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Post by lightning on Dec 26, 2015 1:53:14 GMT -9
As modding is something I have not yet done, I am wondering what to look out for when creating papermodel files (pdf's) that will either help the process of modding or at least not hinder it?
Right now I am designing the pdf files with separate layers for cut, fold and textured parts. So you could print an "empty" all white version with just lines. Or you could hide the fold layer when you are using cut files.
Anything else needed or to be aware of?
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Post by bravesirkevin on Dec 26, 2015 3:20:19 GMT -9
As modding is something I have not yet done, I am wondering what to look out for when creating papermodel files (pdf's) that will either help the process of modding or at least not hinder it? Right now I am designing the pdf files with separate layers for cut, fold and textured parts. So you could print an "empty" all white version with just lines. Or you could hide the fold layer when you are using cut files. Anything else needed or to be aware of? Modders are surprisingly resourceful, so they don't need much... But they do need PDFs that are not locked and they do need some indication from you about whether they're allowed to mod and what limitations are in place. If you build up a big enough fan base that modding becomes common place, then you might consider following in Dave Graffam's footsteps and also selling PSD versions of your sets, but for these to actually be useful to the average joe, you'd have to have made them that way. My own PSDs would not be very useful, so I've never released them.
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Post by oldschooldm on Dec 26, 2015 8:17:32 GMT -9
As modding is something I have not yet done, I am wondering what to look out for when creating papermodel files (pdf's) that will either help the process of modding or at least not hinder it? Right now I am designing the pdf files with separate layers for cut, fold and textured parts. So you could print an "empty" all white version with just lines. Or you could hide the fold layer when you are using cut files. Anything else needed or to be aware of? Separate layers for construction features (like you list) is a huge help. Honestly - doing that and respecting print area restrictions (registration marks) is great! Everything else is gravy. Here's a special bonus wish (that lead to Dave sometimes releasing PSDs) leave the "white-glue-space" overlays on a layer as well. You know, the big white spaces that say "glue dormer here." For those of us who make interiors/backs to buildings, having "replacing" those white spaces with texture is a lot of work, and never looks as good as the texture that we know is hiding underneath those white polygons. In short: grant full access to the lovely textures you're making. Otherwise, bravesirkevin has it right - be very clear about what permissions you're granting. Can a kitbasher distribute modified versions of your model/textures? Under what conditions? Personally, I'm convinced that an overly restrictive kitbashing policy is a large portion of what killed WWG. I know there are several kitbashers that used to have the WWG forums as their home who have moved here partially as a result of being overly restrictive in several ways - even after the company has been all but officially dead for several years. I'll leave it to the designers here to indicate what they think about kitbashing policies and it's effect on sales. I'm pretty sure there's a positive correlation.
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Post by lightning on Dec 27, 2015 8:46:35 GMT -9
I have not thought about distribution rights. I was under the impression that kitbashers just do it for their own fun.
Do they add textures and then give away for free/resell the full package on their own? Not sure if I am comfortable with that as I am not doing this as a hobby but as an income source. Obviously they are free to do what they want with their own creation but I guess there is the problem of integrating their part with my set.
My dream initially (when i started years ago) was to publish on a donation basis (hoping that users who would be able to give something back in appreciation of my work would balance the ones who weren't) but after millions of downloads and 1 donation I came to the conclusion that it was not a viable option. But maybe the awareness has changed in the last 10 years. I think Tinkering Tom has posted somewhere that the pay-what-you-want concept on DriveThruRPG is working for him. That could be an indication.
I think I need more input as I am new to this area :-)
I did some research on locking PDF's. I only knew about password to open PDF. From what I have seen so far there are much more options. I have to test if you can prevent the editing of existing pages but adding of new pages. Then the kitbasher could distribute his own pages and instructions on how to merge it, right? Would that be a solution?
On the other hand I don't believe it's worth the effort of making stuff "secure" as any protection has been cracked. Rather I hope for an honest and appreciative client base and not worry about the bad guys in the world.
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shep
Eternal Member
Red Alert! Shields up! LENS FLARE!!!
Posts: 1,260
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Post by shep on Dec 27, 2015 9:10:54 GMT -9
I did some research on locking PDF's. I only knew about password to open PDF. From what I have seen so far there are much more options. I have to test if you can prevent the editing of existing pages but adding of new pages. Then the kitbasher could distribute his own pages and instructions on how to merge it, right? Would that be a solution? On the other hand I don't believe it's worth the effort of making stuff "secure" as any protection has been cracked. Rather I hope for an honest and appreciative client base and not worry about the bad guys in the world. Forget locking PDFs. Since I cannot draw, I'm basically a modder, too, and I have a tool that unlocks everything PDF-wise. So, you can forget about locking PDFs, anyone with said tool will be able to break your lock. On the other hand, if you want modders to work with your creations, you shouldn't lock them in the first place, as that's not the signal you'd want to send out. Think about it like this: "Hey people, come work with my files, but you won't be able to 'cause I locked 'em..." Basically, what I personally need is a crisp resolution of 300dpi, an unlocked PDF, and a clear white background (so I can easily seperate parts or minis from it). For all the rest, I have my trusty Photoshop at my side...
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Post by bravesirkevin on Dec 27, 2015 9:44:24 GMT -9
I have not thought about distribution rights. I was under the impression that kitbashers just do it for their own fun. Do they add textures and then give away for free/resell the full package on their own? Not sure if I am comfortable with that as I am not doing this as a hobby but as an income source. Obviously they are free to do what they want with their own creation but I guess there is the problem of integrating their part with my set. Kitbashing is quite varied. In most cases it would be something that folks do for their own use and their own enjoyment, but when a publisher has quite a large and active fanbase then a kitbashing community will tend to grow within it and then you'll get folks wanting to share their work and wanting to use the custom pieces that other folks have made. The Fat Dragon kitbashing community has a lot of interesting stuff coming out of it, and some of those kitbashers even make money by selling their reskins of Tom's geometry, and as far as I can tell, this all happens with Tom's blessing. The WWG kitbashing community was quite another story... There are folks around here who'd be very quick to tell you that they're a case study of what not to do. Basically, they banned the release of any and all kitbashes, but did allow folks to submit their kitbashes which would then go on sale at the WWG shop after they'd been thoroughly screened and deemed worthy. This turned into a massive problem when the folks doing the screening stopped paying attention and kitbashes stopped being available and anyone attempting to release their modifications on their own quickly felt the wrath of the ruthless moderation team on their forum. This naturally led to a lot of bad blood. It's certainly worth considering exactly what you'd like to see happening if a modding community does spring up in your fanbase and be clear about what you're okay with and what you're not okay with. For my own part, I'd say that you want to encourage people do stuff that complements what you're doing without competing with it. If they're releasing stuff that works with your stuff without making your existing set redundant and they're releasing it free then that's only going to encourage people to buy your stuff and that's good. If people can just use the kitbash instead of buying your set, then that's probably bad. In my experience, PWYW is useful and has a lot of benefits, but it's mostly just a different and slightly profitable way of giving stuff away for free. If you're going to treat this as a serious business exercise, rather than just a hobby, then you really do need to have a good mix of well-priced premium products in your catalogue, and then use free products and PWYW products as loss leaders to get eyes on that catalogue. The various security measures on PDFs weren't really designed with folks like us in mind, and the role they play is mostly for those in the corporate scene. They're there to prevent tampering in documents that need to maintain their fidelity all the way along a chain of custody, and they're there to allow designers to send proofs that can't be printed, but for us the benefits of locking a PDF are quite minimal. Locking doesn't do anything to prevent piracy unless you've also incorporated some sort of identifying mechanism like a watermark that would incriminate the person who started the distribution process. OBS has the means to do this, but only if your upload is a plain PDF, which in itself is quite inconvenient as most sets would be better packed as zip files. Even if you do have features like that, you're not going to get much protection out of it since anyone who is savvy enough has the means to bypass your lock and the piracy scene is quite full of such savvy people.
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Post by oldschooldm on Dec 27, 2015 23:06:19 GMT -9
Adding a few thoughts to the excellent ones already here. ...I am not doing this as a hobby but as an income source ... after millions of downloads and 1 donation I came to the conclusion that it was not a viable option. I know you don't say this here, but let me address something other folks at your stage are often thinking - that there are (many) lost sales in those millions of downloads. It's not real. There's no such thing as a "lost sale" that can be "recovered" because of supposed copy protection. Those millions of free downloads without donations are proof of this point if you think about it: 99.999% of those were not lost sales - those people unloaded it ONLY because it was free. Don't confuse those with any prediction of income. Those who are honest will pay you. Those who are not will torrent (steal) your stuff anyway - you can't prevent that - don't waste time worrying about them. Just find ways to lead them back to you and your stuff when they finally grow up enough to care/want more. Please mark your kits with copyright notices, urls on where to see/buy your stuff and make it clear what the re-use rules are. Since you started this thread being "pro-modder", I thought I'd just point out that active honest modders generate interest and valid sales - so getting in their way in a vain attempt to "prevent lost sales" is counterproductive. You seem to intuitively understand this from in your comments. You might consider encouraging modding by providing contact information in the re-use section, adding "If you'd like to redistribute your modification, contact me at name@domain.com and we'll talk." For example, some folks allow republishing of mods to free (promotional) kits as long as the new product points back to their web/product page... [Share and Share alike in the Creative Commons sense...]
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Post by lightning on Jan 7, 2016 8:40:45 GMT -9
Thanks for all the great comments. I definitely will have to put some thought into the copyright/legal part of my website and update my page layout templates with the appropriate info.
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