litleboy Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 I agree with Eddie, legal software it's more an issue to eliminate competition in a easy way. Any serious artists will try to get the license if he see that will stop him from get more jobs. probably that will mean a big expense but just once, he can keep the same soft for more than 3 years easy with no problems (before he needs the newest version). in other words, once someone asks him for the legal soft he will just go and get it or find jobs somewhere else. But I do think the organization could request licenses, for the simple reason that someone using illegal soft ca be catch at any time, and that means he will compromise the current job. it will be a huge job to put together something like this but we have the advantage of this kind of forums. Question. Can a company share, borrow, lend, etc. its software to its employees, or freelancers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 A company can do whatever it wants with its software and its employees so long as it's got enough licenses. But I do think that software legality would need to be included in the setup. It's imporssible to conduct fair trade when some of the people are breaking the law. Regardless of how everybody feels about Autodesk, Adobe and Microsoft, the law requires this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
litleboy Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 so, if the company owns 30 licenses (just to say) it can share with the current freelancers to finish a job?. and when they are done, just get it back. (I'm assuming the freelancers will be part of the company during the current job) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJLynn Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 It would depend on the people's status as employees and the particular software. It would require a careful reading of the license terms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
znotlin Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 I guess that's a compliment? My ship doesn't lean to the right or left. But, I'm voting for Obama if you are curious. By the way, I don't believe in the use of pirated software. But, are you working for Autodesk or something? That multi-billion dollar operation isn't hurting one bit. Or, is it that you just want to find an easy way to block your competitors? Aww shucks, and here I thought we were making nice. My point was, if people are putting together a semi-official company, where someone is signing their name that they're doing work, and then farming it to an employee/sub, they're potentially opening themselves up to problems if that employee/sub isn't following the law - esp. the more formal the relationship becomes (ie. drawing assets from a central database/server, etc...). How are you gonna get someone to feel comfortable organizing the body of this thing, if you can't establish this very basic of threshholds (practicing within the law) for the people participating. And no one yet has joined the conversation about peole joining at say the $40/hr mark, and then shipping that component to Asia for $5/hr. That would be the best way to maximize your own advantage and do the least amount of work - and isn't that everyone's aim? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic H Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 jeez, you guys have so many things to worry about with this that go against pretty much the whole market and industry practice thats its destined to fail i reckon. dont want to be a wet blanket, (especially since im not involved ) but.... Talk of the following should ring alarm bells imo Fixed prices - Self explanatory,as in you may have some luck with a small group of interested businesses but as soon as a business with external pressure (developer for instance) wants the best price they will go elsewhere. Legal software checks - Its wont make a difference to you or your product, so why worry? Let Autodesk take that up. Autodesk doesnt pay you to do warez patrols, why waste your time? the onus is up to the individual (freelancers you co-op with) to have legal software and they take the risk. Keeping it Local - Nice idea but why bother to set it up online and not make use of the huge numbers of skilled freelancers globally? I know it goes against the original idea but you are cutting out so many people, just because they are locally based doesnt mean they are good or reliable. Are you aiming to only do work for local companies? or would you be open to doing jobs for the UK and Australian markets considering teh US dollar is pretty weak at the moment, outsourcing to teh US is now an option? Also If I was working for you at 40 perhour Id be outsourcing again and taking the 30 or so left over for myself, thsi would be easy if it was only modelling stuff as well. What are you gonna do about that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 I guess I am wondering who has all the work that would make this... wel... work? It really doesn't seem like there is an untapped need here at least not from a hiring stand point. If I need help modeling I can call many people. I don't need it that often and if I did I really would look for the cheapest/best help I could find. Now I do have a list of names, people I have talked with in the past who may be the first I would call but in 7 years of doing this I have only called 1 person to help and that was Alex from Intereo Visuals (I think thats the right name). He sent my info to a guy in the Ukraine and it came back great. It was very cheap but I didn't include it in my pricing I bought it. Not the client. But who has all the work? I don't. I could use work here and there but I have little to send out. I am wondering if there is more interest in doing this from people who may benefit from getting work than people who need help. And outsourcing really only seems to make sense if you have the volume to affect pricing. Even if I hire a guy to model for $6 per hour I would be loosing that $6 ever hour if I don't do it. So if it means I can take on more work then maybe I would do it but if it means I am just hiring a modeler to do work I could do then I am loosing money. I guess I am still not sure what the point of this is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hunt Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Geo-graphically there is the volume of work, locally not always. Which brings up my question on who is responcible for getting the work in? Any/everyone in the co-op or only the ones setting the business up? If so who gets the lion share? jhv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hunt Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Running a business is not supposed to be easy. If it was then everyone would do it and you would have even more competition. I guess all I can suggest to you is that "when there is a will there is a way." I have found solutions to my problems and I now own a successful company. There's no reason why you can't do the same. Oh I totally agree, considering that 80% of this thread is about software licences, which in my opinion is the simplest problem to over come. My greatest concerns with this type of setup is the consistancy of work and the logistics of running such a company. jhv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieLeon Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 My greatest concerns with this type of setup is the consistancy of work and the logistics of running such a company. If you mean volume of work then I believe the site could have lots of it. It would just need to be marketed properly to a broad audience, such as, developers, architects, ad agencies, realtors, and other 3d companies/artists. Regarding logistics, it would need some serious investment to get it off the ground properly ($200k - $500k). It will need a team of full-time programmers, designers, sales, etc... It can be started for less, but then the growth curve would be too slow and you would risk having a better funded competitor swooping in and beating you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Mottle Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 If you mean volume of work then I believe the site could have lots of it. It would just need to be marketed properly to a broad audience, such as, developers, architects, ad agencies, realtors, and other 3d companies/artists. Regarding logistics, it would need some serious investment to get it off the ground properly ($200k - $500k). It will need a team of full-time programmers, designers, sales, etc... It can be started for less, but then the growth curve would be too slow and you would risk having a better funded competitor swooping in and beating you out. I can definetly attest that the programming of somethign like this would definetly run in the 30-75K range if done properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hunt Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 I have a very good friend who is a project manager. Basically this is very close to what he does, set up the framework from location, IT, staffing, etc. The project he is working on now is fairly modest in size but starting up from scratch a new branch of a call and research centre. Before he started the esimated cost of the project was around 1.3 million dollars. Now that he is on board and scoped out the real costs it is around 4million, conservitivly. Just taking this as an example of how easy it is to underestmate what is involved in setting up such a venture, it would take a very special type of person to take on such a venture. jhv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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