8 Apr 2012
Insight
Certainly there are some artists who have created 3D models, but still think whether they should bother to place them on the market at all. They may think it could be time consuming, it could be loss-making business or maybe just too much of the hassle. Whatever it could be, lets leave all these arguments aside, as actually there are great bunch of reasons why its worth giving a shot, too. Lets explore them.
1. Assets that constantly earn you money. 3D models are digital goods, and the beauty of selling digital goods is that they can be sold more than once to different buyers. By placing them on online market you create your own portfolio that will work for you 24/7 and generate constant revenue for you. Just make sure you do the research and see what sells best in the current 3D stock market, put efforts in making your models decent quality and set an attractive price for both, you as a seller and a buyer.
2. Things are getting outdated. In todays fast moving world, things are changing so rapidly without us even realising. What was innovation yesterday, today is just an old, unexciting and common part of our being. These patterns arent any different in the computer graphics too. Actually, it may be one of the fastest changing markets on the entire globe. So often we hear that new softwares or updates have been launched allowing to create 3D faster and easier. It takes only couple of years for your models value to decrease and you end up with an old, out-of-date 3D asset. Luckily, the volume on hard drives are constantly getting cheaper, so you can indulge yourself in storing them for "someday's" later use. From time to time you visit your "digital museum" to have an eyeful of your creations and remember how much time and struggle you put into them. On the other hand, you can sell them online while they are still valuable and get some extra cash. Let your masterpieces work and earn you money.
3. Selling 3D online vs Freelancing. When you freelancing, your revenue is always equal to your efforts. Every time you get a new project, you must start it from the scratch and work till it is finished. The advantage of selling 3D models is that it is additive. Every time you make a new model, your portfolio will grow in size and earn you more income. Besides your growing assets, there is no more pressure and stress to meet the deadlines, at last you are your own time manager.
For a pretty long time, due to high commission rates, the royalties from selling 3D models were quite low compared to the freelancing. On CGTrader artists are able to earn two or three times more than on competing shops like Turbosquid. This makes selling 3D a lot more compelling than working as freelancer.
4. Know-how sells well. Many artists are afraid that once they start selling their models, their secrets and methods will be known to others and the uniqueness that the artist holds will be lost. Better look on the bright side - knowledge sells like a hot pie today. No doubts here, many buyers are looking for 3D models for these know-hows. If you offer a 3D model with a scene that someone can learn from, you will sell it for even higher price. Once again, let your experience and know-hows work for you, as within short period of time it may lose its value and wont be useful to anyone anymore.
5. 3D Printing. Finally, 3D design is currently on the revolutionary road. There are enough reasons to believe that the future of 3D is... Printing. This industry is developing and expanding fast. Already we can print motoring parts, footwear, childrens toys, decoration, accessories, food and even surgery to print artificial bones. There are many artists and engineers who already sell their 3d models specialized for this market. But this is just a start. As the prices of 3D printing continue to fall, it will eventually become mainstream product. Then 3D models will be high demand consumer goods. Quicker you get into this market, the more experience you will have with this technology and the better positions you will hold in the future.
To sum up, its just worth mentioning again, that there is hardly anything you could possibly lose by trying to place your 3D models on the market, but you can gain a lot. One thing has not changed, as it was 100 years ago, same thing is now - creativity do sell.
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