Our Flowering Almond Tree was featured over on the Smith Micro Blog entry about Earth Day. Flowering Almond Tree is available as a Vue 6+ Solidgrowth compatible model.  That means you can generate unique versions of the tree instantly using the Tree Editor in Vue.

Flowering Almond Tree is available on Content Paradise, and its also available in a bundle with Ark of the Covenant for Vue. Why? Inside the Ark of the Covenant are a number of artifacts, including the remnants of Aaron’s Rod, which is said to have burst forth miraculously with almond branches.

Plus, we have more staff than other vendors and we’ve been more creative about what everyone does. But not everyone who creates, publishes or resells 3D content has been able to do this. Many smaller brokerages are having to revert to just being themselves, and some brokerages like 3D Commune are simply out of business. A lot of our brother indie vendors out there are going the way of 3D Commune.

Id like to share with you, as artists that consume 3D content what you can do to keep your favorite vendor going.

1. Find a Way to Buy Direct. Some artists only work through brokerages. That is usually because either they don’t have the business acumen to do it on their own or the revenue stream is just right. Many independents sell direct and if they do, it means their business depends on direct sales. If you know they sell direct, buy direct. Some brokerages take a very portion of an artists revenue, and very small changes in how they do business can radically impact a vendors sales.
2. Buy More Expensive Items and Get More. A lot of artists offer value packs. Meshbox has its Complete Edition system, whereby you usually receive a bonus model and a big discount on all models in a pack. Because most overhead charges begin with a small fee plus a percentage, the larger the transaction, the more money the receiver keeps. Expecting to spend $1.99 per transaction because big brokerages do it is one reason why vendors are losing their shirts (do the math on credit card transaction fees).
3. Spread the Word. A lot of vendors either do not have the resources or the knowledge of how to use blogs, Twitter, DIGG, Facebook and other social media venues. Well, they should learn, but at the same time, if you like someone’s work, spread the word. A lot of venues that sell content (some, but not all brokerages) forbid indie promotion, but not your recommendations.
4. Make Piracy an Enemy. In all the arguments about the recording and entertainment industry and the DMCA, the vendor you know is being killed by piracy. Vendors goods appear on content warez sites very rapidly, and the anonymous nature of many brokerage sales makes it really hard to find out which user is sharing the vendor product. The problem isn’t the single pirate, its the thousands who download and do not pay, and that the pirating sites are generating money to support themselves now through the help of internet advertising.
5. Ask and Expect to Receive, But Expect to Pay. In hard economic times, all vendors of all kinds need to be on their game. They need to do more, because money is tight for their customers. You should expect some kind of innovation, but you shouldn’t expect such cut-throat discounts because the 3D content market isn’t nearly as volume driven as you can imagine. The only folks who benefit from the $1.99 product are the largest brokerages, because they can sell you more stuff, things they own and other vendors products.

Have some suggestions of your own?

Without going into great detail, Content Paradise just implemented two big features Ive been asking for, and it is already clear that my upload/update times for new products is about 25% of what it was only two weeks ago. If you were frustrated after the June 1 update, you should check out the new additions to the back end of Content Paradise.

If you haven’t purchased from Content Paradise before, check it out by visiting the Meshbox Design store there.

Content Paradise forums provided a venue for community based support of many popular 3D products. But it also provided a way for content vendors, like Meshbox, to promote their products and answer customer questions. The loss of the forums has had a noticeable impact on Meshbox and many other CP partners. We are not alone in this – over a dozen other vendors, friends, partners, competitors of Meshbox – have said about the same thing to us.

I also noticed CP Staffers being forced to answer questions on competing brokerage sites. How strange is that?  Sure, Jason and other staffers at Content Paradise do a great job providing one-on-one tech support. But software like Poser begs for a community.

If you are a CP vendor, CP customer or CP staffer – join CP Talk.  As a part of CCG, this is neutral territory – everyone is welcome.

Related

• Announcement of Content Paradise Talk on DAZ 3D
• Announcement on Content Paradise Talk on Renderosity
• Announcement on Content Paradise Talk on Content Creator’s Guild

On June 1, 2009, Content Paradise made a massive upgrade to their website. This resulted in all previous links between Meshbox and Content Paradise to be broken. More and more Meshbox products are finding their way back to Content Paradise.