Discussion started here -> link
Stormbeard:
Hi guys,
Stormbeard here (of said emporium)! Good to hear the feedback and very glad the price shocks! You are right Soulfinger, it is far less than the going rate for a sculpt. We are able to manage that by expecting to sell several prints of the same sculpt in the future. We even have options for people who want to start their own lines.
And yeah, sorry the orc is so middle-of-the-road, we wanted to test the system with something everyone is familiar with – though I welcome the challenge of bringing the unique mini you're dreaming of to life, Soulfinger! :-P
Also, the landscapes for gaming would be awesome but it's not the most cost effective way of making them (although I did have an epic game on the landscape in those pictures!)
If anyone has any questions or ideas I'd love to keep the conversation going. I'm only just starting to get real feedback about all this.
4tonmantis:
Hm.. this is interesting.. I have questions and concerns.. while this is probably not the most ideal place, I'm sure these are very common..
1. If I concept and model my own models.. and get a airtight stl ready, does that effect the cost.
2. Who own the rights to the model/concept/design.. I'm definitely not interested in padding out someone else's store with my model… or seeing a variation of the design turn up from the people who get the file..
3. Level of precision, finish, and mold-making.. Some of the stuff I'm looking at doing is cyberpunk.. with very fine details.. which I'm not seeing translate in the above picture. As an example, the links in his loincloth look like they might have been obliterated along the way.
I have a strong suggestion..
With a good camera and a macro lens, take a larger, highly detailed set of pictures.. use a good lighting setup. If we can't see the detail we don't know what we're looking at or what we're considering spending money on. Based on the current pictures.. even if everything else was great (as far as my questions and concerns) I would probably decide against using your service. I hope that I am wrong and that little wires, circuits, and other details are in fact preserved but at the moment, I have no clue.
Stormbeard:
Thanks. Your suggestion is totally fair enough. We are already looking into getting higher resolution photos. I'm also going to put them next to standard miniatures (ones people are familiar with) to show that we print at a higher definition.
1. If you have your own STL file ready to go things get very cheap indeed. We can print for £20.00 GBP-£25 (depending on the number of prints). These are the same quality as masters used for casting and higher definition (obviously) than the standard cast miniatures.
2. Intellectual property (IP) is how we are able to do this at such a low cost. The ability to offer a print of the same STL file to future customers means that essentially we are investing in each and every mini we produce. We offer a range of prices which vary depending on IP. If you want exclusive rights to the form it costs £200.00 GBP, if you share rights (we can print and you can sell casts) it costs £150.00 GBP, and if you want to have it sculpted to your character and don't mind us selling copies (after you get the first one) that's when it only costs £99.00 GBP The last of those three is who we're aiming this service at – and there is even more middle ground for people to negotiate when making their own lines.
3. Regarding precision; I hope to allay your concerns when we have better photos. At this point the best I can tell you is that the miniatures that we put in the post to you are of the same quality that Games Workshop use as their masters for casting – which means its higher precision than the resultant casts. By the same token, casts made from these prints will be of the same quality as resin Games Workshop cast miniatures. This obviously opens up a lot of possibilities for everyone to start making their own lines. This ultimately is what I was aiming for.
I hope I'm not sounding too formal in addressing your points, but I'm a sucker for a numbered discussion! I'm posting these last few comments on a new thread to which I will post the link in the next few minutes. Let's please keep this discussion going, the more feedback I get the more I can tailor what we're doing to what people want and there's plenty of opportunity to get involved at any stage. I really feel this technology has finally got to the stage where it can do what we all want it to do for tabletop gaming.
