Renderosity - 3D Models, 3D Content, 3D Software, and 3D Art

JHoagland's Blog

[Homepage]

First | Previous | Next | Last

Posts 1 - 5 out of 6

2012

May

7:42 pm

Advice for Online Vendors II...
1 comment(s)

I've just finished latest blog, explaining some ideas to new merchants that they may not have realized...

I’ve seen a number of articles in graphic artist magazines encouraging artists to sell their models. One of their main points is that, if you’re already making models for your own artwork, why not sell the models to other people? I’ve seen PDF tutorial e-books try to make the point that creating a best-selling product is almost as easy as just finding a niche and filling it. And I’ve also seen discussions in online forums where top-selling merchants talk about how easy it is to sell models and make hundreds (or thousands) of dollars every month. Well, if they’re doing it, so you can you!

I don’t mean to scare anyone away from selling their digital products, but it seems that there’s still a lot missing from these discussions and e-books. I’ve been selling products for about 10 years now, so I thought it was past time to add my thoughts to this idea.
What exactly does it take to make a best-selling product and make thousands of dollars in sales every month?

Read more at WordPress...

2010

Sep

12:58 pm

My Views on File-Sharing
2 comment(s)

One of the biggest issues that merchants will face when selling and marketing digital items is file-sharing. There are a large number of people who think nothing of redistributing other people's products, creations, and content without permission. It should almost go without saying that sharing files without the original creator's permission is wrong and I'm not condoning it at all. My latest blog was created to offer some alternatives and strategies on how to deal with the issue of file-sharing.

One thing that needs to be cleared up is that file-sharing is not the same thing as theft. File-sharing is "illegal distribution" or "copyright infringement" but it's not "stealing"...

Read more at Wordpress...

2010

Jan

1:44 pm

Advice for Online Vendors: Sample Customer Questions
0 comment(s)

So you think you’ve created a great product and you think you’re ready to become an online merchant? Hold your horses. Having a great product is just one factor of selling things online. You’ll have to deal with… customers! That’s right- real, honest-to-goodness people!

I’ve been selling digital products since 2001 and I’ve been running the Vanishing Point website since it started in 2004, so I figured it was time to share some of my experiences. Over the years, I’ve been asked numerous questions, ranging from the intelligent and challenging, to the downright “out there” (a more polite way of saying “idiotic”).

I've created a list of questions I’ve received over the years, with my un-sent sarcastic answer. I’ve also included a real answer in case some people don’t get the sarcastic one. In many cases, I’ve tried to retain the original grammar and spelling errors in the e-mail.

Read more at Wordpress...

2008

Sep

1:23 pm

Designing Artwork for Online Galleries: Image Size and Your Audience
0 comment(s)

As you design your image, you should always consider where your image will be viewed. For example, if you are planning on uploading your image to an online gallery (which is viewable by a web browser), you need to think about the screen size of your audience. If you make your image too large, they'll only see a section of it. Do you really want audiences seeing portions of your image at a time… or would you rather they see your entire image?

If your viewer can't see your entire image, how effective will your composition be? You may have designed your image to set a specific mood by the placement of the objects within it, but if a viewer can't see half of the image, how will they know?

Continue reading at Wordpress

2008

Jul

5:35 pm

Why do elitists look down on the use of Poser?
1 comment(s)

As an introduction, Poser is a “3D Character and Scene Design” graphics software program created by Ghost Effects, then sold to and upgraded by MetaCreations, then sold to and upgraded by e-frontier, and then sold to and upgraded by Smith Micro.

Poser’s low price (normally in the $250 range) and included content (models, clothing, poses, etc) allow almost anyone to quickly make digital images immediately after purchasing and installing the software. The learning curve for Poser is a lot less steep than that of more complex graphics programs.

However, many people seem to think that Poser is “unprofessional” because of its low price, its low learning curve, and the “amateur-ness” of many images made by beginners. These people tend to look down on the use of Poser simply because they don’t use it, don’t understand it, or more-often-than-not, because they just don’t like it. For this discussion, I’ll be calling these “professionals” by the more-correct term of “elitists”, which will mean “people who look down on something for their own personal reasons”.

Continue reading at Wordpress

First | Previous | Next | Last