How about a 'VW Store'?

[Kevin K]

A few days ago I posted some 3d furniture items that I created inspired from some images which were posted a few weeks ago.  

You can travel to the bottom of the Forum Topics to the area that notes "Resource Sharing" which is where I posted a few files where I had made an attempt to create in 3d, some of those furniture items from the various I mages. Most of the items I created are perhaps a cut above many of the furniture items in the VW Libraries. A bit more detailed, etc.

 

So....I got to thinking....it may be advantageous to have a sort of "VW Store" where users could upload their offerings and other users would have access to items that are a bit more refined design and material-wise, than those offered in the VW Libraries, with all due respect, of course 🙂 

Items like nice furniture with more realistic and organic detailing than are accessible from the VW Libraries, which could be used in interior Renderings, etc.

The folks creating and uploading these items could perhaps be minimally compensated for their time.  Just like on a site like TurboSquid, except.....the good news...wait for it....:-)  would be that all these items would have been created with native VW tools, so no reason to have to download various files from Internet sites, in various formats, blah-blah-blah, and hope they did import correctly into VW with the materials and textures applied accurately....in short....NOT AS MANY MESHES to deal with!!! 🙂 I appreciate meshes as much as the next guy, but they can wreak havoc when trying to modify them, etc. I am pretty sure I am preaching to the choir on this front!

 

Of course I have no idea whatsoever how this would all work from the standpoint and logistics relating to Nemetschek, etc.

 

Again, just a thought to banter about a little, hopefully with some of you commenting or contributing your thoughts and ideas to what I am pitching.

 

So....if someone wanted a tasteful Frank Lloyd Wright 'Allen Table' along with his famous 'Barrel Chair' design....those kinds of items could be available to pop into a nice dining room interior Rendering!.......

 

Like this!! 

I whipped it up over the weekend.

 

So, let's discuss "The VW store" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jeff Prince]

It would be nice but….

Too niche to be economically viable, at least that’s what a few of us decided during the pandemic.

 

Most manufactures don’t seem interested in providing native vectorworks content, but will sometimes pay people to develop Revit objects & libraries.  I think you know where the rendering market’s preferences are and it ain’t VWX.

 

I have a few Revit contacts that that do contract work for manufactures, it’s pretty low paying and frequently offshored from what I understand.  Same thing for arch viz, it seems like all the big firms are outsourcing to SE Asia and Eastern Europe.  All that equals a race to the bottom in terms of fees.  I can pay someone $5 to model any object I want from a sketch or photograph for less time/money than me browsing google or the resource manager… Ali Baba of digital assets.

[Kevin K]

Ok, Mr. Curmudgeon! 🙂

I understand where you are coming from with your comments.

The thought was not so much about the money, but rather just making nicer, better 3d items available to our VW family, so to speak.

[Kevin K]

Also…..when you say you can pay 5.00 bucks to have anything modeled…are they using VW or some other software??….which if they are…same old issue with having to Import into VW.

[Tom W.]

I think the idea of an online library where VW users can easily share content is a good one + this isn't the first time it's been suggested. See 'Resource Sharing' section in this post:

 

 

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

This is a great idea and one that is long overdue.  I am in complete support of this idea, but the hurdles need to be identified for this idea to reach fruition.  

The first hurdle is Vectorworks (VW) itself.  Also, to the user is it free, purchase or both.

  

How would they implement it?

This was a problem in the past, but going forward with Subscription Based VW, perhaps it is now easy.  For subscription based users, there will already be a billing system in place, but that could be applied to any user for VW Store.  If a model was free, then no charge, if there was a cost then a fee would be applied on the monthly subscription. 

 

For Users

Although model libraries are a dime a dozen, they are not really that targeted.  For example, how many users need a Fire Truck.  Not a good look for an architectural concept design, buy now, burn later.  The best example I can think of is a recent post on the creation of a inexpensive shower head unit that was critical to the completion of a project.  This shower head like many others was available in most hardware stores, so it was being implemented in interior designs, but not available in VW Library.  If the VW store was in place that unit would now be available to other users.

 

For Creators,

Clearly models would have to fit a certain criteria for standardization.  A vetting process would need to be in place.  Creators would either donate for free, ask a small fee or could bid for a client request.  Going forward with Subscription, VW could keep the fee for the model and simply credit the monthly subscription rate as one possible scenario.

 

For Vectorworks

Vectorworks would have the most current database of new interior products, given time to build up the Library.  It is not clear going forward what other benefit it would be to VW, but look at the Forum.  The Forum provides hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of dollars worth of free technical support.  A VW store would open up many opportunities for both VW and Users.

 

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

13 hours ago, Kevin K said:

whipped it up over the weekend.

BTW Kevin,

Nice rendering.  Is that a CINEMA 4D  rendering.

[Jeff Prince]

9 hours ago, Kevin K said:

Ok, Mr. Curmudgeon! 🙂

I understand where you are coming from with your comments.

The thought was not so much about the money, but rather just making nicer, better 3d items available to our VW family, so to speak.

 

 

@Kevin K perhaps you should create a kickstarter to see if you can get it off the ground.  just put AI in the description and some venture capitalist will just give you all the money you need.  My group killed the idea before we got that far.  It was a fun study during the pandemic, so not a total loss 🙂

In regards to you question where I find $5 modelers.  I found mine through projects and relationships, but you can find similar on the various outsourcing websites.  It seems there are a lot of Vectorworks modelers in SE Asia for some reason.  The only problem is the software piracy thing…. Revit folks are plentiful and faster.

[bcd]

Maybe a faster & simpler solution would be to have the TurboSquids support .vwx file formats.

[Kevin K]

@bcd Yeah right....when the sun sets in the East 🙂 

But, yes, that would be great!

[Kevin K]

@VIRTUALENVIRONS Actually that rendering was done in VW.

 I thought about porting it over to c4d, as it would have probably looked better, but....I am trying to keep everything in the VW sandbox at the moment, relating to the 'VW Store' concept 🙂

 

[Kevin K]

@jeff prince Have you actually hired any of those folks you mentioned residing in SE Asia??

How did that work out?

 

[Jeff Prince]

Just now, Kevin K said:

@jeff prince Have you actually hired any of those folks you mentioned residing in SE Asia??

How did that work out?

 

It works great once you find good folks.  I got my best hook up from one of our project partners (a knighted architect of airports).  Architecture is becoming like manufacturing in the 80s & 90s… outsource to the countries with cheap labor to extract more profit.

 

[Kevin K]

Jeff.....you are sounding like a Republican...I would have expected more 🙂

That should get your blood boiling.

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

32 minutes ago, Kevin K said:

Actually that rendering was done in VW.

Really nice.  It has been years since I rendered in VW.  I don't even remember how. 

 

 

[Kevin K]

@VIRTUALENVIRONS HAHAHA....Really? I am shocked!

Your forgot how??

I am quite sure it would come back to you if you re-immersed !

[Jeff Prince]

31 minutes ago, Kevin K said:

Jeff.....you are sounding like a Republican...I would have expected more 🙂

That should get your blood boiling.

 

I'm not advocating for such practices, just observing and adjusting course accordingly.

Keep your slanderous remarks to yourself 🙂

 

[Flair-Studio]

VW university has a section where you can download models, I have to say that lately (since 2022?) the quality and complexity of these models has made them more interesting so hopefully it could also expand from there.

 

But I was thinking it would be much more interesting and fun for existing users to have the possiblilty to share their own models or furniture symbols or other resources.

 

If VW wants to expand into interior design, proper, native VW libraries is something they should consider.

[Kevin K]

@Flair-Studio That sounds hopeful!!

Always good to 'raise the bar' when possible.

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

It would be nice to hear from the "Company from Maryland".   This would likely fall under Technical support.  

[Kevin K]

So......

A little bird told me that the idea of the shop is being discussed and may have some momentum.

 

But there is a question about the viability.....

How many of you would be willing to take the effort to upload content if it is just a free sharing site for VW content?  What about for a split of a tip jar?  And how about if it was a sales site (with a free option) with a split for site management?

 

Or is this just something that everyone would like to be able to download from without reciprocating?

Consider all this and post your thoughts!

-Kev

[VIRTUALENVIRONS]

I am good with the any option.  I think if it starts, it will evolve naturally.

[twk]

It was floated around before, when vectordepot was disbanded (anyone remember that treasure trove? 😁)

I've always wondered why the forum resources page didn't get the same treatment the marionette sub-forum got. It's basically got everything you need for any sharing capabilites.

- Whats New

- Categories

- Ratings

 

I mean, the marionette sub-forum page should basically allow any shareable vectorworks resource to be uploaded.

 

I should probably wishlist this @Gunther?

 

[Gunther]

12 hours ago, twk said:

It was floated around before, when vectordepot was disbanded (anyone remember that treasure trove? 😁)

I've always wondered why the forum resources page didn't get the same treatment the marionette sub-forum got. It's basically got everything you need for any sharing capabilites.

- Whats New

- Categories

- Ratings

 

I mean, the marionette sub-forum page should basically allow any shareable vectorworks resource to be uploaded.

 

I should probably wishlist this @Gunther?

 

@twkPlease go ahead and submit.  Be sure to reference this thread and I'll reference the internal discussion we're having on the topic.  Thanks!

[JustinVH]

Here is a question and there may not be an answer at this point. Often, symbols and resources have specific records or classifications attached that are specific to functionality with reporting or with features within a specific version. If these attachments need changing or updating to work with a new feature or programming change this is the work of the CAD Content Team during the cycle to make sure that those shipped resources will work. If a user submits content to a store or forum page who will be responsible to maintain compatibility with future versions of VW after the initial content is uploaded?

 

Not trying to play devil's advocate here or squash any ideas but personally knowing how much work is involved in maintaining content to get it functional when there are changes from version to version I thought I would raise the thought.