lee81070

Forgive me, but after reading that contract over and over, I can't see anything that locks you in to T3DS exclusively... There's a clause that states the agent agrees to allow the artist to continue to sell their files etc at other venues while the agreement is in place, which to me gives you authority to upload your files anywhere you see fit. It simply says you may not remove existing uploads for a period of 5 years.

It's really much simpler... we are creating something, in the same way an artist creates a painting. Doesn't matter that it's digital, we are still "producing" something. A plumber does not create the boiler, he fixes it. It was already a product, albeit a broken one. And the point raised about sales tax... you have to pay it on any sales you make of 3D models on Turbosquid I believe, so as far as the IRS goes, digital creations are taxable products.

Of course it's a product. Just because it's in electronic form does not mean it's not a product. You are creating something, not providing a service (which the dictionary defines as "the act of helpful activity")... For this to be a service, there would never be any end result, just the continous act of modelling, texturing and rendering. Would you say people like photographers, authors and musicians are creating a product or providing a service? The simple fact is you labour to produce an image or images, which you pass to the client for money. Once the money is received, ownership is transferred, just like any other purchase of so called "tangible" goods.

No, the store is still receiving payment for goods... how you pay for them is irrelevant, the fact is they receive payment for their goods. Now if a client were to say "I don't want to pay you a deposit because I don't have any money" would you honestly undertake a project for them? I know I wouldn't. I'd rather do 10 smaller jobs that I know I'll get paid for than one big one where payment is a game of roulette... And as a freelance, what guarantee do you ever have they will pay you in the end? Clients know that the legal route is costly and ends up with no-one but the sharks winning so contracts are really not worth a damn, and it's all very well withholding final images, but to be honest they are worthless to you, they only have worth if the client is prepared to pay for them. They could quite easily respond to the non-release of final renders by saying "fine, we won't have them then"... so you are left with an unpaid invoice for work done, with no hope of recompense for time spent. Until you build up a good relationship with a client, always be wary of over-exposing yourself financially. I've been freelance for over 10 years, and only once have I not been paid... and that was because the company went into liquidation.

I am for real... No, I'm providing a PRODUCT, one I expect to get paid for. They are buying an image. Do you go into a computer store, ask for a laptop and say "I'll pay for this when I get paid"? Why should what we do be any different?

Agree wholeheartedly about agreeing a schedule, but receiving an up-front deposit shows you the client is serious about the job and is not just speculating. Any company that refuses the deposit or cannot self-finance a pitch should throw up huge alarm bells and would be one to avoid.

On larger jobs I tend to break the invoices up into smaller chunks, especially if the job will take longer than 4 weeks and submit them at strategic points throughout the course of the job. I always start with a "deposit invoice" of usually 15-25% of job total for new and existing clients and once they've made the initial payment, work will start. It secures commitment from both parties and have never had a client default on payment.

I have a project where I need to create a sphere with a hair/fur modifier and then explode it. Ideally the PArray blast with gravity effect is the best solution for the blast itself, but I cannot get the hair to render on the exploded objects. I tried converting the hair to mesh and all that did was cause Max to crash. Using 3DSMax 2010 with Mental Ray. Any ideas so very welcome.

The only thing that really strikes me is the furniture, specifically the chairs and sofa. The arms are way too thin to be a) comfortable and b) practical. Apart from that, nice atmosphere

What sort of issues? They work fine for me, it's just the keys are mapped to Windows keys... i.e. the CMD key works the same as the Windows key, as it's in the same location. FN keys all work if you have it set up properly as does the eject button. As for screen capture, why not use the on-screen keyboard, under the accessibility tools? If these keys aren't working properly for you, it sounds like you may need to reinstall bootcamp. I've been using it ever since it was first included (and am in XP on my MacBook Pro typing this) and have to say it's the best way to run PC apps, as you get the full power of the CPUs and hardware, whereas virtual emulation software require more system resources to run two OSes on top of each other.

Ha! Thanks for that, I didn't even notice.... there was a stray light fitting & photometric just in front of the pillar, but no hole for the light fitting. And the plant is a rubber plant, it's just reflecting waaayyy too much, so I'll consign that to a more shaded area. Many thanks, it's always good to get fresh perspective

I've recently been asked to do a few interior visuals for a company's new office....This is what I have so far. Some expert critique would be very handy as I would like to make a good impression with this company. And I have a thick skin, so don't worry about offending me, cos you won't The blurring at the back is intentional as the work is subject to a confidentially agreement so I cannot show brands etc, but am allowed to showcase it.

A quick and easy way of locating which texture a missing bitmap is assigned to...especially if the material editor slots are full. Actually, while I'm at it, the ability to have as many material slots as I want, not just 24

Well, I came to it from the unread messages page and missed the sub-board where the post was... Brad, have you changed the mapping from screen to cylindrical or shrink-wrap? If you do that then increase the tiling, you should see more of the image. If you still have problems, drag the instance from the material editor to the override slot, as it may not update properly.

edit: just realised you're using vray. My bad