Mischief and other things

[Faery_Light]

Yes, Studio, exactly!
And you can decide how big you want your promos to show off your stuff and not worry about size restrictions.
My server has store capabilities but I prefer to sell here, all that business end is too much for my fuzzy mind to cope with now.

 

[StudioMartillo]

The part of the biz aspect that really irks me is reporting income to IRS and doing tax returns etc. I don't have to do that stuff at all because I have no income. I think it would cost less than $100/yr to have a basic web-site on my ISP and I would make it real basic. Yeah, just promo pics and descriptions and links to the zip files. There are still a lot of ideas I want to work on.
Well I should finish my Jazz Trio poses and then I want to make a crazy prop called Bum-Go, which will be a grocery cart welded to a go-cart with a little gas engine, a scuffed up football helmet, and inline skates for M4. The spring weather has been so nice my computer hasn't been touched in weeks but I know some people want the poses, and the Bum-Go will be just for laughs. This issue of ShareCG selling stuff makes me mad. So I should keep the faith and put my toys out at my own cost.

 

[Faery_Light]

My income is retirement SS and not enough to pay taxes on.
However, when my sales rise above $500.00 in a year it is taxed.

Running my own store would be a headache but the freestuff is not too bad, just keeping pages updated now and then.

 

[StudioMartillo]

Well isn't HiveWire required to deduct taxes on all sales? It they do all the accounting needed to track each vendor's sales and 'deductables' that is really very nice. It's lot of work, you know. I have to live on a trust-fund but it was an inheritance and has never been taxed. Very tight budget but one gets used to it. Live simple!

 

[Faery_Light]

Yes, HiveWire has to deduct taxes but when we earn the amount that is taxable they send a W9 or what ever it is called, so we can file our taxes.
They do all that stuff one would have to do if they have their own store.
I'd rather pay their commission than take 100 % and have all the hassle on my own.

And it is a great place to vendor at, they treat you right.

 

[StudioMartillo]

In the three years or so that I tried selling stuff, the total sales never came to $500. But there were only two products and one was dropped in the first year. And that item was downloaded over 650 times from my freebies on ShareCG, which by the way, are all gone now.

 

[Faery_Light]

I think the ones who make the most are those who model as well as texture.

Texture work is not all that easy and it really takes a lot of time to do it right so I don't have a lot at once.
Model work is not my thing and I envy those who have that ability.

 

[StudioMartillo]

It seems like for most things there has to be at least some texturing. One of the strange things about textures is that some will work in Poser and not in DS, like procedural textures. Modeling is definitely my thing. It's the part that's the most fun to me and if it wasn't for that I probably wouldn't even be interested in this hobby. But creating scenes is where the artistic expression comes out and of course that's the ultimate goal. Well I should think so anyway. I use Lightwave 2015 Modeler for building everything. I only use Lightwave Layout for creating textures and it's very powerful for that. But to get a final texture for a part of a model I also have to use CorelDraw for the vector work, like creating the shapes that match the UV map, and also Corel Paintshop to manipulate the raster graphics in order to get the final thing all put together. I can only do Poser. Trying to make stuff work in DS too would fry my brain.

 

[RAMWolff]

Well if you have a great rep in modeling, rigging and what not but aren't crazy or even that good at texturing often times a popular texture artist will see your stuff and go "HMMM, I can make this look crazy good" and WHAM... instant team ups I know I'll never have the time as long as I'm working to really get the whole rigging and weight map thing down pat so until those tools are made even more precise and easy I have this collection of items that just sits there. I actually like to UV Map a little bit. Like Chris, I treat it as an artistic challenge! lol

 

[Faery_Light]

I would love to model but can't wrap my brain around it.
Texturing is not as hard for me to do so I stick with it and sometimes do a few face morphs with the morph brush in Poser.
One time I did create a head in Blender but after a crash on that computer I did not got back to finish it (I back up).

The way my hands and eyes are getting I know the day is coming when I won't be able to do this anymore and that makes me sad.

I do hope that time is still some years away though as I'm still young (71) and should have a bit of mileage left.

 

[StudioMartillo]

I don't usually do any organic types in modeling. You know, people, animals and like that. I've tried some. Ooof! Well I did an OK cat once. The weight mapping tools in Lightwave are pretty lame still. Surely it could work better. Maybe with enough experimentation I could get it to work better. I'm happy to pay for characters that are well done. That is some REAL talent there. But machines and music instruments are fun enough. My Jazz Piano is made as a character so that the lid and keyboard could be rigged and that's easy. No weight maps needed. Just name the parts and in Poser name the bones the same and you've got it.

 

[StudioMartillo]

I've got my freebie site started. Doing it with Drupal instead of MS Visual Studio. For now there is no membership requirement and the pages are clean and basic. Might work on the look of it though. Drupal is super easy. A little strange on some points, but once the terminology sunk in it went quick. There's no new stuff posted yet, and a couple of things that were already on SCG need to be worked on before posting. Here's a link if you want to see what it's like so far..
Studio Martillo Home | Studio Martillo

 

[Faery_Light]

Looking good.
I like that has simple graphic background.
I used to try to do sparkled ones or with flashing banners but now that stuff gives me the dizzies.

 

[Miss B]

You're off to a good start. One suggestion though, the texture of the floor/rug in the Jazz Piano render is too busy. It's distracting the viewer from the Piano. I think a simpler pattern would work much better. Otherwise, everything is working well.

 

[StudioMartillo]

OK. Now to get some new toys in there, and then I'll add a thread to the freebie forum

 

[Faery_Light]

Had a busy day, went to open an account at a bank that will be closer to where we will be moving.
Then went to pick up a couple things for the new house and took them to it.
Then shopping and now really tired.
By this time next week we will be there.

 

[Miss B]

Good, and this last week will fly FL. Before you know it, you'll be settled in your new abode.

 

[Alisa]

Yay - almost there is good!!

 

[RAMWolff]

It may be exhausting right now but from what I remember you mentioning about the mold and what not, this will be totally worth it. Take good care of yourself and don't forget to rest and keep hydrated.

 

[Faery_Light]

All day I have had a strange feeling that all was not well with my brother, I was right.
His daughter called to let us know he is in the hospital again.
She went to work early as usual and her husband got up a bit later and found my brother slumped over and unresponsive in his chair.
He tried several times to get a response but my brother was still out.
So he called his wife home and when she saw my brother still unresponsive and had wet his pants as well, she called 911.
He was coming around by the time they arrived but was not able to talk coherently.
He will be in hospital at least overnight, it was another mini-stroke.

I am stressed again...sigh.