3dats top 100 artists

[stevesideas]

What do you guys think of this ? Im a little confused as to why anyone else apart from the people that submitted images to the book, would buy it.... maybe im not seeing the big picture....

http://3dats.com/best_book/

Would it not be easier to just get your own book printed, as you can on many online sites these days, and just have your own work for clients to see ?

Any thoughts ?

[Neilg]

Also think it's a sham for cash. You're forced to buy 5 books and theres hardly any for sale afterwards. The entire thing is just totally and utterly pointless. If you're serious about it then you'll do it yourself. If you're not that serious, why spend money - just get a cgtalk book for free.
If you cant get in one, paying to be in one is just dirty.

A large portion of cg architect and what they push seems so out of touch to me.

[stevesideas]

Yeah. I agree. Think i'll give this a miss. Good to get some confirmation..ta

[Sawyer]

I think its well intended but seems to be poorly executed. Why would you prorate the cost of books ie the first 20 people who were included paid $10 per book, numbers 20-50 paid $20 per book the rest were to pay more. Then why would you submit if you know some people were paying less half what you paid?

Ultimately I think the title says it all. It’s a marketing opportunity so you can tell your clients you got into a book called “100 Best”. And I bet that will be so much better than telling most clients you got into Expose which means nothing to most people out of the graphic world. (assuming this is well printed and looks professional).

[brian451]

Good grief! This is like Deja Vu. You can read a very lengthy and somewhat interesting thread here if you like...my comments start on page 2.

http://forums.cgarchitect.com/38173-...n-artists.html

Sure, anyone could get their own book printed...I could go down to the local OfficeMax and get one, but you're not going to get anything close to the quality that this book will be printed at...which will be printed by the same company that prints the Ballistic books. And what would printing your own book say to a client....a book with only your images in it. That's just a company brochure. Of course this is for marketing purposes, but it will be far more effective than a brochure.

What do you guys think of this ? Im a little confused as to why anyone else apart from the people that submitted images to the book, would buy it.... maybe im not seeing the big picture....

http://3dats.com/best_book/

Would it not be easier to just get your own book printed, as you can on many online sites these days, and just have your own work for clients to see ?

Any thoughts ?

[brian451]

Also think it's a sham for cash. You're forced to buy 5 books and theres hardly any for sale afterwards. The entire thing is just totally and utterly pointless. If you're serious about it then you'll do it yourself. If you're not that serious, why spend money - just get a cgtalk book for free.
If you cant get in one, paying to be in one is just dirty.

A large portion of cg architect and what they push seems so out of touch to me.

No, quite the opposite. 3DATS isn't going to make a single dime off of this project. We are projected to not even cover our costs with this. This is a tester project which we hope MIGHT lead to later volumes where we actually might make a profit...if that's still legal.

It's certainly does not seem pointless to a lot of people that have secured their page....they can see the value of what is being offered.

[brian451]

We have been doing publishing for a long time now and general 3D marketing a lot longer. We don't jump into projects like this without doing extensive and exhaustive research. The researching of a project like this will easily consume more hours than the execution. We don't take on such things lightly. We have queried many highly respected individuals and firms on this and have executed appropriately.

The reason for the prorated cost is simple economics and human nature. Why would someone pay $99.95 for a book when others paid $59.95 earlier? Because that person wasn't willing to pay and then wait 6 months to receive the book that was still in production. The people that paid $20 per book paid several months ago, and they have been waiting patiently for the book to go to print. Setting a lower price is for early buyers is Economics 101. Look at the airlines. If you wait until the last minute, you'll likely to pay many times more than early buyers. It takes a certain amount of early buy-ins to get projects rolling financially...regardless of whether or not bank loans or other investors are involved.

You can say it's poorly executed, but if you knew all the facts, I don't think you would be saying that. In hindsight, I wouldn't change anything that we've done up to this point, because so far, it looks like everything is on track and everyone involved is happy. Once this 1st volume is printed and everyone gets their books and has had a chance to use them and comment about it, I'm sure the criticism will diminish.

Like I said, we are going to be losing money on this, but at least it brings traffic to our site, which is quite valuable to us. At the very least, it will be a fun project to be involved with and producing an exceptionally high quality book with great artwork in it can't be a bad for us.

I think its well intended but seems to be poorly executed. Why would you prorate the cost of books ie the first 20 people who were included paid $10 per book, numbers 20-50 paid $20 per book the rest were to pay more. Then why would you submit if you know some people were paying less half what you paid?

Ultimately I think the title says it all. It’s a marketing opportunity so you can tell your clients you got into a book called “100 Best”. And I bet that will be so much better than telling most clients you got into Expose which means nothing to most people out of the graphic world. (assuming this is well printed and looks professional).

[brian451]

A large portion of cg architect and what they push seems so out of touch to me.

I'd have to strongly disagree on this one. If you can find a single individual more 'in touch' with the industry than CGarchitect owner Jeff Mottle, please pass the name on, because I'd love to meet him. Any out of touch sense that you're getting is probably more from economic constraints and industry woes than any type of mental breakdown he's having. Although you'd have to be a bit out of touch I guess to intentionally live in a place that at this very moment has a temperature of -22.

[jmottle]

A large portion of cg architect and what they push seems so out of touch to me.

I'd really like to know what is so out of touch with the site. I already know the look of the site needs to be updated, which I'm working on, but everything else I feature on the site is always up to date and relevant. Please do share your thoughts. I know visualisationone likely has a bias towards the site, which I won't get into here, but you know what I am talking about. I can't tell if this is the owner of the company (as real names are not used here), but if it is then you definitely know.

As for the book, sure you could print it yourself and only have your work showcased, but as Brian said you'd not get the same print quality. The printer that is being used is the same one that Ballistic publishing uses for their books, and I will be flying to Singapore to oversee the printing to ensure the highest color accuracy and reproduction. Trust me it will be really high quality. No one is forcing you to be a part of the book, so I really don't understand all the drama over how it is produced and marketed. If you don't like it, don't participate.

I find the whole "sham for cash" comment insulting. I've partnered with Brian on this book, so I take it personally when baseless and mindless comments like this are thrown around without thinking about the work, time and money that has already gone into this project.

Jeff Mottle
CGarchitect Digital Media Corp.

[glorybound]

Brian Smith,

what ever happened to the free book offer you posted here several months ago. I was one of the first to sign up, but I haven't seen anything yet.

Thanks

[stevesideas]

In terms of quality, you can get very high quality printed books from places such as: http://www.blurb.com/

Just take a look at the gallery !

Your analogy of paying more for a last minute flight isnt exactly spot on as there are many sites out there dedicated to last minute deals, and prices generally are lower. www.lastminute.com being one of them

I dont think any insults were intended, so apologies if any were taken, but obviously the clarity of reasoning behind this project isnt as clear to some people as it is with others.

I did send an email to you (3dats) the other day after you said my work would be featured in the book, that outlined my concerns, but have not received a reply yet.

[stevesideas]

p.s. I am still interested, but just needed some clarity on the reasoning behind the book before investing.

[stevesideas]

Well, Ive bitten the bullet and decided to buy it in the end. I decided this year I would say YES to more things as I think it can prove very positive...so here is my first leap of faith

By the way. Brian, will my contact details be featured in the book ?

[Neilg]

I'd really like to know what is so out of touch with the site.

I was very ott with the comment, so i'm sorry about that. It comes arcoss way too harsh which I didnt mean.

As for what I said, it's not the site itself, more the users and content, and it's what 'I find'
I just dont feel like theres much of a community there.
Wasnt intended as a dig - It was just a heavy handed way of saying its not for me anymore.

Sham for cash was too much, yes, but I still dont like the pricing scheme. The arguments about getting your work in a book to show clients (which is also filled with other peoples work) fall flat to me too. I dont know, i'm just not into that bragging side and have never had to fight for clients like that.
Anyone i've got work from has known what cg looks like and not needed that.


I was well off point with saying it was a sham if you're not making any money and it's an investment to build up a brand or whatever, so fair enough. Sorry about that.
tbh i'm clearly not your target market, and i'm hardly going to influence anyone who is either.

[brian451]

Bobby,
Way back when, I sent an email out to everyone, including yourself, with instructions on how to get the book. The email said that you would have to make a payment for shipping, which for you would be $10, and the book would be sent right away. Perhaps that went to spam and you never got it...but we gave out books to all the others.

Regardless, you can get the book now by going to www.3dats.com and clicking the 'Make a Payment' button at the bottom of the page. If you make a $10 payment, we'll have the book sent within 24 hours..same day if done in morning.

If you do this, please send an email to larry.smith@3dats.com and copy/paste this message in the email so he knows that another one is coming in.

Cheers

Brian Smith,

what ever happened to the free book offer you posted here several months ago. I was one of the first to sign up, but I haven't seen anything yet.

Thanks