As someone that has a 3D portfolio, I think it is priced too high. But I'm not a modeler either, for game artists it could be quite nice. But I'd be somewhat afraid of people somehow nicking my vertices.
Sketchfab: 3D Portfolio website
21–26 of 26 posts
Re: Sketchfab: 3D Portfolio website
#22I don't see many new models since I last checked the site a few months back. Traction? The problem is probably that most good 3d modelers do not need your service. So why would they register? And even pay for it? What'd their incentive be? One would be that they can earn extra by selling models on your site. But there is Turbosquid & co already doing this since over a decade. There's a chicken-egg issue here: how do…
As someone who works for Shapeways, we would love nothing more than a 'print with Shapeways' button on every page here :)
Great writeup.
Re: Sketchfab: 3D Portfolio website
#23The complete result of 3D art is the rendering, not the model. 3D artists put images in their portfolios. Not to say they might not want to share the models too, but in that case, it's more of a "source" of the work, not a complete work which you want to showcase in a portfolio. A single rendering might consist of a hundreds of models, too. For game artists or print-3D, showcasing the model itself is more relevant. M…
> The complete result of 3D art is the rendering, not the model.
Well, yeah, but who was talking about 3D art?
What you are saying is exactly what annoys me about most existing sites where people share and/or present their 3D models: They are all primarily used by 3D artists. Even GrabCAD which is supposedly "from engineers for engineers" is full of 3D art which is more or less useless for any purpose other than visualization (I think this is because the internet is the natural place for the rendered picture to be used, while the natural place for the solid model might be a workshop or an FEM simulation software).
Don't forget that besides visualization, solid models are also used in fabrication, simulation, mechanical prototyping, etc! I for one welcome that somebody tries to offer a platform not geared towards 3D visualization but just models.
Re: Sketchfab: 3D Portfolio website
#24Sketchfab has an amazing 3D viewer technology but I think you completely miss the point on what this technology is useful for. 3D content on the web won't be generated through manual uploads by designers. It will be (and already is) generated on servers from user inputs into customization tools and/or from large amounts of data. For example, I have a website where users can create custom 3D topographical models on the fly and I would love to offer them a slick viewer like Sketchfab's instead of my own attempts at WebGL. But I am not going to upload the models to Sketchfab's server and blow through your ridiculously low storage limit. For $15 a month I could store a total of ~70 models. Considering that every user interaction generates a new model on the fly, that wouldn't even get me through one session by one user! Even more so because I can have a not quite as polished but free 3D viewer that is fully customizable and hackable from other places, take for example Sculpteo's: http://www.sculpteo.com/en/developer/webapi/embed/viewer/
Re: Sketchfab: 3D Portfolio website
#25I don't see many new models since I last checked the site a few months back. Traction? The problem is probably that most good 3d modelers do not need your service. So why would they register? And even pay for it? What'd their incentive be? One would be that they can earn extra by selling models on your site. But there is Turbosquid & co already doing this since over a decade. There's a chicken-egg issue here: how do…
As a 3D artist myself, I specialise in environmental art, texturing and props. Sketchfab has been a fantastic way for me to show off my models and assets. It is useful for people like me. When an employer has viewed my portfolio, they have always commented on its use - and how interesting it is rather than rendering out beauty shots in marmoset or wireframes.
I think over time this service will evolve into something greater, but this new portfolio feature will be very handy for people like myself so I'm more than happy to use the service.
And from what I've seen over the last few months - there have been plenty of new models posted up. I follow them on Facebook so I see when they 'staff pick' something.
Re: Sketchfab: 3D Portfolio website
#26I think you'll have a hard time getting traction unless you make these free for artists. I'd investigate other business models. Perhaps you could come up with a way to charge recruiters for browsing the portfolios? Perhaps an affiliate recruiting program where you get a kickback for every artist they find on your site would work.
Artists will pay for a good portfolio. As long as it it offers support, good hosting, and easy to use interface. Artists don't even need a lot of bells or whistles. Some customization can go a long way. May want a place to show of their work without a lot of distraction from vendor promotions or advertisements. So, go for it, charge for your service... although is $7 a month to pay for the service and give yourself/s…
>> Artists will pay for a good portfolio.
Is this the kind of portfolio an artist would pay for? I'm skeptical of this. I know about 9 artists who have recently graduated and are doing small shows, oddjobs, or freelance design (looks hard). All of them have created an online presence and none of them have payed much (if anything) for it. Some learned to program themselves, others put stuff up with templates or on free portfolio sites. They're all quite poor. So that's a data point.
I do know one more established artist (prof. at USC) who recently paid for a site, but I don't think she'd have been happy with something that wasn't totally custom.
Another direction to go in with this is to create a marketplace like Etsy for 3D models. You could host portfolios for free and take a cut of transactions.
I'm very interested to know how signups are going.