Hi guys, long time no see! :)

I've been away for a while working on other projects; during this time I've really sharpened my modelling skills and amassed quite a collection of stuff I'd like to sell. (Architectural models/interiors/exteriors/etc.)

Unless I'm seeing things, it really looks like the Poser/DAZ community is in a serious state of disarray. I myself haven't bought hardly any content in the past year and it seems like I'm not alone. Quite a few of the more established merchants look like they've called it quits, I'm not seeing much in the way of "must buy" products anywhere, and I keep hearing rumblings from other content creators that things just aren't selling like they have in the past.

So what do you guys think? Would I be wasting my time?

From my perspective, the Genesis compatibility issues appear to have put the whole community into some kind of holding pattern. Is there something more sinister at work here?

Any insight or advice would be most appreciated!

I think the economy is playing a big part in sales just as in every other business.  Business is down all over the place from my convenience store to the post office where I work.  

If I were you I wouldn't give up on the idea.  Consider this, if sales are stagnate, perhaps what you add to the market place will create some activity.  Personally, I have enough textures and characters so architecture catches my eye.  :)

Here's the thing - if you've already made the stuff and want to sell it, sell it. It's not going to really hurt you to put it out there. Content is always going to be a hit or miss kind of scenario and like every market, it will have its up turns and down turns.  However, you won't reap the benefits of an upturn (or even manage any sales during a down turn) if you don't bother to sell at all. So listen to NIKE and "Just Do It".

Like others have said, I think it's the economy more than anything else that's stifling sales lately. That being said, I say go for it ;). Why not? :) As they say, there's no time like the present...lol. It may be a very long while until the economy rebounds. And I'm sure you could use the extra money just as much as anyone else.

Laurie

I think  the downturn has two major effects on buying patterns, for some money is so tight that spending anything on the hobby is out of the question.  There are others, like me, who are still spending but I would rather save and get a really good product than a number of the cheaper ones.  I now look for something that is felxible and can be used in a number of renders.

Like many others, my main character is V4 and even in her weight mapped re-incanation she has more outfits and shoes than my wife has so adding to he wardrobe is not very likely.  On the other hand I would purchase something in the catagories that you mention so long as it was of high quality or cheap enough for me to spend a little time on it and play about with the materials.

 You may or may not have some 'must haves' in your portfolio but the only way to find out is to put them out there and see how the sales go.

The way I see it is if you already have the stuff made you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by offering the stuff for sale. It costs nothing to offer stuff here. The time creating has been spent already. All that's left is packaging it up and passing QC. Go for it.

If you're not sure, create a thread regarding the product and see how much interest it generates. From there you can tell if it will be fairly successful or not based on response. What I do is start a thread on a project that is in the beginning of its developement. If I see no interest from the public I scrap it. That way you haven't really wasted all your time. Just move on and start again. It's almost liking fishing. Sometimes you get a bite and sometimes there isnt even a nibble. Most vendors just release a product, but without hype or knowledge of existence, sometimes it can be overlooked. This might not be everybodies strategy, but it has really worked well for me. It is pointless letting rumors of bad economic times or rumblings affect your decision to release a product. If a customer likes what you have, they will make a way to buy it.

Thanks for the quick responses!

I'm not denying that the economy has taken a bite out of everything, but it's been in the toilet for the past decade while the downturn in the 3D hobbyist market seems to have suddenly come on. Sometimes I wonder if Poser and Daz  Studio have become too complicated for their own good...

Another thing that's been holding me back is that I haven't touched Poser in years. Converting models made in Max to something that's Poser-friendly is turning out to be quite a bit more work than I anticipated. I did put a post in the Jobs Forum, asking for a potential partner to handle the Poser side of things, but I only received one response and that was over a month ago.

On the positive side, I am seeing an opening here for architectural models; most of the really, really good stuff seems to be over at DAZ. (Stonemason, Ness, etc.)

I'm seriously considering putting out my first release as a freebie, just to get some feedback as to what everybody's looking for in detailed set-pieces. Do you guys think that's a wise idea, or should I just send it out to a few select friends for review?

I'd first send out to a few friends for review and get some honest feedback. Last thing you want is to do is release something for free that you could have made some money off. But also post some pics and get some feedback from the community. It won't hurt.

I think freebie is a good idea.  It will reach more than just a handful of people and leave them wanting more. 

I suspect the marketplaces have maybe become a bit saturated and stagnant, in terms of certain kinds of content at least??

Also, I think a recession is like a flood... the flood water can take longer to seep into some places?

Or... actually, maybe recession is like a drought, is a better analogy... the water can take longer to drain from certain places?

In theory at least, I don't see a reason that something like Poser content couldn't sell better in a recession?

People, at a certain income level, may not have the money to go on holiday or buy a new house or car. But foregoing these things can, actually, mean they have more to spend, than they otherwise could or would, on smaller things... things that take their mind off stuff like not being able to move house or get that fancy new fitted kitchen, sofa, television, car, boat... etc.

Maybe getting that fancy new virtual 3d model of a house, car, boat... becomes more attractive?

Hmmm...

...anyway.

Whilst a freebie would be great, I'm not sure this will be a guage of marketplace interest, in any way... and you won't likely get the detailed feedback that you think might help you? 

Maybe post it as a freebie and then ask in this thread about people's responses to it though?

Or just share it with friends to get feedback on functionality. Share renders of it here to guage interest beyond the circle of folk you know?

By all means, a free sample, if it is presented as representative of the quality of marketplace content by a vendor, could help convince me that their stuff is worth buying.

In terms of selling stuff in the marketplace... I can only speak for myself as a consumer and maybe provide some insight into what I'd notice / buy.

What I'd tell you, as a consumer, is that your promo renders are of paramount importance, to me. If something doesn't pop for me in it's promos, and look to be of high, contemporary (Poser 9 / Pro 2012) quality, there's a good chance I won't notice it, never mind consider buying it.

In terms of converting from 3DS Max... yeah, unless you, or a partner such as you might find, do put in the work to make it really work as a Poser set (whether that's configured as a prop or figure) then you will probably be limiting, or potentially alienating, your Poser customer base straight off the mark... I reckon.

Well, just basically speaking for myself as a buyer... if it seems apparent from the product description and / or reviews that the product isn't as Poser-ready as it could be, it'll definitely make me think twice about it. Unless it was cheap enough, yet still looked well modelled enough, that I thought it worth my while to fix it up myself...

I'd absolutely be keen to see more high quality architectural models for Poser in the marketplace here. But I'd definitely have to see your stuff to know whether it fitted the bill, of something I'd buy. Quality and style is everything. The latter, for sure, can be highly subjective...

Just my tuppence worth, in case it is of any help to you... and I do hope to get to see some more of what you're contemplating putting out there for sale...

In my opinion, you should first and foremost create stuff that interests you...you would be doing that anyways, right? Take some cool renders that you would also do for yourself...that was easy.

Now create adjustment morphs for the areas that were hard to fiddle and make right. Slap them in a Runtime folder structure and give it a whirl. Expect nothing and when something sells, be happy that somebody else thought your stuff was cool.

I commonly buy arcitectural stuff - all the greenpots sets and most stonemason.

Love esther

Only looking at the "waste of time" question, I would say there's only one way to find out, and only one that can decide if it will be wasted time or not.  Try it, see what happens, then decide if it's worth the time.  Market may be down now, okay, it might pick up later, again okay.  But the only one to say whether it's wasted time is you.

D.

I buy a large amount of content but at present I am not buying any V4 items -- only M4 clothing, objects, and architecture. I imagine there are quite of few deep hobbyists, semi-pros, and pros who feel the same way I do. We desperately need much more 1st class architectural contect and full 3d scenes (not backgrounds)      

Do both - make some freebies & products. Freebies allow you to promote your work and also help those artists who really can't afford to buy 3d stuff right now. Also when you sell, don't overprice it. If you charge too much, it not only puts buyers off, but makes some look towards the dark side.

Of course, those that look towards the dark side are usually those that never would have bought it at ANY price. LOL

Laurie

well yea :) Though I think given how tight things are for everyone right now, asking 50-60 bucks for content is more likely to make some folks to consider putting on 'THAT' helmet :) So my approach is include a good amount of content and price fairly. As well as better value, but it also allows more folks to enjoy our stuff. Which as artists is just as important :)

Doing freestuff is a good way to establish your reputation and get potential customers on your side.

Put bluntly, it's good PR if you later decide to sell stuff.  People will say, "Hey, he's that really cool guy who gives away some very nice stuff.  If they're his freebies, the paid for stuff must be exceptional".  Plus, if you're a newcomer to the scene, people will always be wary of buying stuff.  There have been too many scam artists, thieves and plain idiots selling ripped off and/or crappy products for people to want to take a risk.  They want to see evidence that you know what you're doing.

I don't advocate giving the moon on a stick, rather a reasonable representation of what you do but in such a way that you can justify selling other content later.

Like many have said, if you've made it already, you may as well sell it.  You'll not become a millionaire off it but you may get something back for the time taken and - at least - help towards making it a paying hobby. 

Quote - Do both - make some freebies & products. Freebies allow you to promote your work and also help those artists who really can't afford to buy 3d stuff right now. Also when you sell, don't overprice it. If you charge too much, it not only puts buyers off, but makes some look towards the dark side.

This is the best strategy and one that I follow.

I searched through my archives and found a simple sitting room set that I'm "Poserizing" as we speak. It doesn't scream MUST BUY PRODUCT so I'm alright with putting it out for free.

It's always a little unnerving to set aside the paying work for a riskier venture, but such is the life of a freelancer!

Once she's ready, I'll start a new thread here because in addition to needing feedback, I'm sure I'll have loads of questions about what everybody's looking for in their set pieces. Poser's rendering capabilities sure have skyrocketed since Poser 7...

I spent some time perusing the Poser galleries here today; it sure doesn't look like anybody's using Poser's IDL features. That's yet another thing I'll need to think about because it affects the design of the sets. My head feels numb :)

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?message_id=3937154

I'd say you were in a good position with the architectural stuff, there's not a huge amount of it about.

The market for outfits. hair and to a lesser extent characters has been fragmented because of Genesis' lack of compatibility with Poser - and even with the DSON stuff I don't think it's quite there yet.

Which leaves Poser users with their legacy Generation 4 characters, now beautifully updated with weight-mapped versions, and most such users will have a wealth of outfits in their runtimes. I'm looking more at stuff for Miki4. Tyler, Anastasia, Antonia etc. than Genesis at the moment.

If your been gone then you missed out on the Civil WAR.

Your looking at a WAR turn battle ground.

Maybe DSON will end the Civil War.

If I needed a Partner I would post it in this forum.

Well you said you had meshes. where's the .jpgs.

If you don't think your own meshes are worthy of your own gallery.
What should I think ?