modify and click "edit". Do not click "delete"--if you click on "delete" you'll remove the picture from the room. For any other comments, click on "Admin" > "Edit Comments", and choose the comment you need to modify, then click "edit". Click "delete" if you want to remove the comment completely. You cannot recover comments that have been deleted. |
| What is an avatar? How can I change it? |
| An avatar is a little image of you (a photo or a picture drawn by you) shown in your Profile, which let people know who you are. The image must be representive of yourself. Please make sure all images are appropriate for viewing (nudity permitted if artistic). Images must be in JPEG format and no bigger than 200 pixels wide by 300 pixels high. To load your avatar, you need to have it saved in your computer. Open a OC page, go to the top menu bar, click on 'Admin' then 'Edit Avatar'; click on the 'browse' button near the 'send this file' window in the page you'll get, locate the file you want to load then click on the 'send file' button. Now the avatar is displayed in your Profile. Attention: if you don't see the image, be sure to reload your Profile page - your browser needs to load the new image in order to display it on the page. |
General Rules |
| Why does OekakiCentral.com have a lot of rules? |
| We are the first to admit we have a lot of rules and there is a good reason. We have a very large site to maintain and have been subject to abuse in various form in the past. By establishing rules in advance, we reduce a lot of these problems. We try to have a site that is enjoyable and pleasant to visit. If you take time to read them, you will see they are mostly based on common sense, and some things specific to this site. |
| Dos |
| Be polite at all times. While we are very open minded, we also try to maintain a clean fun site. We do not condone profanity, rudeness or spite. If you have a problem, talk to a moderator politely and you will be well received. Give your best when you draw. You will not improve if you do not give your best and even if you are a long established artist who draws regularly in a three star room, you might have your images deleted if the image is not up to the technical skill level of the room. Talk to moderators. If you have an issue, a concen or a question, you just need to address a moderator through the OekakiCentral.com Messaging System and you should get a reply shortly. Respect the theme and skill level of the room you are drawing in. We have speciality rooms of various skill level available to the users and moderating them is a lot of work. If you are unsure if the image you wish to do will follow the theme of the room, ask a moderator if they believe it will be appropriate. |
| Don'ts |
| Do not annoy, backtalk or bad mouth a moderator. We have enough things to do and we do not need the abuse. Doing so will only result in your being banned. Do not complain that your image has been deleted. One of the biggest problems we encounter are users who overevaluate their skill level because other people (who normally cannot draw) say they are great. Keep in mind that it does not matter to us if you put in 100 minutes or 1000 minutes on an image. We do care about the final product. Do not spam the rooms with garbage or off-theme images. Not only is the image going to be deleted, but you are also wasting our time, bandwidth and disk space. Do not use L337 talk or the other internet slang ["meh", "U", "B", "iz","ish","&" and so on] on the boards or chat rooms. We only allow real English on OekakiCentral.com. This is an English-speaking communuty frequented by people of all countries, so please let's keep English as the only language to let everyone understand what's going on. Do not complain that JPEG compression killed your image. While it happens on occasion that JPEG compression affects images colored with solid colors (especially red), it is normally fine and most people will not see the difference. Anyway, people can see the original (low jpg compression) picture when they leave a comment on it. Do not give out links to the PNG version of an image. We are trying to save bandwidth and not use more. Do not sign up more than once. If you have an issue with your account, contact one of the moderators by email. |
| Can I advertise other sites, including my own Oekaki board? |
| Unless you are a moderator, you are required to secure permission before advertising another site. Naturally, having your site listed in your profile is permissible. Elfwood, BakaNeko, Suteki.nu, AckAnime are not subject to the advertisement rules and may be discussed freely, as well as any site listed on the main page of oekakiCentral.com |
| May I post adult links in the chatrooms and on the boards? |
| In chat, you are permitted to post adult links as long as you provide a warning it is an adult link, and what it may be related to (yuri, yaoi, BDSM, etc etc etc). Adult links are not to be posted in the general oekaki rooms, for obvious reasons. |
| Can I do Age/Sex/Location checks in the chatroom or on the boards? |
| Doing so is extremenly frowned upon on OekakiCentral.com. We are not a meat market, nor a dating service. Most of our users are minors and if anything happened, a lot of people would be in a world of trouble. |
| Why are images deleted? |
| We have rules and requirements, and we ask that users follow them. The system enforces some directly without us having to lift a finger; others, are enforced by the moderators. We ask that users draw in rooms where they will be able to meet the skill requirements, as well as draw an image that fits the theme and respects the rules of the room. You can see if a room has specific rules by visiting the FAQ entry for that room. Taking a few moments to read will save you a lot of heartache. Please note that the "final product" is what will be taken into consideration in judging a picture: the image as it appears in the room, nothing else. Animations, hidden layers and such are NOT going to be taken into consideration. If the picture shown in the room's page does not meet the requirements of the room, it will be deleted without warning. While it may seem unfair at times that we simply delete images, it is also what keeps OekakiCentral.com clean and efficient. Most boards do not have as many rooms or special features as us and we have to make sure that order reigns in them, else OekakiCentral.com will not be very appealing to its users. Users MAY delete their own images, even after they have submitted them for a while. This however goes against the better judgement of the owner, who considers this act as destructive and selfish. |
Special Features |
| Why does OekakiCentral.com have features not available on other Oekaki boards? |
| OekakiCentral.com is based on a customized version of OekakiPoteto (http://www.suteki.nu). Most of the code has been modified in some fashion or another and it is almost unrecognizable. The extent of the modifications also make it incompatible with newer versions of OekakiPoteto. Most of the code is in regards to job automation, improved security and multi-user features. Most of the new code has been done by the owner, Jason Terlecki. We would like to take a moment to thank Theoddore Chakkapark and Marcello Bastea-Forte for their invaluable assistance for code implementation. |
| Can I get some of the customized code from OekakiCentral.com? |
| We regret to say that the customized code is not available to the public. Not only this code is what makes OekakiCentral.com unique, but it will likely be incompatible with future updates of your OekakiPoteto board. Since most of these modifications are simple in nature, you just need to take the time to code them yourself, if so you wish. |
| How do I do a collaboration with another user? |
| The collaboration is one of the features that make OekakiCentral.com unique. It allows two users to participate on the same image, often producing interesting results. You have to go into a collaboration-enabled room. To begin a collaboration, you begin a drawing as usual. We recommend that you pick an animated version of the oekaki applets, as it will save the layers and preserve transparency. When you submit the image for the first time, in the comment section you will be allowed to select the co-owner who will share the picture. Please make sure to select exactly the correct co-owner as it will not be possible to change it afterwards. If you are the co-owner of an image, you only need to press "Retouch" in order to edit and continue the image. Both owners share in the rewards and penalties associated with an image, so it is important to pick your partners carefully. Please be sure to only mark the image as finished when it is 100% complete. The image does not need to be complete for the co-owner to work on it. A positive rank is required in order to use this feature. |
| How do I submit lineart to be colored by other users? |
| OekakiCentral.com has the Coloring Book room, where highly skilled users donate lineart to be colored by other artists. Submitting lineart is not an easy endeavour. We only accept the best lineart available, and nothing under three stars will be accepted. This kind of submission may be done only in the Coloring Book, nowhere else at the OekakiCentral.com site. Once you submit lineart, a moderator will process it, either approving it for distribution or deleting it. Once it has been approved, other users will be able to color it. You are also welcome to color your own lineart, once it is approved. |
| How can I color lineart from someone else? |
| Lineart donated by skilled artists has been made available to be colored by OekakiCentral.com in the Coloring Book room. There, you can select the images via the thumbnail feature: click on "view" on the top menu bar, then choose "shared images (thumbnails)" and click on the lineart you want to color. There is also a "Click here to see available linearts to color" link, just above the notices box. Or use the [ color ] link that appears near the title of the accepted lineart on the Coloring Book's pages. A positive rank is required to use this feature. A rank of 0 is not a positive rank, so if you're new, be sure to leave some constructive comments or draw something in the Training Grounds room first, in order to increase your rank. |
Administration |
| How do I become a moderator? |
| That fact is, you don't. Asking, begging and pleading won't get you anywhere. We choose our moderators based on their personality, skill, dedication and a myriad of other little factors that will not be listed. It is nearly impossible to become a moderator. And people who were asked to be mods, rarely suspected they were candidates. |
| Why are most of the moderators female? |
| We have a disproportionate amount of female users of all ages at OekakiCentral.com, which leads to this situation. When selecting moderators, we simply have a far larger pool of female users to pick from. |
| Can I contact an admin via an instant messager, such as AIM? |
| As a general rule, the answer is NO. The moderators are busy people and have enough to do. More often then not, they want to relax and enjoy themselves and not discuss why such and such image has been deleted. Furthermore, they often like to chat with people who they already know and not have to worry about if the person who is IMing them is an idiot or a stalker. Please make sure to secure the permission of a moderator via OCmail or the likes before Instant Messaging them. If they tell you at anytime not to Instant Messaging them, you are to cease immediately any further attempts. |
| Do mods owe the chance to fix an image? |
| No. If a picture is not up to standards it's deleted without any warning, this is the rule. In some cases, if the flaws are very small and can be touched up in a few minutes, moderators may give the user the chance to fix up the image, but this is an exception, and made entirely at the moderator's discretion. Users are NOT permitted to ask moderators to be allowed to touch up their pictures, nor to ask the other users to give tips in order to bring the picture up to the standards of the room, once it is submitted and marked as "Finished". A picture MUST be up to standards BEFORE it is submitted and marked as "Finished". |
| Help requests |
| ----- PLEASE NOTE: moderators should be contacted via OCmail ONLY (check the 'mailbox' link on the top menu-bar). Their mail addresses (displayed on the main page of the site) are to be used ONLY if you cannot cannot login and send OCmails instead. ----- Be sure to be the most clear you can when asking for help. If it's an image-related question, always specify the room you're in, the applet you used and if it's animated or not, the picture's number if you know it, and such. If it's a question regarding a previous mail, always quote the original message before asking your question. If it's a rating question, be sure to provide links to the pictures you want to be rated, not links to the rooms' pages or your Profile. Moderators cannot remember all the pictures they've seen, so please give them enough information when asking for something. For issues in a particular room, contact a moderator (administrator) of the room using OCmail. The room's moderators are listed at the top of the room page, and also at the Oekaki Central main page. If you don't receive an answer within 48 hours, contact another moderator of the room, or if there is no other room moderator, contact a superadmin by using OCmail. The superadmins are listed at the Oekaki Central main page. If you don't receive an answer in another 48 hours, try another superadmin, or one of the management members (owners). Whenever you try contacting someone else because you didn't receive an answer, please mention who you've already attempted to reach. For issues or questions about Oekaki Central in general, first check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list. There is also the Issues Forum, where your question may have been asked already, or if not, you may post it. Even if you are registered at Oekaki Central, you will have to register separately at the Message Board, which includes the Issues Forum. |
| Do mods owe explanations for a deletion? |
| No. If you need more information about why a picture has been deleted, politely ask for it, quoting the original deletion mail you got. |
| Special Thanks to a few people |
| I wish to express some special thank yous to a few specific individuals: Theodore Chakkapark - Who created OekakiPoteto and who took the time to fix all the bugs that where found, when I asked him to fix them. Marcello Bastea-Forte - Who gave a lot of coding advice and some code which made OekakiCentral to be possible in it's current form. VeeVee - Who worked day and night to locate all the bugs and problems in the original installs of OP on Oekaki Poteto. Sylvia Boersma - Who fought tooth and claw to keep this place alive more than once when it was in danger of being closed. All the moderators who help keep this place alive. Michelle Rodger and Cindy Brock who's extensive donations saved OekakiCentral when a fatal hardware problem occured. |
OekakiCentral.com General Information |
| Why are people not talking to me in the chatroom? |
| There are many reasons this could happen. The first one is that maybe you are not getting involved in the ongoing conversation. People are not going to drop everything to talk to you, especially if they don't know you. Get yourself known by interacting with others and it will help a lot. Also, people may be busy with something. The moderators are often moderating, the owner Uriel is working on code for the site, and the regular users might even be drawing. We tend to look at the chat once in a while. Some tips: * Don't ask to ask a question. Just go ahead and ask it. * Be patient if you ask a question. We might be busy with something else, or in another conversation which needs to be finished first. * Don't repeat the same question many times in a row. That will only annoy people. * If you dont get an answer, don't get mad. We might not have noticed the question. This is especially true at night when it is very busy and the text flies by at the speed of the Internet. |
| Why are people not commenting on my images? |
| There are a lot of images on OekakiCentral. More than any single person could hope to comment on. Most people tend to comment on the images of friends and images of better known artists. The best thing to do, if you want comments, is to start giving out some comments yourself. This is naturally no guarantee, but it is a recommendation. |
| How do people do those nifty actions in the chatroom? |
| type: /me (action) and you will see how it works. |
| Will you assist us in creating our own oekaki board? |
| Unfortunately no, as we do not have the time or manpower to do so. Plus, you only need to follow the instructions if you want to do it yourself. |
| What does AFK mean and how do I do it? |
| You can mark yourself as AFK (Away from Keyboard) in the chat room when you need to step away for a while. It is optional, but it does let people know you will not be able to answer them rapidly. type: /afk (your reason here) |
| What does [ Archived ] mean? |
| Archived images are usually true works of art, being extremely pleasant to the eye. An archived image will not be overwritten when the image rotation comes. Please DO NOT ask for your image to be archived. Moderators will decide if it is worthy or not. |
| Why can't I see animations in 1 star rooms? [edited] |
| It was being abused by a lot of people who where using it to make home movies. This is a drawing board and not a movie board. It takes a lot of bandwidth when you have 2000 people playing the animation in a day. Edit: animations have been restored in the 1 star rooms, starting from August, 2004. Home movies are still not allowed in ALL the rooms (ClubHouse excluded). |
| What are all those buttons and what do they do? |
| There are several comprehensive tutorials available that cover functions of both PaintBBS and OekakiBBS, as well as tutorials for various drawing techniques. All OekakiCentral tutorials may be found here: http://www.oekakicentral.com/tutorials/ |
| What is the difference between Nudity and Erotic Images? |
| The line has becomed very blurred in modern times. Nudity is purely artistic and confers some erotic sensuality at best. There is rarely a sign of sexual pleasure, lust, desire or any other strong emotion. Think "The Birth of Venus" by Botticelli, "Sunday Picnic" by Manet and the "David" by Michelangelo. There may be exceptions at the moderators discretion. Erotic images are normally imply or depict sexual acts. They often convey lust, sexual pleasure or desire as emotions. These images are not meant to be seen by minors. They could be compared to Penthouse or Falcon. These definitions are what are going to be used and applied to OekakiCentral.com |
| What is the difference between Yaoi/Yuri and Shounen/Shoujo-ai? |
| The difference between Yaoi/Yuri and Shounen/Shoujo-ai is very clear. With Shounen/Shoujo-Ai, affection is reserved and hesitant, and is limited to tentative kisses, friendly hugging, and non-sexual embracing. It is at all times depicted in an innocent manner. Yaoi/yuri is defined as a more sexual aspect of same-sex affection. Clothing is not prevalent as in Shounen/Shoujo-Ai, and sexual acts are depicted. These acts includes, but is not limited to: tongue kissing, nudity and nude bodily contact, sexual acts, and suggestion of sexual acts. These definitions are what are going to be used and applied to OekakiCentral.com |
| Is it possible to move a picture from one room to another? |
| No, we're sorry. You must choose your room carefully, since once a picture is begun, it can't be moved to another room. Always check which room you're in, and the themes and skill levels before you start drawing! |
| How do I start drawing? |
| First, you need to raise your rank from zero (the default rank for a brand new account) in order to draw: when you first join the board, be sure to leave a couple of comments to gain some points. Furthermore, be aware the people who have a negative rank (starting from -1) can only draw in the 1star rooms. To draw: click on the 'draw' button that appears on the menu bar on the top of the page; you'll be redircted on a page which gives you the possibility to choose the applet you want to use (OekakiBBS normal/animated, PaintBBS normal/animated, ShiiPainter) and the dimension of the canvas and the applet's window. When everything is done, click on 'submit' and start drawing! :) Remember to check the tutorials if you need help with the applet's features and buttons! Remember that General users can draw max 10 images a day, after that the 'draw' button disappears from the menu bar. |
| My applet froze! Is my picture recoverable? |
| If the applet froze while you were sending the picture, look at your Recover Pics page (Admin > Recover Picture, at the top of the room page) to see if the image reached the database and is recoverable. As a general advice, always take screen captures of the image while drawing (you can do that while you're drawing, pressing the PRN SCR (print screen)/STAMP button near the F12 button and copy/pasting the image in a graphic program like Photoshop or Windows Paint) so you won't lose your work. Mods can upload images under *extraordinary circumstances* only. |
| I submitted my picture as a safety save, and now the layers are all unified! What can I do? |
| This is a problem with the non-animated applets: only animations keep the layers separated after a save. If you chose a non-animated applet, once you send the picture the program unifies the layers to the background. If the lineart is made with watercolors there's no way to separate it from the white background. This is because the pixels that make the lines are not all of the same color (the edges of the line are lighter then the rest), so the Mask and Remask tools won't work well. If the lineart is made with solids though, you can either mask the lines (right-click on the lineart's color then click on the Normal button until it says "Mask") and erase the white background, or Remask the background (right click on the background's color then click on the Normal button until it says Remask) and erase it that way. |
| What do I need to enter the paintchats? |
| Users need to have 100 rank points or an active membership of three months in order to enter the paintchats. Please note that, each time you enter the paintchat, it will cost you 2 rank points. People with 0 rank or less will not be able to participate. Check the paintchat rules here: http://www.oekakicentral.com/pchat.php |
| Nifty Too Usage - how to post a link and change the text's appearance. |
| Nifty-markup is a universal markup system for OekakiPoteto. It allows for all the basic formatting you could want in your messages and text (chat, OCmails and comments only; Nifty doesn't work in your Profile, you need to use plain html code there). * Linking/Urls [url:http://www.oekakicentral.com] Oekaki Central! [/url] will produce Oekaki Central! If you write the url as text (like http://www.oekakicentral.com) the system will turn it into a clickable link, but it's unadvisable to use this feature for LONG urls, as it can modify the layout of the page. * Basic Formatting [color:Colorcode]text[/color] >> Change a font's color to the specified colorcode. Example: [color:FF0000]text[/color] will produce text [b]text[/b] >> Bold text. [i]text[/i] >> Italic text. [u]text[/u] >> Underline text. [strike]text[/strike] >> While you're free to use these codes in your Profile, please do NOT abuse of this feature on the board: using bold and italics to strike a word is fine, a whole sentence written with multiple colors is obviously not. |
Donations |
| What does being a contributer mean? |
| Contribution means that you have donated something to Oekakicentral. Some people have donated code or webdesign, but the easiest and most common way to contribute is to donate money to OekakiCentral. |
| Why should I donate to OekakiCentral.com? |
| OekakiCentral is the biggest and one of the best English oekaki sites available. Most large, free oekaki sites don't last over a year before they are shut down, due to the cost and time involved in running such a large site. OekakiCentral offers many wonderful and unique features, such as: - 24 different rooms to chose from, divided by theme and skill level - 3 different themed PaintChats - the Ping Pong Table and Tennis Court, two collaboration rooms for different skill levels - the Coloring Book, a room where artists can submit lineart or colour someone else's - the Workshop, a room for receiving constructive criticism from moderators and helpers, enhanced by visual aides - the Dojo, a room for contests, with a built in automated contest manager - contest managers in the Farm and MouseTrap - an active chat room, appropriate for all ages - an active message board for discussion and announcements - 15 active moderators, who work to maintain quality and appropriate content through out the site, provide constructive criticism and provide assistance with any site issues - customizable index page, to display only the rooms and links you chose - tutorials created by OekakiCentral moderators and members These are just a few things that make OekakiCentral stand out over other oekaki sites. |
| What do I get if I donate? |
| In addition to the personal satisfaction of knowing you have helped keep Oekakicentral running, contributors receive some special extras that regular users do not have: - 50 picture per day image limit (regular users are limited to 10 per day) - [c] chat tag - personalized chat tag - access to the ClubHouse, a zero star private board for moderators and contributors only - access to the Coffee Table, a zero star private collaborations board for moderators and contributors only - immunity so that your account will never be automatically purged from the system, even if you do not log in for over 30 days Access to these special features is permanent and will not expire as long as oekakicentral.com is open. |
| How much do I need to donate to become a contributor? |
| Donations of any amount are welcome. $US 15-20 is average, but you may donate as much and as often as you like. |
| What will the money for OekakiCentral.com be used for? |
| Any money donated to Oekakicentral will be put towards maintaining the site, buying new equipment or buying computer books that will allow Jason to better run the site and make improvements. For more details, please check out the purchase page: http://www.oekakicentral.com/purchase.php |
| How do I send money to OekakiCentral.com? |
| A money order, cashable in Canada is the preferred option. Make the money order payable to Jason Terlecki. You can purchase a money order from most banks and postal outlets for a small fee. You do not have to be 18 to purchase a money order. Once you have purchased your money order, email Jason for a mailing address. Please make sure to include your OC user name and email address with your donation, so you will be credited for it and receive your contributor�s privileges. Please note we are considering alternate methods of payment at the moment to facilitate donations. |
| What do I do if my special C flag dissapeared? |
| When your flags are modified by an administrator or superadministrator, your contributor status will automatically disappear. Only an owner has the ability to modify flags without the automatic disappearance of a c flag, so you will have to OCmail Jason to get it restored. |
| Okay, I sent in my donation, where are my benefits? |
| Donations are processed manually. It is not an automatic system, so it may take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two after your donation arrives for your contributor status to be applied. Don't worry, as long as you included your OC user name it will be credited to you without a problem. |
| Images |
Legal Aspects |
| Who owns the images on OekakiCentral.com? |
| Both the artist and OekakiCentral.com co-own the images. The artist is permitted to do what they wish with an image, but any other party who wishes to use an image from this site must secure both the permission of OekakiCentral.com and the artist. All of these images are protected under various copyright laws. That means you are NOT allowed to take images for your own use if you did not draw the image, no matter how much you like them. By drawing on OekakiCentral.com, the artist grants royalty-free rights to OekakiCentral to use the image in any fashion OekakiCentral.com desires. We will resort to legal action to protect our rights and those of our users. |
| Can I draw fan-art of other people images? |
| You are permitted to draw fan-art of images as long as you credit the author / owner of the image. If complaints are received, we will be forced to remove the image in question. Please note we DO NOT encourage fanart if it is going to be an exact or attempted exact duplicata of the original. |
| What kind of artwork is not allowed on OekakiCentral.com? |
| You are not permitted to draw images that depict or suggest excessive violence, self-harm, excessive gore (subject to the moderators' discretion), defecation, of vulgar nature, explicit nudity (except where permitted), lolicon/shota (sexual acts involving underaged characters). This will also extend to anything promoting hate, intolerence and discrimination of all types. The right to Free Speech or the American Constitution does not apply here, contrary to popular belief. This is a privately owned board with its own rules and regulations. The server is not subject to American law to start with, as it is NOT located in the United States of America, nor is the owner American. Furthermore, even in a country like the United States, censorship does exist. I choose to apply it in a more or less lax manner. If you draw something or say anything that could get you suspended from school or fired from a job, then it is not appropriate and subject to the moderators' discretion. If what it depicts could get you in the same trouble in real life, again, it is subject to moderators' discretion. |
| Can I link to images on OekakiCentral.com? |
| No, for multiple reasons. First of all, it uses the bandwidth of OekakiCentral.com, leaving less for our users. If you link the image on a site with very high traffic, the impact on our server shows very quickly. Second, the images eventually get overwritten and that means eventually the image that would be displayed would be incorrect. If you need to display your pictures somewhere off OC, you need to upload them on another webspace first, and link them from there. If you don't have one of your own, you can try some free hosting services like www.photobucket.com, www.imageshack.us or http://www.flickr.com |
Limitations |
| How many images per day can I draw on OekakiCentral.com? |
| It depends on your status on OekakiCentral.com. The limitation is also in effect for collaboration type rooms. General Users are permitted 10 images per day. VIP Users are permitted 20 images per day. Users who donated to OC are permitted 50 images per day. Helpers and Mods have an undisclosed amount of images per day. |
| Why are images displayed as JPEGs? |
| We did so to save on image size and hence bandwidth. We are limited to 2mbps on outgoing bandwidth. The image quality is not that different and only noticeable if you use solids. You are NOT permitted to give out links to the PNG version of the image, as they take four times more bandwidth than their JPEG counterparts. |
| What is the minimum drawing time required? |
| Since we want to maintain a quality board, we require a minimum amount of time for fully completed drawings. If your drawing is NOT complete, please refer to the rules of the room. 1-star rooms have a minimum of 10 minutes per completed drawing. 2 and 3-star rooms have a recommended minimum of 60 minutes per completed drawing. Anything less is likely to disappear. Please understand that a 1-star room is NOT a license to spam. We want you to put effort into a drawing, whether you are a great accomplished artist, or a newbie to the site. |
| Can I submit my image unfinished? |
| We ask that you do your best to try and manage your time in a way that will allow you to finish your drawing before submitting. Do not start a drawing that you know will take you an hour if you only have ten minutes to spare. If you are unable to finish your drawing in one sitting, you can leave the applet open until you can continue drawing: you don�t need to be connected to the Internet to use the drawing applet. If you must submit an incomplete image, the lineart must be 100% finished and up to standards; if the drawing does not use lineart it must appear to be at least 50% complete. This applies to all the rooms, with the exception of the collaborations rooms and special rooms (like the Coloring Book). In the 1-star rooms the "retouch" feature is enabled only for pictures that display a working time of 30 minutes or more. Images MUST NOT be marked as Finished until they're 100% done. You must mark your image as finished within the following amount of time after the initial post before the image gets automatically deleted: 1 star room: 24 hours (1 day) 2 star room: 48 hours (2 days) 3 star room: 96 hours (4 days) Rooms that are collaboration-oriented get an extra 24 hours by default (this means that you have 72 hours (48 + 24) to finish your collaboration in a 2stars room, and 120 hours (96 + 24) in a 3stars room.) Images that do not meet these requirements will be deleted without warning. Images not completed within the time limit will be deleted at the discretion of the moderators. Due to some past misunderstandings, note that the "final product" is what will be taken into consideration in judging a picture: the image as it appears in the room, nothing else. Animations and hidden layers are NOT going to be taken into consideration. If the picture shown in the room does not meet the standards, it will be deleted without warning. |
| What are the smallest and largest dimension of the canvas I can choose? |
| It depends on the skill level of the room. 1star: minimum 100x100 pixels -- maximum 450x450 pixels 2stars: minimum 100x100 pixels -- maximum 1200x1024 pixels (16 Megs of animation) 3stars: minimum 100x100 pixels -- maximum 1600x1200 pixels (25 Megs of animation). All the images smaller than 100x100 pixels will be removed, regardless of the quality. |
| How long will my image stay up? |
| In order to remain within the space limits of our server, each room will only contain a certain maximum number of pictures. The maximum for most rooms at OekakiCentral is 1000. For the Coloring Book, it is 10,000. As pictures are posted to a room, they receive higher numbers. When the maximum number for the room is reached, the numbers start over again at one. As numbers are recycled, the new picture to be given a number will overwrite the picture which had the number before, and the older picture is deleted from the OekakiCentral server. If you look at other Oekaki sites, you will see that many use a similar scheme to save space. The images cycle more quickly in some rooms than others. It depends on how quickly new images are posted. For example, the Training Grounds recieves many images in a day, and turnover happens maybe every ten days. In the Mirror Room, on the other hand, days may go by without a new posting, and so it takes months to reach turnover. Archiving of a picture protects it from image recycling. So when the number of an archived picture comes up again, the number will be skipped, and a newly posted picture will recieve a different number. |
| Are copies of other artists' drawings or paintings acceptable? |
| This topic deals with copies of existing paintings or drawings. Copies from photos are not discussed at this point. The copying of other artists' drawings or paintings is a time-honored, effective method of learning and practice. No one is arguing that you shouldn't do it. But this activity does not produce works that are truly yours--your concept, your composition, your vision or even your approach to picture-making. Yet these are exactly the things we want to see from the artists here at OekakiCentral. We're interested in your images. This is why there are strict limitations on the submission of copies of other artists' paintings or drawings. In the Workshop, copies of other artists' paintings or drawings are not allowed. That room is for receiving help on improving your own work. For the reasons stated above, we don't feel that a copied drawing is a suitable vehicle for such help. The 1-star rooms welcome practice work. This form of practice is completely acceptable there. In the 2-star rooms, first, the original work must meet at least the 2-star standards for OekakiCentral. Then the submitted copy is required to be almost identical to the original. In the 3-star rooms, the original work must meet at least the 3-star standards for OekakiCentral and then the copy must be identical to the original. In all cases of posting copies, provide the name of the original artist and, if possible, the name of the work being copied. If an animation frame is the original, where an artist's name may not be obivous, name the show the frame was taken from. If, instead of a copy, you are creating an original interpretation of another artist's work, then only the normal room rules and standards apply. It's still best to cite the artist whose work you're interpreting. To qualify as an "interpretation", there must be a clear infusion of your own approach, technique or vision. |
Star Levels |
| What are "star levels" at OekakiCentral.com? |
| "Star levels" are a combined qualification of skill and complexity of pictures. We use star levels to set the minimum requirements for pictures in the various rooms. "Skill" is a reflection of the artist's ability and knowledge of drawing, as exhibited in a picture. It includes such factors as correctness of anatomy, perspective, light and shadow, composition and handling of the oekaki applets. "Complexity" is a reflection of the level of overall detail in a picture, and often of the time required to produce it (i.e. it just takes longer to put in a lot of detail). Please see below for the specific requirements of the various star levels. Please don't confuse skill with complexity, or vice-versa. A skilled artist may produce, say, a picture of a single figure that is well and cleanly drawn, but finished in flat color and no background. This will show good skill but not high complexity. Conversely, a beginning artist might take a lot of time and care with a picture and fill it with color and detail. The skill level likely is not high, but the complexity level is. To meet the star level for a room, both the minimum skill and complexity requirements must be met. |
| Why do you define different star levels at OekakiCentral.com? |
| This is one of the factors we have been most criticized about on OekakiCentral.com. We try to maintain a quality drawing board where we expect people to spend time and work hard on their images. It is important to note that users who draw in 1-star rooms are as important to us as users who draw in 3-star rooms. We have lower star-level rooms to allow users to improve themselves, to develop their skills and to experiment with new techniques. Those rooms are also for users who do not wish to commit as much time to a drawing as they would in a higher-level room. Many artists do not enjoy having their image displaced to another page by another artist who only spent 1/10th of the time on their own artwork. By having different star levels, you can have rooms that are more balanced. Users whose images are deleted should understand that it is NOT personal when it happens. While it is unpleasant to have images deleted, artists should be aware when their artwork is not on par with the requirements of the room they wish to draw in. It does not take much time to request a Star Rating (by clicking on the link provided in the menu bar) to ask one of the moderators to take a moment to evaluate artwork and provide some advice. This can save artists a lot of grief. Not everyone is talented or disciplined enough to draw in the 3-star rooms. It takes a lot of work to be able to draw in those rooms, more than most people are willing to put in. |
| What are the minimum requirements at each star level? |
| 1-star -- There really aren't explicit skill or complexity requirements for 1-star work. It doesn't matter that the basics of drawing are still being worked on, or that the artist doesn't take time to produce a highly detailed picture. What is expected here is that you keep practicing and learning, and have fun drawing. 2-stars -- Skill requirements here mean that you have a good command of all the basic techniques: anatomy, perspective, light and shadow, use of the oekaki applets. There are no blatant technical mistakes that appear to the eye right away, though some might be present. Stylization is acceptable, but not in an attempt to excuse mistakes or extreme distortions. Complexity requirements include clean presentation, a certain amount of detail, and a background consistent in care and effort with the subject. A background is not required to be representational. Regarding sketchiness, it's possible to produce 2-stars work in a sketchy manner, but it is very difficult. Most of the time, when compared to the 2-stars requirements, a sketchy picture comes off as messy and not "clean". 3-stars -- Skill requirements here mean that all of the basics of 2-stars level have been mastered, and more. A near-professional degree of expertise must be exhibited. Complexity requirements include a high level of detail throughout the picture, and a fully realized background. Please note that 3-stars work requires both high skill and high complexity. If you are envisioning a picture that is inherently simple, it probably won't be appropriate for a 3-stars room, regardless of your skill level. |
| Who determines the star level of the rooms? |
| The moderators determine it. We gather on occasion and, based on current works exhibited at the site, adjust the star level, or the requirements for the star level, from time to time. In order to be able to judge artwork, it is not just a question of drawing ability. It is a question of understanding the flaws of an image and what would be needed to make it better. The moderators all possess such understanding. |
| How can I get better at drawing? |
| You can improve by spending MANY hours drawing, using both oekaki and other media. You won't improve after 10 or 15 images. You need to draw several dozens before a noticable change can be seen. We recommend that you practice both on oekaki and on paper to improve. There are many free tutorials available on the Internet, which attempt to teach you how to improve. You can also buy books if you have the means to do so, and don't forget the public library if you have access to such. The moderators are not supposed to be art teachers and it is not our duty to talk up your artwork. We can provide some quick guidelines to inform you what is wrong with an image, but the user must request those guidelines and then must take the time to improve and perfect their work. |
| Where can I find examples of the proper star levels? |
| The following are shining examples of the appropriate star levels. These do not represent the minimum requirements for an image to qualify for a particular star level, but show more the higher-end requirements. 1-star, Beginner: http://www.oekakicentral.com/beginner/ 2-star, Intermediate: http://www.oekakicentral.com/intermediate/ 3-star, Advanced: http://www.oekakicentral.com/advanced/ |
Themes and Definitions |
| What are Furries? |
| A "Furry" is an anthropomorphic animal. The dictionary defines anthropomorphic as "the attributing of human shape or characteristics to gods, objects, animals, etc." So, a Furry is a character who is an animal, but has clear human characteristics. These characters are also called "Anthropomorphics", "Anthros" and "Funny Animals". Furries have fully animal hide: fur, feathers, scales, etc. If the character has human skin, even if not normal human-colored, it's almost always not a furry. Furries may have human-style hair in addition to the animal hide. Furries may have fully or partial human body anatomy. A common example is a human-shaped torso and arms combined with an animal's tail and (rear) legs. There must be a significant component of human anatomy to qualify as a Furry. A Furry will comfortably use the two-legged human stance, even with animal-style hind legs. Don't confuse this with how many animals can stand up, briefly, on their hind legs. The form of the face and head is key in identifying Furry characters. The head/face must be fully, or at least mostly, animal. A character with a human head and just horns attached, or just a pair of animal ears, is not considered to be a Furry. For these types of characters, see the sections on Cat Girls and Hybrids. A Furry may wear human-style clothing. |
| What are Cat Girls? |
| This type of character is mostly human, with some superficial animal additions. The classic Cat Girl herself is a human female with (usually) cat ears and a cat tail. You may see similar character types where other animals are used, and the characters are of either gender. So Bunny Boys, Lizard Ladies, Goat Guys and many other varieties are possible. |
| What are Hybrids? |
| Many of these character types come to us from mythology and legend. They generally are combinations of human heads and partial bodies with animal bodies. Well-known examples include mermaids (human from waist up, with a fish tail), centaurs (human head, torso and arms atop a horse body) and nagas (similar to the mermaid, but with a snake lower body). |
| OekakiCentral.com Room Specific Information |
The Atrium |
| General Info |
| Rating: 2 star Theme: General Purpose Room Special Notice: No Anime Influence Permitted. |
The Backyard |
| General Info |
| Rating: 2 stars Theme: A room for Furries |
| What kind of ANTHRO characters can be drawn in the room? |
| This room is for Furries only. It is not for Hybrids or Cat Girl types. In other words, if it's a human being with just a pair of cat ears and a tail attached, it's NOT okay for the room. |
The Bedroom |
| General Info |
| Rating: 2 stars Theme: Adult Room Special Feature: Collaboration Enabled Special Notice: Only available to users above the age of 18. |
| What is permitted in the Bedroom? |
| The bedroom is an adult oriented sexual theme room. We permit a lot in the room, as long as it does not promote violence, blood/gore and lolicon/shota (underaged characters involved in sexual acts). Yaoi/Yuri, Masturbation, Fetishm, Exhibitionism, BDSM (as long as it is not too extreme). Human, or humanoid characters MUST be present and displayed. If you are going to draw characters that are not nude, you must make it very sensual and erotic else you should consider drawing it in another room. |
| What's the time limit for COLLABORATIONS held in this room? |
| You have 72 hours (3 days) hours to complete your collab. ONLY in this case, the 'safety saves' rules don't work in this room: this means you can submit your collab pic for the first time even if the lineart it's not 100% complete or the coloring is not 50% done; the picture MUST be complete in ALL its parts before to be marked as Finished, anyway. Unfinished pictures marked as Finished WILL be removed from the board, no exceptions. |
The Club House |
| General Info |
| Rating: -- Theme: General Purpose Room Special Notice: only available to moderators and contributors |
| Why is the Club House restricted? |
| This is a room for people to trully relax and be silly. The people who contributed to OekakiCentral are also often among it's most passionate users. We made a room for them, so they can draw in peace and quiet. It is one of the advtanges of contributing. There will be more advantages to come soon. |
The Coloring Book |
| General Info |
| Rating: 2 stars for coloring, 3 stars for lineart. Theme: General Coloring Book. Special Feature: Coloring Book Enabled. |
| What are the rules for safety saves in this room? |
| You can submit your picture (lineart or coloring) if it looks at least 50% done. Please do NOT mark your image as "finished" until it's completely done, or it will be immediately removed. |
| I tried to color a lineart, but lines are all screwed up! What can I do? |
| If you retouch or color a picture and another image shows up on top of it, please be aware that this is a known glitch. At this time, we are not sure what causes it or how to prevent it, although it might be related to watching the animations. Please do not send a glitched pic unless you are planning to manually clean the lines and finish it: they will be deleted and you will lose points. If you sent it by mistake, just go and delete it by yourself - this way you won't lose rank points. |
| Why my lineart has not been approved yet? How long does it take? |
| All the linearts have to be judged and approved manually: this could take a little while, since mods are not online all the day long. Do not send OCmalis to the moderators asking to approve or reject your lineart, this will be done as soon as possible. Please be patient! For the same reason, please don't complain if your lineart gets deleted after some time: having a picture to stay in a room for - let's say - a week, doesn't necessarily mean it's up to standards. |
| My lineart has been deleted! Why mods didn't let me retouch it/give me tips to improve? |
| A picture must be up to standards before to be submitted and marked as "finished". Also, be aware that clean lines, good anatomy and perspective are not enough to reach the 3 stars standards. Composition and level of details are VERY important as well. A lineart can be very clean but if it lacks of details, and the composition is poor (eg: a head in the middle of the canvas, a little character surrounded by a huge negative space) the pic can't be considered 3 stars. Linearts are judged for their quality only. A huge, empty canvas could become a very cool 3 stars background, but this is useless in order to judge a lineart. It is not our responsibility to walk you through the process to bring a lineart up to the 3 stars level. If you can't draw 3 stars lineart, then please consider doing 2 stars collabs until your skills have improved. In some cases, if the flaws are very little and can be fixed quickly, mods give users the chance to retouch things instead of deleting the picture, but this is not a rule neither something you can request. |
| How can I color a lineart? |
| You can select the images via the thumbnail feature: click on "view" on the top menu bar, then choose "shared images (thumbnails)" and click on the lineart you want to color. There is also a "Click Here to See available line art to Color" link, just above the gray rules box. Or use the [ color ] link that appears near the title of the accepted lineart on the Coloring Book's pages. A positive rank is required to use this feature. A rank of 0 is not a positive rank, so if you're new, be sure to leave some constructive comments or draw something in the Training Grounds room first, in order to increase your rank. |
The Dojo |
| General Info |
| Rating: 2 stars Theme: General Contest Room Special Feature: Contest-Enabled This room is for contests of most any subject, and for images of 2-star quality and up. All 2-star rules apply to this room. No Neopets/Virtual Pets contests are allowed here, please use the Farm instead. Since these are contests, there must be prizes offered, and they must be specified in the contest notice. Because the contest notice doesn't allow a lot of text, you may use a contest advertisement picture to give details of the offered prizes. < |