3dstudio VS Turbosquid round 1

[geo_n]

http://www.the3dstudio.com/blog.aspx?id=2
we buy models from both and sad to hear lots of rumors of unfair business practice and tactics. what is going on over there?

[cresshead]

what are you linking to ..what's the story..?

far too vauge ole chap...try typing something in here too!:D

[GandB]

I think he meant this one:

http://www.the3dstudio.com/blog_detail.aspx?id=873

Turbosquid is going to drop the regular rates to 40% for the Artist and 60% if you sign exclusive with them. Apparently they have some new tools that they feel justifies this robbery. ;)

-Keith

[geo_n]

Sorry mate. I didn't post the correct link. :D
Here's the hoopla at Turbosquid forum.:ohmy:
The artists are asking for support whatever kind so they just want the news to be out there. So an artist who sells a model for 100 will get 40 then after taxes that Turbosquid automatically charges artists which is 10-30% I think the profit for the artist is less than 30 dollars for a model.

[cresshead]

cut n pasted f rom one of the pdf's

We do have an announcement we will make shortly regarding changes in our site and business. In the interim, we
are talking trying to discuss it with as many people as we can one to one, and we will make a general
announcement shortly. My apologies if we don't reach you personally before then.
We've done a lot of research, and the vast majority of sellers will earn more money through these changes. That's
all I can say for now, and need to close the thread for these discussions until we make the announcement and can
reply with all the real details.
If you would like to discuss it confidentially, please write pteall@turbosquid.com. I'm out of the country or I'd offer to
do so myself.
Matt
--
Matt Wisdom
CEO
TurboSquid


and..

Hi everyone,
First off, I want to assure everyone that we are reading the forums. Matt posted yesterday that anyone who was
interested in more details could contact me directly, and that offer still stands - pteall@turbosquid.com is my e-mail.
As you can probably guess, it was not our intention to have the program announced as it was. We've been talking
to vendors and researching exclusive deals for over the last year. As we finalized our plans, we've been discussing
this with many vendors over the last few weeks and will be continuing to do that for the next few weeks. The official
program announcement will come August 13th, and we still had a big list of early contacts to make. Someone
violated the terms of our NDA, hence, the early announcement. We will have a more detailed update coming
before Siggraph, but I wanted to clear up a few things before then.
* We are planning on announcing a vendor exclusivity program on August 13th - no royalty rate changes have yet
occurred, and nothing will change until September 1st
* Royalty rates are not the only element of the program. We will be offering a variety of other improvements
including new sales data, an affiliate program and an entirely new seller interface. All sellers will have access to
some of these new updates on August 13th.
I understand this is going to upset some people, but I only ask that you wait for the full details before passing
judgment. A lot of the early opinion has been based on observations from a competing site who, quite frankly,
doesn't have all the facts straight and has a vested interest in trying to prevent people from making a rational
decision.
This is not the only big announcement that we've got planned for the next few weeks - we've got some other things
up our sleeve that we think are only going to improve positions as the world's number one 3D marketplace. The
search interface is one, and we're already getting great customer feedback on that. There is some potentially even
bigger news, and that should be coming soon...
Again, I apologize that you heard about this in the way that you did. I'm going to paste this into the relevant threads,
sorry if you see it more than once.
Paul Teall - Director of Marketing...


++end of cut and paste...++

intersting move f rom turbosquid..i'll wait till it all shakes out and then decide on using turbosquid for new models or/and using 3dstusio's alternate site.


so being signed up for 'exclusive' means you gain 10% now is that for the 'vendor' or the 'model'?
if it's for the model..then okay..i'll give that a try maybe..if it's for the vendor..then no way buddy!

also losing 10% [the 40% non exclusive option] but spreading your assests around many similar sites may bring in more money than being 'exclusive'.

the thing is do not like about turbosquid of recent is they pulled all info from your assests for 'contact' etc as in the past i picked up freelancing from clients searching turbosquid...with no contact details on any assets it ould take a punt/guess on my vendor name being a website for them to contact me now...

turbosquid IS the biggest 3d model site but maybe that could change if 3dstudio got a shed load of new assests and some marketing boost from this move by turbosquid?

[Red_Oddity]

Too bad the guy from 3dstudio sounds too much like a whining kid who is full of him self.

Those posts where he's ranting about TurboSquid 'stealing' his ideas (boohoo, sniff sniff) don't help in making the site look more professional, that's how the business world works (appearantly)

Anyway, we buy from both shops, can't complain about the service of any of 'm.

[cresshead]

yeah the blog rant using the term 'scammer' does himself no favors in my opinion, obviously he didn't want to write t/squid due to legal issues but he could have handled it much better from a business point of view.

[Andyjaggy]

well we'll see how this pans out. If I can earn 60% instead fo 50% on my models then I'll do it. Mostly just because I have always been too lazy to put them on any other site anyway, so I might as well sign an exclusive deal.

I'm still mad about them yanking my Ferrari model though.

[Titus]

Yay! this means I'll earn $5 more each month!

[geo_n]

The models there are actully dirt cheap already. The good ones anyway. A car model for example that would take atleast 20-30 hours would cost 600-1000US if it was outsourced. You can buy it there for 80-200US. :D

[geo_n]

http://www.turbosquid.com/SquidGuild

http://blog.turbosquid.com/2009/08/03/turbosquid-squidguild/

[GandB]

It sounds like they are going to start taking down media that is not "worthy". Great way to treat artists who are new and just starting out....

[Andyjaggy]

I get the feeling there is ALOT of tension between TS and 3D Studio. What did they call them, a copycat. :)

[cresshead]

he should spend his time making 3dstudio's site better and a more advanced search and sub sections of model types than moaning about the competition...

[Andyjaggy]

Yep. The TS site is more professional looking, people care about that, even if the models are the same, they feel better buying from a more professional looking site.

[beverins]

I actually find the quality at DAZ3d to be better and cheaper than either 3DStudio or Turbosquid. But that's just me.

[Andyjaggy]

Actually you have the possibility to earn 80% on your sales. Say your have a link on your website to your models on TS, and someone buys your model after clicking on the link, you get 80%.

This is great since I have always thought about selling models on my website but never knew how to work the logistics. I'll be glad to give TS 20% for taking care of everything.

[GandB]

That's only if you're making the $10,000 necessary to qualify for the full 60%, Andy. Otherwise; you'll be making up to 10% less.

[IMI]

I actually find the quality at DAZ3d to be better and cheaper than either 3DStudio or Turbosquid. But that's just me.

Yeah, DAZ does have some rather high quality stuff - props, textures, even figures, of course.
My only real problem with DAZ is that their hair models are optimized for Poser and Daz Studio, and the transparency maps don't work real well with LW most of the time.

But hey, you can buy a whole room's worth of good quality furnishings at DAZ if you need it in a hurry, for less than the price of lunch. Turbosquid might want 80 bucks just for the chair. ;)

[The3dStudio.com]

Sorry if anything I wrote in my original blog posts came of as "crying" of any sort. That's actually not the case.

They have copied us for years, they've committed fraud on our site by placing a fake order to reverse engineer our systems (to copy them I assume)...violating our terms in the process. I'm not crying about it, I'm flattered...shows who is leading and who is following the way I see it.

The problem now is that they've gone too far and instead of taking issue with us they are note biting the hand that feeds them by treating their sellers like crap. They are blackmailing their sellers just so they can gain full market control and are doing it at a time where the economy sucks and they know that their sellers need money bad and can't afford to leave them or take a hit in royalties.

It's just a matter of ethics, or lack of in their case. It's all just my opinion I guess, but seems like the only losers in all of this are the sellers....the very people who have created the industry. I don't like seeing the little guys get slapped around and that's why I spoke up in the first place.

Sorry if that came off as me being a cry baby...I'm not too worried about how I come off though, I just want to bring awareness for the greater good of the artists.

Thanks,
Matt Anderson
www.The3dStudio.com

[GandB]

Now TS is kicking people out (some are "diamond sellers") for disagreeing with their new "policy". This is making my decision much easier...

-Keith

[Red_Oddity]

Sorry if anything I wrote in my original blog posts came of as "crying" of any sort. That's actually not the case.

...

Sorry if that came off as me being a cry baby...I'm not too worried about how I come off though, I just want to bring awareness for the greater good of the artists.

Thanks,
Matt Anderson
www.The3dStudio.com

That would have been my comment, i can't speak for the others here, but that is the first impression i get from that post.
But, in regard to the reason, i stand behind you completely, most here know i whine, moan and b*tch about the monopolistic tendencies of behemoths like Adobe and Autodesk on more than one occasion (not that it can be compared to your case, as i don't write any commercial software, but it does help in venting those frustrations.)

And as i said, for me as a customer the service has been outstanding from both your company and TS.

As for the new TS policies, i believe someone made some calculations somewhere (cgtalk maybe) and figured out that in the end the only one who really benefits from this is TS themselves.

Anyhoo, just don't fret to much about it, judging by most folks in here you have their support, and i guess that is what is important in the end.

[The3dStudio.com]

Thanks for saying that, your support is very much appreciated!

[OnlineRender]

Thanks for saying that, your support is very much appreciated!

lol " for somereason i see a cat caught in the headlights of a render "

Ding Ding round over !

[mkiii]

Good grief. I come here to get away from it all over at T.S. and what do I find. Same ole faces.

Anyhoo, As a "Diamond", I reserve the right to digress slightly. GandB (Hi GandB), mentioned them taking down "unworthy" content, yet strangely, this is still up there:-

http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/Index.cfm?keyword=chon-saga

Even though I told them that stuff belongs to William Vaughan / Newtek.

Shame they don't remove that stuff so fast, but it seems that any income is OK even if it is stolen.

[biliousfrog]

What I thought would be a nice way of charging for and hosting digital content is to just hire server space. Say 500mb per month costs $50 and for that you can upload 500mb worth of content, charge whatever you like and you get the use of the vendor's site. It would allow the seller to keep prices lower because they're not losing a vast amount of commission which would encourage buyers...it also means that the site owner has regular income however many models are sold.

A local gallery works on the same principle. The artists can sell their work for around 50% less because they're not adding commission, they just rent wall space. The gallery has more visitors, sells more art as well as coffee's, crafts etc., the artists make more money and the buyers can buy more...it's a win-win situation. Everyone makes the same/more money but on a more regular basis.

[cresshead]

Good grief. I come here to get away from it all over at T.S. and what do I find. Same ole faces.

Anyhoo, As a "Diamond", I reserve the right to digress slightly. GandB (Hi GandB), mentioned them taking down "unworthy" content, yet strangely, this is still up there:-

http://www.turbosquid.com/Search/Index.cfm?keyword=chon-saga

Even though I told them that stuff belongs to William Vaughan / Newtek.

Shame they don't remove that stuff so fast, but it seems that any income is OK even if it is stolen.

they do remove stolen assests...it does take time to confirm, this sort of thing does happen often as not all 3d artist seem to be honest and turbosquid asset list must run into millions by now.

any monies due are returned where possible and the stolen vendor gets banned

[akademus]

Are there any limitations to selling models on both of these sites?

I have heaps of stuff laying around from previous projects (I always do my own models) that I intend to put on sale.

[GandB]

No limits that I'm aware of; just be sure to check out the royalty rates: Turbosquid will be at 40% (to you) come September 1st; and The 3D Studio will remain at 60% (to you).

As far as the stolen Ninja (other stuff is most likely stolen as well) goes; that would be the reason why he/she is only selling decent characters for a pittance. Trying to get as much money as possible before they're found out.

[geo_n]

Are there any limitations to selling models on both of these sites?

I have heaps of stuff laying around from previous projects (I always do my own models) that I intend to put on sale.

I would try to upload at turbosquid first and see how much the models you have are in demand. If they sell after a month or a few months then its probably good to upload somewhere too like 3dstudio.
3d02 is very very good for car modellers. I earned a lot from that site and the quality is very good since they check models before going live.

[mkiii]

Cresshead: They were told two months ago. How long should it take? In comparison, it took them a few hours to remove the 3 artists that were annoying them.

You seem to have a very rosy view of their system, or did I miss an ironic smiley somewhere in there?

They more often than not, ignore dubious models, do not ban vendors unless there are numerous complaints. Thieves often have just the stolen models that have been complained about removed, and are allowed to continue trading. When TS does ban people, they often return under a different name.

In this particular case, it is not the first time these models have appeared, and just 2 days ago, a prospective buyer in a private sale of mine was very dubious about buying models I had on TS because "They have an awful lot of stuff that has been ripped off". That's not a good reputation to have and makes me wonder how many others don't buy because of it, or how many sales they might have if they cleaned up the more obvious dross.

[cresshead]

well i can only go on my own experience, they delt with it pretty swiftly, that was a year or 2 back.
people do seem to want to have a black/white view on companies but it doesn't work like that in reality...
you may have had a idiot dealing with your claim and i had a good support worker dealing with my claim...
so is the company crap or brilliant?

bottom line they employ people and THEY have good/not so good employees who you may catch on a good/bad day.

i've not used turbosquid for a couple of years so they may have slid or their 'percetion' to people may have slipped.

[cresshead]

anyone using these guys?

http://www.3dexport.com/?gclid=CK34os6yvJwCFYIA4wodmWr1RA

[GandB]

Never heard of them before; but some of the names look familiar. Not really liking the site design though.

-Keith