Impressive Sketchup House model needed
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I'm an author of books on construction and remodeling and I have the fourth edition of The Complete Guide to Contracting Your Home coming out this year. The book is being completely rewritten and will be in full color. All my illustrations will be drawn with Sketchup.
What I need, is a good residential house design drawn with sufficient detail so that we can do an "x-ray" shot of the exterior and interior, showing all the layers of construction. This illustration might end up as the full color back of the book.
If any of you designers have such a Sketchup project, I'd be interested in discussing it with you. Due to the market and the costs of publishing, I can't offer you any money. However, I can give you a byline under the illustration and an acknowledgment inside the book. This could be some good free advertising for a residential design studio, considering that past editions of this book have sold 300,000 copies.
If you're interested, contact me at: "unitech at mindspring dot com"
Thanks! Kent
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No offence but you sell 300000 copies and can't pay someone.....Hmmmm.
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@unknownuser said:
No offence but you sell 300000 copies and can't pay someone.....Hmmmm.
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Have you tried the 3D Warehouse.
Every time I need a house model, I look around on the 3D warehouse.
Al Hart
IRender nXt from Render Plus -
@sepo said:
No offence but you sell 300000 copies and can't pay someone.....Hmmmm.
Well, no offense, but you must have a very distorted view of the publishing industry and the profits made. I sold those 300,000 copies over a 15 year period and split the proceeds with my co-author. The money went for food, utilities and the other things most of us have to pay for with our career proceeds.
People in glass houses....
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@al hart said:
Have you tried the 3D Warehouse.
Every time I need a house model, I look around on the 3D warehouse.Thanks Al,
I'm searching through models there. I'm looking for a model with exterior and interior construction details that can be displayed as an x-ray or cutaway. So far I haven't found anything like that at the warehouse.
I'm also not sure about the licensing issues, unless I can get explicit permission from the original artist.
If you know of any model that fits that description, I'd be interested.
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@kent l said:
I'm also not sure about the licensing issues, unless I can get explicit permission from the original artist.
I generally interpret the 3D warehouse license to say that I can do anything I want with the models up there.
As a courtesy, I usually acknowledge the model that my image is based on.
@unknownuser said:
By submitting, posting or displaying Content through the 3D Warehouse, you grant Google and its end users a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual license to exercise the rights in the Content, as stated below:
- to reproduce the Content;
- to create and reproduce derivative works of the Content;
- to display publicly and distribute copies of the Content;
- to display publicly and distribute copies of derivative works of the content.
Al Hart
IRender nXt from Render Plus -
Thanks Al!
That's very helpful information!
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@unknownuser said:
Well, no offense, but you must have a very distorted view of the publishing industry and the profits made. I sold those 300,000 copies over a 15 year period and split the proceeds with my co-author. The money went for food, utilities and the other things most of us have to pay for with our career proceeds.
People in glass houses....
Hi Kent
I am not speaking for the whole community here, just me, but this is the way I see it;
You are a professional writer, you are paid for your work. Most of us here are professional designers and modellers that have spent years training, learning and developing. You expect us to work for you for free? We are not worthless. For many of us this is our primary source of income.
What you are asking for is not just any old 3d model. It is a fully realised architectural design. This requires education and experience. The time we've put in to learn how to do this will never be fully reimbursed financially, and I'm sure that is the same for writers so you should realise what you are asking seems very unreasonable.
You must, likewise, have a very distorted view of our industry and the profits made. Our money also goes on food, utilities and the other things most of us have to pay for with our career proceeds. We all help each other out when we can but don't forget you will be profiting from this. I respect your worth as a writer, please respect our skills too.
If you had said "I need help and advice finishing off my Sketchup model for my book cover" that would be a whole different story.
I'm sure there will be people here that will help you but I hope others consider what kind of message this sends out. With the exception of charity it is not sustainable to work for free and it will never gain Sketchup modellers any respect.
All the best with the book, if you pay for a bespoke model for the cover that perfectly suits your needs, surely you will most likely make more profit.
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@unknownuser said:
I'm sure there will be people here that will help you but I hope others consider what kind of message this sends out. With the exception of charity it is not sustainable to work for free and it will never gain Sketchup modellers any respect.
All the best with the book, if you pay for a bespoke model for the cover that perfectly suits your needs, surely you will most likely make more profit.
With all due respect, I didn't post this request to get in a philosophical debate with some stranger who doesn't know me or the publishing industry. There are tremendous expenses involved in writing and illustrating a 450 page, four color book, much time and money invested, etc.
I stated a need, and set the terms, and anyone who was interested could respond. If you're not interested, fine. But don't proceed to lecture me about the value of your work vs. mine.
I suspect there are some people on this board who understand the concept of market trade. I am offering a free advertising vehicle for the display of a designer's work on the shelves of bookstores and libraries for several years along with an acknowledgment. In exchange, I'm asking for free use of a drawing, most likely one produced for another project. Have you priced advertising lately? The costs of publishing a full color plan book? There will be about a hundred free photos in the book from construction manufacturers, whose marketing departments are more than happy to advertise their product at no charge. Both parties benefit.
If you can't appreciate this concept, why not just move on?
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I love this discussion
.Off course Sepo and Linea are right.
Good luck with your book.
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Fo the right person, it might be a great deal. I don't make buildings and I'm not self employed. Therefore, if I did it, it would be a huge waste. I'd have to make it from scratch and then everyone could see my name, but for what? I'm not selling my services. So I don't need advertisement.
But for someone who does this type of work already, has a model that would be suitable, and needs free advertising, this might be just right for them.
Its not easily a right or wrong scenario. Just don't apply if its not right for you.
Chris
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Kent,
Sorry, but I would be another that would agree with the other replies you don't agree with. While you are making money selling 300,000 copies (and proud to tell us) you need to understand we also work for income (most of the time). Free advertising is really not what I would consider you are offering. Remember you are a professional writer, but we are also professional designers....both of which are professional positions and deserve to get paid. Photos are far different than making a 3D model. While taking a photo can take time, snapping a photo rarely takes as much time as a detailed 3d model like the request. Maybe it was the tone of your reply or the "We sold 300,000 copies but can't offer you a dime" that spun me wrong, but I think if you are profiting from the book then those helping with it should be paid as well.
Glass houses....
Scott
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@unknownuser said:
Kent,
Sorry, but I would be another that would agree with the other replies you don't agree with. While you are making money selling 300,000 copies (and proud to tell us) you need to understand we also work for income (most of the time). Free advertising is really not what I would consider you are offering. Remember you are a professional writer, but we are also professional designers....both of which are professional positions and deserve to get paid. Photos are far different than making a 3D model. While taking a photo can take time, snapping a photo rarely takes as much time as a detailed 3d model like the request. Maybe it was the tone of your reply or the "We sold 300,000 copies but can't offer you a dime" that spun me wrong, but I think if you are profiting from the book then those helping with it should be paid as well.
Glass houses....
Scott
Scott, the purpose of mentioning the 300,000 copies is precisely to explain the advertising possibilities. If I only sell a few books, it's obviously not much of a deal for anyone.
I can't believe that anyone would take issue with this. Got a plan design business you want to promote? Offer a drawing in exchange for exposure. I offer free excerpts and articles from my book all the time to promote my business. Don't want to do that? Don't have a business? That's fine too. Move on. Nothing of interest here.
This has nothing to do with anyone's talent, worth, time, etc. I'm a Sketchup artist too, drawing many of my own illustrations. I know how long it takes. If you or anyone else here doesn't think free exposure is worth offering your hard earned work, that's fine.
But I don't understand the need of some people here to criticize the work of others.
Since everyone here seems to think there's some pot of gold at the end of the book rainbow, let me put this in perspective. I will make about $15,000 per year on this book for 3-4 years. That's after spending two years assembling and writing it with no pay. It takes about 5-700 hours. I have to contact hundreds of people to get photos and establish rights. I travel to promote the book. I spend countless hours making my own sketchup drawings. I post on blogs to promote the book. After 4 years, the book goes stale and I have to refresh it with another round of updates.
I suspect many of you designers make more per hour than I do.
If I offered money for the illustrations and photos used in the book, there would be no profits left for the author.So, again, just exactly why do you think I deserve all this animosity?????
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It seems you had your free publicity now as well.....since you posted the Amazon link to your book.
Oh the irony! -
@kent l said:
I stated a need, and set the terms, and anyone who was interested could respond. If you're not interested, fine. But don't proceed to lecture me about the value of your work vs. mine.
(...)
If you can't appreciate this concept, why not just move on?
If you dislike people chiming in, why not send a couple of e-mails, rather than posting on a public forum? By definition, a forum is a place where people debate each other. That said, good luck with the book, though.
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@unknownuser said:
I didn't post this request to get in a philosophical debate with some stranger who doesn't know me or the publishing industry ....
I suspect there are some people on this board who understand the concept of market trade
No I don't know you, or much about publishing. Market trade however, yeah I think I understand that. You do a job for a commercial enterprise. You are paid for it.
Even though I know nothing about publishing I would have thought settling for an off the shelf image for the cover of your book, a decision that contributes to success in the marketplace isn't the best marketing strategy. Because you won't pay for an image that would best suit your book you have set the value of your book cover at zero. I can understand that a past project that somebody has may well do the job, but you see no reason to pay them, not even a few pence?.
I don't disagree that your book is a good advertising vehicle for a 3d artist so maybe I'm shortsighted, but I have heard "marketing" suggested as a reason to work for free so many times.
Why is it that people that draw for a living are expected to give their work away in order to get exposure? I have heard this anology before; You can't go to the local grocery store, pick up a weeks shop and then say to the owner, "I'm not paying but I'll tell everybody else to come here". -
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@unknownuser said:
Hope you don't mind but this is not really a discussion about SketchUp, so I have moved it to the Corner Bar as It doesn't seem to fit into any other category.
James, that's fine by me. I never intended this to be some debate. I'm obviously not welcome here, so this will be my last post.
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@Kent,
Imagine this:"***I'm an author of an impressive House model . It is a good residential house design drawn with sufficient detail so that you can do an "x-ray" shot of the exterior and interior, showing all the layers of construction.
What I need, is a good book project on construction and remodeling for my design to be showcased in and to be used as illustrations in full color.
If any of you writers have such a book project on construction and remodeling , I'd be interested in discussing it with you. Due to the market and the costs of making design, I can't offer you any money. However, I can give you a byline and an acknowledgment inside the book and on my website. This could be some good free advertising for a writer, considering that the design has won a lot of awards.
If you're interested, contact me at: "... "
Thanks!***"
Would you, being a writer, sign up for it?
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