CG exchange!

#1

I don’t know if this really fits into this collaborative forum category, but it is the best one i thought will fit in.
the idea was actually for a site called cgexchange, but since i don’t have the time, money and knowledge to start building a website like this, i thought it would be even nice to have a forum category for this.
so the idea is like what the name suggests… the same idea of exchange trade.
i offer my model, rig, whatever… and i get something in return which will make us both happy. for example i give you a character with a rig, and i get in return your character and rig.
we could even exchange characters with environment, texturing job (i give you the model, you give me the texture)
and whatever…
this could be a grate thing for people such as animators who want to concentrate on their animation skills, and don’t want too much time for creating more and more characters

of course the models, rigs, whatever… will stay with the respect to their owners, meaning they still get the credits for their job (like on demo reels)

so what do u think?
are you in the game?

#2

so WHAT DO I OFFER?
model+rig for maya 6

i don’t have a name for the character, but it’s basically a mix of all kind. human, dog, lizard, whatever. some people like him, some don’t. it’s up to you.
the rig is pretty simliar to packageman since i used him a lot as reference.
it has
IK-FK switch for the hands
IK hands has parent switch between world-COG
FK for the ears
FK for the spine
IK for the tail with FK on the tip of it.
eyes has target with parent switch between world-head
facial expressions have a main controller, but not visual like packageman has. the jaw has a seperate controller for the jaw bone

it has no texture or uv’s, there is only a mustache made with fur, and i’m thinking of changing it to paint effects mustache.

some disadvantages:
well, since it’s my first character on maya (i switched from max). i can’t promise the best rig.
the controllers of the ik spline tail weren’t very comfortable, and there is some small topology problems on the tip of the tail. nothing too problamtic, it’s just a bit limited, but worked out for me.
the head is also a bit limited because of the lack of the neck.

you can see the results of on the animation i did with him here:
http://www.geocities.com/talportfolio/welcomedivx.avi
the bandwidth is limited. so if you wanna see and can’t, i can send it to you personally.

now WHAT DO I WANT:
i’m looking for any other characters, that i can practice on animating interaction between characters.
preferably everything other then realistic characters, unless they are interesting characters.
i’m especially looking for 3+ legged characters. any animals will be grate, dogs, spiders, dinos…
also female characters, mecha (robots), creatures everything will be grate.
just not TOO simple stuff, like box characters. if they are box characters at least they should have some basic facial expressions
if u have anything else u can offer, like texturing my character, environemt + props (textured) or anything, i’ll be happy to hear.

#3

(message deleted)

#4

ok, no replies?
i think i wasn’t clear enough with the thread after talking with some people on mirc.

well, the idea was that people will start posting what they have to offer. i don’t mean by that, that they will post their models/rig on this thread and maybe they will get something from it one day.
just write what you can offer (like the example i have done above) and if someone is interested in what you have and maybe can offer you something in return, then you can start pm or Email each other (you don’t need to bargain over the thread, this can be done personally)

I just thought it could be a nice idea especially for the animators who are sick of seeing animations with those same free rigs all over the place, but also don’t want to put too much time into rigging/modelling/whatever.

i would also like to hear what u think about the idea of cg trading.
there is obviously a big share of knowledge and rigs and what’s not around the cg community, and a lot of respect to it too. i thought doing trades could even push it further

#5

yeah sure…whatever Im in :slight_smile: hehe :slight_smile:
I’ve been using Protons free model packs for a while now…I dont feel like people understand that there is skill in rigging and animation, and they somewhat tend to frown upon the fact that the models I rig and animate are not mine…but like you said (finally somebody else than I said it!!!11one) “this could be a grate thing for people such as animators who want to concentrate on their animation skills, and don’t want too much time for creating more and more characters”
since Im always for the lookout for free models to rig and what not, this would be a cool way to find people who think of free models, the same way I do :slight_smile:
I have maybe…10+ Lightwave rigs and 3 or so Maya rigs that I’ve done from Protons model pack (and a few of my own models), currently working on a 1 minute short with two of his wonderful models.

So you were thinking about having a totaly new website dedicated to this? You mentioned that you didnt have the knowlegde of whatever you need to do a webpage like that, but a new forum section on cgtalk would be nice aswell? :slight_smile:

Well anyways, Im in…got some rigs and what not… :slight_smile:

#6

Hey, flow, glad to hear your response.
yeah i know what u mean. hell, people that never did cg don’t even know what the $@!# is rigging, and can’t accept it as its own field.

the idea, wasn’t exactly about putting out free rigs and models, it’s more about trading with each other work.
kind of like what people did before money became part of economics.

i’m not going to make a site like this because not only i don’t have the tools+money, a site like this would require building a whole economy system, if fact there are some sites like this, only they are not about cg creations.

A thread category for this would be grate indeed, but i assume it depends on the responsiveness to the subject, and also depends on the moderators of course.
right now according to the amount of the responses, it’s not going to happen either. but if it will happen i’ll be happy to moderate such a thing, if needed.

anyway right now this thread can be enough, and if it will get bigger we can ask it to have its own section.
so what u can do now is just write what you have to offer, maybe put a picture or animation with the results of the rig/model, and maybe also write what you are looking for, and if someone wanna trade with you, he can pm or email you and you can do the trading between yourself (but not through the site).

if you are going to offer rigged characters of proton or any1 else i think it’s better to let them know about it, since they did part of the work. i’m sure proton or any1 else who put out free models will be happy to hear about it, but ya know… just to avoide any troubles…
anyway i think it’s better if you put out your own stuff.

#7

Hiya!

I’m interested in what you are doing, but from a slightly different standpoint. I’m about to start a website that sells 3d models made by various contributors, and pays out royalties to each person based on their job (modeling, textures, animation, etc.). In fact, I was about to post my recruiting message to the forum when I saw your post.

But, I don’t necessarily want to overshadow your idea with my stupid little business plan…

If you need a website set up for your collaboration, let me offer up my services! I’d be interested in helping you set up a system for collaborating between artists. Heck, that system would be useful in my wee-little business venture, too. It wouldn’t need to make me money or anything. I think it would be great fun.

My website is www.gamebeep.com. It’s written in PHP with a database on the back end. I’m a programmer by trade, so this type of thing is great fun. grin Plus, I like your mohawk.

Cheers! Let me know if I can help out at all!

  • Bret

[ps: Do you think this would be the correct forum to post such a recruiting request? ]

#8

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