Ideas and thoughts for Cadyou.

remus · 15 Dec 2008, 22:21

Cheers decipher, i'll try and clean them up a bit first and email them off tomorrow.

remus · 15 Dec 2008, 22:25

just had another thought, do you prefer SU 6 or SU 7 format for the models? Im guessing 6 where possible?

decipher · 15 Dec 2008, 22:29

The lowest you dare export them at, so 5 or 6 if they aren't dynamic!

You will find a lot of the models on the site are actually saved down to Sketchup 5, i guess it doesn't matter so much as it does with CAD files though as there is always a free version available..

decipher · 15 Dec 2008, 22:46

honoluludesktop sent me a pm suggesting a Ruby script to allow searching of the site from within Sketchup. I have quickly knocked one up which adds a 'Search cadyou.com ' option to the plugins menu, and it is available here:

http://www.cadyou.com/plugins/cadyou.rb

I will add it to the site for official download soon

Double Espresso · 15 Dec 2008, 23:23

Thanks, it's always great to have another resource.
Question: Are your people downloads copyright free?

DE.

linea · 16 Dec 2008, 05:31

Good site, nice simple style.

remus · 16 Dec 2008, 08:01

Double espresso, when i was trying out uploading stuff to the site it gave a choice of licenses for the content. The default is a cc attribution, so i imagine the majority of models will be under that license. If in doubt there is licensing info on the left of every component.

Double Espresso · 16 Dec 2008, 16:51

@remus said:

Double espresso, when i was trying out uploading stuff to the site it gave a choice of licenses for the content. The default is a cc attribution, so i imagine the majority of models will be under that license. If in doubt there is licensing info on the left of every component.

Thx,remus. I go through the copyright/public domain legal rangling all the time and never use anything except bona fide cleared images where they might wind up in public view. There is no such thing as public domain where a recognizable image is posted unless all the rights are solely owned.
DE

decipher · 16 Dec 2008, 21:03

DE:

It's a difficult one definitely, and we have already had a share of issues in terms of copyrighted content ending up on the site. The short answer, as with anything user contributed is that its difficult to ever be 100% sure, and we take uploads on good faith that the file is the users work and that the user has the right to grant a public domain / cc license for the work.

So, if its a big public rendering for a high profile client or something then that is where a bit of money spent on 3d models from the many sites that offer them for a fee is probably a good idea.

Would it be useful to add a contact function so that you can email the model owner through the website, so you can double check this kind of thing should you want to use one of the files in a commercial environment?

Cheers

Double Espresso · 16 Dec 2008, 21:41

@decipher said:

DE:

It's a difficult one definitely, and we have already had a share of issues in terms of copyrighted content ending up on the site. The short answer, as with anything user contributed is that its difficult to ever be 100% sure, and we take uploads on good faith that the file is the users work and that the user has the right to grant a public domain / cc license for the work.

So, if its a big public rendering for a high profile client or something then that is where a bit of money spent on 3d models from the many sites that offer them for a fee is probably a good idea.

Would it be useful to add a contact function so that you can email the model owner through the website, so you can double check this kind of thing should you want to use one of the files in a commercial environment?

Cheers

Your issues are if you post an image on your site and it is of a recognizable person, copyrighted product or logo etc., you can be sued. This is rare, unless it's a celebrity or well known product etc. The risk you run, is that someone downloads an image and uses it as part of a commercial venture, or perhaps, in some disparaging way. If I was you, I would definitely include some kind of disclaimer. I don't want to blow this out of proportion, but I assume this a test run and you are looking at the commercial potential of this venture... so why not cover yourself.
Good luck.
DE

remus · 16 Dec 2008, 22:36

DE, im not entirely sure, but i think a lot of cad models/photographs can be considered artistic works, and so can be used.

It is certainly quite a grey area though, so worth erring on the side of caution where possible.

decipher · 16 Dec 2008, 22:41

Remus,

DE is correct on this one.. and its not quite as 'grey' as you might think in terms of photographs of people anyway. If somebody is recognisable in an image and it is to be used for commercial use you must get a model release form and whatnot.

I think for now i am going to keep photographs of people off the site.

p.s. Remus, i have uploaded several of the models you sent.
Many thanks.

remus · 16 Dec 2008, 22:44

you learn something new every day, as they say

Double Espresso · 17 Dec 2008, 00:34

@remus said:

DE, im not entirely sure, but i think a lot of cad models/photographs can be considered artistic works, and so can be used.

It is certainly quite a grey area though, so worth erring on the side of caution where possible.

Artistic works? No such thing, my friend. Lets say you want to use a poster of Jimi Hendrix you found on the web in a room you are designing and that room then appears in an architectural magazine. You need to get permission from the poster company, possibly the photographer and for sure the estate of Jimi Hendrix. Next time you are watching a reality-type tv show, something like where cops are arresting gang members, pay attention to designs on shirts and jackets that have been blurred in post production. No can show without permission. If you design a street scene and include a Starbucks, then put it on public display, by the letter of the law you need their permission. It is a tangled and dangerous web to enter.
DE.

remus · 17 Dec 2008, 08:48

Does this relate mostly to pictures and other exact reproductions then? rather than models/paintings?

decipher · 19 Dec 2008, 12:55

Anyway,

Just to revive this thread before it dies forever. Thanks for everyones input so far, i have done some work on improving the search experience the last few days and wanted to throw up here the list of things i am thinking of adding over the next few months and get some feedback as to whether they are worthwhile or not..

Move file storage to Amazon S3 (speed and cost)
Bulk upload of files like flickr
Community features like top uploaders, most popular user etc
The ability to subscribe to a user (RSS) and get notified when they upload
The ability to send users messages from their profile page
The ability for users to have icons/avatars
...or scrap the three above and use facebook connect/google friend connect
More file formats (collada /3ds/ dwg) for every download

Any thoughts on the above features appreciated, i will judge which ones to work on by the response here

Cheers.

Double Espresso · 19 Dec 2008, 18:29

@remus said:

Does this relate mostly to pictures and other exact reproductions then? rather than models/paintings?

It relates to everything, even if you buy a painting from a local artist you do not own the rights to that painting. I get around it sometimes by creating a work 'in the style of', which means a painting that looks like a Monet, however, it can't be an actual altered recognizable painting.

remus · 19 Dec 2008, 18:35

I think we might be thinking of slightly different things.

I was querying whether doing a painting of a starbucks and then displaying it counts as a copyright offence, as opposed to using starbucks logos in a model.

remus · 19 Dec 2008, 18:38

Decipher,

Personally i think a bulk uploader would be very useful, especially in these early days when i imagine your trying to get a reasonable catalogue of content going. Having said that, youll probably want to be careful about who you give it to as you might encounter problems with people spamming the site.

Double Espresso · 19 Dec 2008, 19:06

@remus said:

I think we might be thinking of slightly different things.

I was querying whether doing a painting of a starbucks and then displaying it counts as a copyright offence, as opposed to using starbucks logos in a model.

Technically yes, however, as with all places where legal beagles sniff there is no way to actually know whether 'Starbucks' would go after you. I remember a case a few months ago where they threatened legal action against a small coffee shop in some podunk town because their logo 'infringed'. BTW, the coffee shop had been using the logo since before Starbucks existed but had not copyrighted it.
As far as paintings go, if you are an urban realist painter and paint a (Hopper-esque) street scene with people sitting in a Starbucks at three in the morning and it goes in a gallery for $20,000.00, I doubt Starbucks will squeal. However, if the painting shows a bunch of gangbangers robbing the Starbucks and pissing on the Barista you might get a call and they could sue you for infringement and defamation.
Again, these are very broad examples.