Ivy Generator for 3DS MAX 2019

[glorybound]

He did not complained if the donation was "enough".
It was the 0.01 donation which caused the problem.
donations are voluntary so does maintaining the plugin.

No, I read an interview he gave and he said that the donations he got didn't even cover the cost of the domain.

[gandhics]

if you want to get money then make it commercial....if it is going to be free then is free (means $0) ...if you want to collect donations then few people is going to do it but if you want to get the benefit of getting money like commercial but don't have the obligations then the problem is on the developer and don't get upset because donations are voluntary.

He did not complained if the donation was "enough".
It was the 0.01 donation which caused the problem.
donations are voluntary so does maintaining the plugin.

[glorybound]

I read that he had over 35 hundred downloads and not enough money to keep the domain. Domains cost, for the most part, $19 a year. Personally, I donated a couple times and it would have paid for his domain for 4 years. Something fishy going on.

[flino2004]

if you want to get money then make it commercial....if it is going to be free then is free (means $0) ...if you want to collect donations then few people is going to do it but if you want to get the benefit of getting money like commercial but don't have the obligations then the problem is on the developer and don't get upset because donations are voluntary.

[JezUK]

I guess though that you had thousands of people download because they could essentially get it for free. If you had had a minimum donate price, say, $10, maybe you'd have just had a hundred or so downloads ?

At the end of the day you have to be clear in your own mind that you really are doing this for free and that people can *donate* whatever they want and you won't be disappointed/offended. Otherwise, you will be

[bigbossfr]

I understand completely him.
As an independent developer, I have created a lot of free tool for the Maya community (DeeX VRay Fast, DeeX Shader Pack for MentalRay, etc etc...DeeX Steroid that I didn't released because of this), and I always added a "donation" PayPal button.
Th result?
If I remember, in 6 years I got perhaps $80 in total, and a lot of $0.01, for thousand and thousand of downloads (with some tools used in production). $0.01 is not a mistake. A lot of people give $0.01. And this is funny because obviously PayPal has fees, so at the end this is....$0.
So yes, $0.01 is little bit like an insult: "I want to use you tool but I will only give you back $0.01".
So few year ago I started to do my first "commercial tool". It was better, and the only (big) downside is that you need to give support. And the problem sometime is, because people paid your tool (even if this is cheap), they think that they have the right to ask you everything.
So I tried both experience:
- free with donation: doesn't work
- paid: work a little but time consuming

For my last tool (DeeX Steroid), I will try a last thing: donation with a limit (like $29 minimum, $49 for support, etc etc).
If it doesn't work, like him, I will stop.
Simple.
Sometime people think that things are easy. My last tool, I spend 2 months on it 2 hours each day on my free time. I don't think that having people that give $0.01 will motivate more. i am doing it for the community (I will not be rich), but...well.

[PIXELBOX_SRO]

As Vizioen said, GrowFX will give you a lot more freedom in Ivy creation. whats more, there is a chance we will finally get Grow FX with node creation graph soon and it will be wonderful to work with

[flino2004]

There is even a sketchup version and it works great so far.

https://sketchucation.com/forums/vie...?f=323&t=36882

[Vizioen]

Just use GrowFX, more control, more artistic freedom. The time I sometimes spend regrowing that Ivy because it just seems to do what it wants is time I could spend doing other things.

[glorybound]

All he has to do is compile it for MAX 2019. I am not a programmer, so I am assuming it isn't a major undertaking.

[theedge]

A few years ago Camera Map Gemini developer launched an Indiegogo campaign to finance the development of the plugin.
That would be a good idea for Ivy Generator I think : the developer defines the minimum amount that he estimates would cover his efforts. If enough people back it it everyone's happy. If it doesn't reach the goal then maybe it's time to abandon it / release for free / ...

[glorybound]

I don't see anyone getting angry, at least that's not how I am reading things. I agree, if he doesn't feel any responsibility to the community then we need to move on and find an alternative.

[Syclone1]

When I mentioned about a bunch of us getting together and paying, I was not and are not referring to the source code, I was referring to paying for an update for a select few of us that like and use the plugin and are willing to pay him for his time to do that.

If he wants nothing to do with it any longer then no worries, that's his right...

Don't put everyone in the world in the same boat, not everyone donated $0.01.

There is no need for this to get heated, were mostly all adults and professionals here (I hope)

Personally Ill probably forget about this plugin going forward and look for alternatives to add to my digital toolbox.

[tue_nguyen]

I think he should sell it. I will buy it

[gandhics]

Cutting ties out of anger, yes. If he said I am too busy to keep this script updated, I am sorry, then no. However, if he said someone gave me a penny tip, so screw you all, yes. If GrowFX can do it then I'll go down that route.

Interesting logic I must say.
In the end, it is us who is losing with this.