Thoughts on previews

[Dominic]

I've been pondering this subject for a while now, so I thought I might as well post it. The thing is this. I work on many projects for my (potential) models, and some of those get as far as a test build, and some of those get refined, and... so on.

What I have been wondering about is whether to post my progress, either here or in my (hitherto neglected) blog or not. My thinking is this, maybe I have a great idea, post a prototype that (given my speed) is still a few months away from getting released, and somebody else might steal my idea.

First off, I don't think anyone here would do that, but who knows... I think I am a little insecure here, because I have (or rather) had dreams of making paper models as dayjob - far-fetched, I know, and I grew some realism since then, but the dream is still there. Anyway, I think this made be shy about releasing previews and the likes.

Then again, what would happen if someone stole an idea? I mean, Every company, from FDG to WWG, has their own system, and I havn't seen anyone copying TLX or DragonLinks...

So, have you guys had similar thoughts, or am I the only one making a fuss?

[Tommygun]

Well you could make a photographic record of the whole process and write down some notes along the way.
But don't post anything until you are very close to finishing.

[paladin]

Satrek, I always think along the same line.

For me, there is a simple rule to that: if you wanna go the professional route (that means: having projects and a biz-plan, to SELL things in the future), keep your ideas a secret. Strict secret. The better your ideas are (e.g. innovative gaming/modular system), the more you should be silent about them - until final commercial release in a more or less secure way (problems of blatant rip-offs and gross piracy AFTER commercial release are harsh enough ... ).

This seems to be selfish and ugly capitalistic thinking.

But it's because another rule holds true: every idea/image/media posted on the internet is given away FOR FREE. Even if you try to protect your work by licences (e.g. Monthly Hoard non-commercial (!) share-alike), who could control that ? Don't be surprised, if you release something to the "community" and an good samaritan (you don't even know) thinks of it as a clever idea, to sell it SOMEWHERE on the internet. You won't even know, only by sheer accident. Alot of "good samaritans" are even so naive in regard to copyright law, that you hardly could call them an good samaritan. They just don't know it better.

I know, it's sad. You want to get feedback and proper advice for your projects. Every artist needs encouragement (well, the most need). But if you wanna have a professional stance on your projects, take care of them. Know, where and when to publish.

This holds true for EVERY media on the internet.