Looking at 3D Marketplaces

With all the discussion about mesh content and freebies on Xstreet let's look outside the box, and not at Rendrosity, DAz3D or SpeedTree but at other marketplaces for models. Below are four sites from the two largest CAD vendors & one from Google (Yes, Google Skecthup is CAD). You will note how much, if not all is free, and how much is provided by manufacturers. If I am an Architect or a Mechanical Designer I will not pay for a representation of products and the associated meta data (specs, price, logistics, etc) to incorporate it into my work anymore then I would buy a catalog.

Now that is not true when the digital product is "the product" like a photograph or a music track is it?

How much content in a virtual world is a product and how much is a representation of a product? The differentiation is not defined in copyright law but in standard business practices and what makes the author/owner/distributor money or gives them a competitive advantage for their core business. Do auto manufacturer's charge whenever a car is shown in a movie or do they pay the studio to have it shown? Rates paid are based on eyeballs, be it to consumers or the professionals (specifiers). Can Linden Lab become a platform to promote RL products via representations or will it just be a 3D Napster? That question was not settled in 2007 when the corporate experiments tested the platform.

It appears LL has now decided there is some value in supporting 3D meshes? Why? They can support (ie: charge) partners, the architects & specifiers of the look and feel of corporate & branded virtual workspaces and worlds to play in the big leagues. I doubt Herman Miller would object to the use of their chairs in the corporate board room of a Fortune 500 company since many manufactures have high prim mesh models for free, with meta-data.

That leaves the Main Grid, millions of potential eyeballs, the consumers (LL's definition of residents, not mine). Here I believe the only thing the Lab can do is to control what gets into SL like a network controls what gets on TV or radio. If you want a copy for the public/consumer SL Grid, you will need to buy it on Xstreet, not upload it for 10 linden and then make it a freebie, and you will only be able to buy it from whoever has the provable license rights.

You may notice I no longer see Linden Lab as proponents of the free and open internet model anymore, not even a competitive hosting company, but like an Ad Agency, Television Network, ISP or worse a Bank.

You can't mix and match the two business models or it will all be a free for all. LL is not Google, Autodesk or Dassault with a growing core business to support being the distributor of millions/billions of objects. Linden Lab cannot ignore professional 3D meshs but if they don't restrict imports they will be the 3d Napster, swamped and sued to death.

Take a look.

Dassault Systems 3DVia

Google 3D Warehouse

SolidWorks 3D ContentCentral

Autodesk Content 3D Warehouse

Autodesk Seek


There is hope though, in the OpenSource/OpenSim model of independent avatars, distributed storage and IP controls.