Clickable keywords and SEO

A friend pointed out that our competitor websites have clickable keywords on the product pages. Well, I was going to add this feature some time ago anyway, so today I finished it. Now we also have clickable keywords, only better then our competitors. Besides, this seems to be a good thing for Search Engine Optimization. Especially, when keywords go to static pages instead of dynamic pages. Try this page 3D model of a car rim and click on keyword tire. What will happen is that you will be transfered to the page http://www.exchange3d.com/cubecart/3D_catalog_tire.html which looks like a static HTML page. Thanks to apache mod_rewrite tricks!

New feature on the website

Luckily for exchange3D artists I had nothing to do today. Why? Because, it means a coding spree for exchange3d.com. So, I fixed some bugs that I was going to fix for a long time, and added some features. So, why exactly it is a good thing for exchange3d.com artists? Because now, when you type an artist name into the search box at the top-left corner of the home page, the search script will treat this request as if you were searching for models of this artist and include the models by the matching artist at the top of the results page.

20 people read this blog yesterday

This is actually surprising. Seriosly! I did not know anyone actually reads this. I guess, I can write more...

Someone is watching our content with a critical eye

Looks like I will have to be much more careful when accepting bad models for our online store. Someone just started a pretty brutal content watch blog on 3D models and has no mercy for lame models. I thought, we were free of dumb models, but no - they found something on us too: Stupid 3D model on exchange3d.com. Although, I cannot say that I completely agree with the author, for example, this 3D model looks pretty natural to me. Yes, it does not look like a Hollywood star, but, hey, it actually looks like a real woman (less the hands), or maybe I am missing something.... anyway, it is a fun read if you are not foreign to 3D.

To 3D artists who wonder who buys their models online

When artists ask me who would buy 3D models online , I always respond with a long list of industries that involve art, graphics and illustrations in any way. Many of the artists are very surprised to find out that there is use beyond gaming and video production. Here's a comprehensive proof. I Just came across this wonderful article on the blog of a British CG Magazine "3D World". The article discusses how CG and 3D is used in print advertisement and print illustrations.

One year without MS Office (offtopic)

It has been about a year since I used MS Office applications on my laptop. No, I didn't set on a year-long office-deprived journey on purpose. I just did not have a use for it! Although I still have MS Office installed on my laptop, because there was no way to get a decent laptop from Dell without one, I have never opened Outlook, Word or Excel. All my spreadsheets are done online on Google Documents, all my email is in online mail services such as GMail hosted and Zimbra, and for documents I use OpenOffice. I am happy to say, I do not miss waiting nervously for several minutes while Outlook is launching (that's on 2 Ghz/2Gb Core Duo machine)! I do not miss Excel's lousy window management, and most of all I do not miss having to carry around a jumpdrive with all the documents that I need to access from different machines and fearing that I will loose it! I do not miss spending a day on reinstalling, reactivating MS Office and resetting all the preferences every time I reinstall the OS or get a new machine! Goodbye bulky software, hello SAaS (Software As a Service)!

Should I be writing to the blog to up the traffic?

Well, I haven't had time to look at Google analytics for my online store since May. It's a shame, but yes, for the last 4 months I did not track the performance of the website. So, I decided to catch up with the analytics and examined at the graphs. To my surprise, I noticed that in the last month I had more traffic spikes then before. So, I started looking for the events that may have caused the spikes and they correlated 100% with posting to this blog and submiting the posts to digg. Duh! I guess, I have just discovered one of the basic axioms of webmarketing that all professional web marketers know by heart. But hey, I am just a software engineer with a hobby of creating online businesses! Digg it up readers!

Other online CG stores are quick to follow Exchange3D.com

It has only been days after I added YouTube previews to exchange3d.com and 3DExport.com has added this feature too, although AFAIK, mine looks better ;)

Selling animated 3D models online

Way too often I have customers ask me whether a model is animated or is suitable for animation, whether certain parts of a model are rigged, etc. In some cases, this is not a straightforward question to answer. Now that we have video previews, it is easier for a customer to determine whether a model is good for animation and what parts of it are movable. Another great 3D artist shows his 3D models in a YouTube video. Now, as you look at this 3D model of a Transformer robot-car (Lamborghini Gallardo to be exact) there is no doubts that it is rigged for animation, and you can see that everything moves in this 3D transformer.

Switching from DOJO to YUI

Thanks so much to Yahoo! for publishing their YUI library. I have been using Dojo in order to add some AJAX to Exchange3D.com website. Dojo generally worked, but boy, it is heavy and buggy! The best thing about dojo was that it could create dojo objects from existing HTML markup, which allows me to make search engine friendly pages and use AJAX at the same time. But now that YUI is available, I am switching everything to YUI. It is much faster, and much lighter, although it does not have as many features as Dojo.

Youtube video ad for Exchange3D.com

Check this out, one of our artists made a YouTube ad for his new model with reference to our online store where you can buy 3D models.
Click to Watch

Another happy customer

Isn't it a wonderful for a small business owner to start the day with receiving an email like this:

-------------------------------------------
thnx for your wonderful support!!!
we are not used to that!

thnx we will be back.

greetings from marc and ralph
of the netherlands
-------------------------------------------

made my day so far :)

A free 3D box....

Our content admin and I were rolling on the floor laughing today. Someone uploaded a free 3D model of a.... box (!?) No, it does not have drawers or a lid, or a handle... it is just a square box, a primitive. Oh, yeah it was painted brown. And it had a nice big preview image :))

iPhone 3D

The everyone-was-waiting-for-it iPhone have just been release and we already have a 3D model of the iPhone. Check it out!

The website is back

After a week of horrible experience with our hosting provider the 3D models store is back and fully functioning. I do not even know where to begin to describe how bad our provider's customer service was. So, probably I will leave it aside and bury it in the depth of my subconsciousness hoping that it will not come back in nightmares :) If you are particularly interested which hosting provider they should not go to - you can ask. On the other hand, does anyone know a hosting provider that has great customer service, where people do thei rjob thoroughly? I heard they all are like that, even those that charge a lot more than others. On the bright side we did get a huge discount and a coupe of months of free hosting. However, even though we lost about 4 days of revenues, our sales seem to be growing rapidly.

Nokia 8600 "Luna" - tight!

The new phone on the market, and we have already got it in 3D. Usable for games, simulations and video. More here: 3D model of Nokia 8600 Luna

First ZBrush sculptures in our media store

Check out these first ZBrush scultures in our media store

Copyright issues

I am sure any store that sells artistic content has encountered this problem. Music stores had their history with DRM, now they are trying to get rid of it. SnoCap is compiling an enormous database of all music ever produced. U-Tube is just saying that they are not responsible. So how do we make sure that artists publish their own original work and do not steal from other artists and their employers? For instance, one of our artists "3dd max" publishes very high quality 3D models. Recently, he uploaded a bunch of new models that look too good to be done so quickly. But can we be sure these are not his work? Of course, there are ways to check the history of the project file, but do we have to go to the length of getting the original project file form the artist and doubting his honesty? And furthermore, it really is not even feasible to check every single item for originality. Of course, when another artist writes to me saying that these were his models, I get the project files from both artists and punish the thief, but until someone claims their work, what can we do?

3D Model of Koenigsegg CCR low poly

Wow! I have never seen a car like this:
3D Model of Koenigsegg CCR low poly

Hollywood is getting progressively boring

I know, sequels are safer investment, and blah..., but please! Out of eight previews in the theater, five are sequels: Born 3 (The Bourne Ultimatum), Pirates of he Caribbean 3 (The End of The Worlds), Harry Potter N-3, Fantastic Four 2 (Rise of the Silver Surfer), Shrek The Third, and well, Gracie is not a sequel, but sounds like Bend It Like Beckham with a twist. Booooooring...
(good thing they did not show previews of Ocean's 13 and Spiderman 3)

3D Model of debris

You never know what you can model in 3D. Here's an example of an unusual choice: 3D Model of debris

3D Model of 23-mm anti-aircraft gun ZU-23-2 (USSR/Russia)

Check this out, the artist even posted pictures from a war field.
3D Model of 23-mm anti-aircraft gun ZU-23-2 (USSR/Russia)
I just wonder where do they get the blueprints and the photos... these soldiers do not look like Soviet or Russian soldiers.

3D Model of White Tip Shark

3D Model of White Tip Shark

80% Royalty for the first two months to all new publishers

We decided to give 80% royalty to all new publishers for the first two months! When you join Exchange3D as a publisher now, you will be receiving 80% royalties for all your sales (20% just covers our costs really). So, come on and sell your 3D models here.

You artists are too good

And yet another visitor who fell for realistic renders:

"I am looking for a grackle decoy to lure in others for pest control and am curious about the model displayed on your web site. Can you give me information about your models - i.e. size, material used for construction, etc. Grackle season is almost here - would appreciate an answer asap."

I suppose this pasage refers to this 3D Model of a Grackle http://exchange3d.com/cubecart/birds/boattailed-grackle-male/prod_1607.html

I just find it amusing...

Some of our models for free in the 3D World magazine

The latest issue (issue 88) of the 3D World magazine has some of our 3D models for free on the CD that comes with the magazine. There is also a coupon in the magazine for a discount on www.exchange3d.com. More details here
(http://www.3dworldmag.com/page/3dworld?entry=3d_world_issue_88_now)

The first 3D model of the Ford Mustang Giugiaro

A must see, this is the first and so far the only commercially available 3D model of Ford Mustang Giugiaro.
See it here (http://www.exchange3d.com/cubecart/cars/ford-mustang-2008/prod_2903.html)

Another confused visitor :)

Just received this question abot the Bell helicopter model:

Is this a buildable model or somewhat preassembled?
Is this a plastic model?
What is the approximate size of this model?

They do look real don't they? :)

The rest of the newsletter

TSOE.COM has joined us after leaving another well known CG models marketplace. TSOE.COM brings a number outstanding 3D models of various famous yachts. The new yachts are still being uploaded as I am writing this email. You can see his page here: http://exchange3d.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewAff&affId=929

Another new artist is be_fast. He brought an impressive collection of cars, to which he claims that he will add 50 more models by the end of March! You can see all his models on this page: http://exchange3d.com/cubecart/index.php?act=viewAff&affId=654
be_fast also decided to introduce himself with a 1/3 price sale action. He just added a very nice Audi Q5 2007 model which he is selling for only $15. This won't last long though, he is going to sell it for this low price only for one month and after that the model will cost over $40 as it should.

3D artist bleegor keeps creating more 3D models of sci-fi aircraft, space ships and airplains. He also added one 3D model of sci-fi interior for free, you can find it here ( http://www.exchange3d.com/cubecart/architecture/scifi-interior/prod_2775.html)

3D artist Wydler Studios has recently created a number of outstanding models of commercial passenger aircraft as well as several cars andother models. You can see all his models here (http://www.exchange3d.com/cubecart/index.php?page=0&act=viewPublisher&aff_id=480)

I can keep writing about new artist on and on, because we really had hundreds of new artists joined exchange3d.com since last year. I believe one of the main reasons is our customer service, we treat both buyers and sellers as valued customers. As a matter of fact, one of the artists told me today that "he could not hope to be treated better".

Many artists often ask me who buys their models and how the customers use the models. While I do keep in touch with some of the frequent customers, I wanted to find out much more. So, I encourage you to send me an email with short description of how and where you are using the 3D models that you buy on www.exchange3d.com. As a token of appreciation, I will give you additional in-store discounts in response to your emails. Please write to support "@" exchange3d.com

February newsletter

I think my newsletter spamming script choked again. So, if you missed the newsletter, here is the promised coupon that gives 5% off any product in exchange3d.com: FEB-A746R-63722
This coupon is valid until March 20. In order to get 5% off, enter the coupon code on the checkout page.

Makes me feel good

A artist who sells his models on www.exchange3d.com just thanked me and told me that he could only dream about being treated like he is treated on www.exchange3d.com.

Audi Q5 2007 Model for $15 for a month

He did add it today. See the model here: Audi Q5 2007

Watch 3D modeler be_fast

Watch this artist's models: be_fast
He is finishing up a model of Audi Q5 in very high detail with interior. But the main reason to watch his page is that he just told me that he is going to conduct "an experiment", he will be selling this model for $15 for a month.

Sell your tutorials

Also I added a new category of products that you can sell/buy in exchange3d.com: Tutorials.

Lightwave 9

Just added Lightwave 9 to the list of formats in the store. All this means is that you can now sell Lightwave 9 models and buy Lightwave 9 models on exchange3d.com

100% royalty to all new publishers for 2 months

Vlad and I decided yesterday that we will be giving 100% for all new publishers for the first two months, not only to those who come from TS. This is not an official announcement yet, but it is already happening. I just modified the store to make it happen. I might change it to 95%, because PayPal and payment processing systems charge us for the payments. So giving 100% would mean paying extra

Artists keeping other artists from our store to avoid competition

Now, this is something I would not expect at all! Artists keeping each other out of our website to avoid competition! I just found out from one of our new artists that his buddy, who have been an artist on exchange3d.com for a couple of years did not tell him where he sells his models. Not only he did not tell him, he said, "I won't tell you", because he did not want the competition! So, the guy had to find out by himself, where his buddy was selling his models.

Most profitable 3D models on exchange3d.com

Following the previous post, here is the list of most profitable models, the numbers in brackets show how much sales each model generated within the last 6 months:

1. Male Anatomy Collection 6.91%
2. 3d model of female anatomy collection 3.49%
3. 3d model of cat skeleton 2.43%
4. Dog Anatomy 2.29%
5. Civil water transport collection 1.63%
6. horse skeleton new 1.54%
7. dog skeleton new 1.54%
8. Scion xB 1.44%
9. Ford Mustang GT 2005 1.32%
10. Mustang Shelby GT500 1.22%
11. 3d model of Human skeleton 1.15%
12. Cow Anatomy 1.14%
13. General Atomics RQ-1 Predator UAV surveillance drone 0.93%
14. Gherkin building (London, UK) 0.86%
15. Three deck sea motor boats - Sea Queen 0.86%
16. Human Skeleton 0.86%
17. 3d model of motor yacht - ANASTASIA 0.86%
18. Hummer H2 SUV 0.85%
19. Roman Orders 0.84%
20. Nokia N93 0.77%
21. Skyscraper pack 500 0.71%
22. Eagles 0.70%
23. Hummer H3 SUV 0.67%
24. Office Collection Vol. 2 0.64%
25. Hummer H2 SUT 0.62%
26. Microphone Shure 55SH Series II (UNIDYNE II style) 0.56%
27. Doves 0.56%
28. Ford Mustang GT 2003 0.55%
29. General Atomics MQ-9 Predator B UAV 0.52%
30. Peterbilt 379 0.49%
31. The most perfect copy of JP T. Rex 0.46%
32. A380 Airbus Industrie 0.46%
33. human female Mia (-40%) 0.43%
34. Fantasy Warrior 0.43%
35. hi speed motor boat - COBRA (with autors drawing on board!) 0.43%
36. Volkswagen polo 2005 0.42%
37. Male (low poly) 0.42%
38. Honda CRF450R 0.42%
39. Volvo S80 0.42%
40. Dragon 0.41%
41. FORD MUSTANG GT 06 0.40%
42. CF-18 0.40%
43. Bed Room 0.38%
44. circulatory & heart & body 0.37%
45. MINI Cooper 0.37%
46. Lincoln Navigator 2005 0.36%
47. Nissan 350z 0.36%
48. sail boat - Princess 0.36%
49. 3d model of the hi speed sea motor boat - Scorpion 0.36%
50. 3d model of football hellmet 0.36%

How to improve sales of your models

Artists are often asking me how they can sell more and earn more in exchange3d.com. I decided to give out some statistical data that might help you decide what models to sell. This is the list of 50 most popular models, sorted by number of sales in the period from May 2006, to February 2007.

1. Ford Mustang GT 2005
2. Three deck sea motor boats - Sea Queen
3. 3d model of motor yacht - ANASTASIA
4. Scion xB
5. iMac computer from Apple
6. Mustang Shelby GT500
7. Bed Room
8. earth
9. Roman Orders
10. Nokia N93
11. Hummer H2 SUV
12. 3d model of a official football ball NFL - Wilson
13. Wheel (Falken Azenis RT-125 tire, rim)
14. Motorola V635 Cell Phone
15. Male Head (European, White male)
16. low poly car - Nissan 240sx
17. Airbus A-320
18. DVD Case
19. New Year's tree
20. Male Anatomy Collection
21. Peterbilt 379
22. low poly car Ford - focus
23. Hummer H2 SUT
24. hi speed motor boat - COBRA
25. MINI Cooper
26. Chevrolet Caprice Classic Police
27. Hummer H3 SUV
28. Easy chair v1
29. Ford mustang Cobra R 2000 (Low Poly Model)
30. sail boat - Princess
31. Microphone Shure 55SH Series II
32. Male (low poly)
33. Ford Mustang GT 2003
34. 3d model of cat skeleton
35. Honda Civic 2005 TUNING
36. 3d model of the hi speed sea motor boat - Scorpion
37. 3d model of football hellmet
38. Letto Panchetta bedroom set
39. Ferrari 456 GT
40. Sony Ericsson W300i
41. BMW M3
42. The sea motor boat
43. Rooster
44. Colnago C50 Road Bike
45. Human Skeleton
46. Tractor Wheel (hi-poly, low-poly)
47. Baseball Cap
48. FORD MUSTANG GT 06
49. 3d model of Human skeleton
50. A380 Airbus Industrie

GMax files

Now you can upload GMax files of your models to exchange3d.com. I just added this format.

Welcoming new publishers

So, today Vlad and I decided that we want new artists to join our website Exchange3D.com so much that we will offer 100% royalty for two months to any artist who switches to our store from Turbosquid. Welcome!

Well, I've wanted to open a blog for thoughts about exchange3D.com for a long time, but was lazy to install blogging software on www.exchange3d.com website. I open one on CGsociety which seemed like a good place to host such a blog, but what a bummer, they have virtually no features on their blog. NO HTML editor, NO feeds, NO ability to reply to blogs... What a waste!