Head of Margaret Thatcher - plus a few others

Do you want to buy 3D models of the head of politicians? If so, click on the image below...  

$70.00

Yup, you can buy 3D models of the heads of politicians. The lack of reviews kind of indicates that it isn't exactly flying off the shelves at the moment, but that isn't really surprising, considering not many 3D artists have a need or desire to use models like these in their work.

About turn.

I was recently reminded of why I was so willing to hand in my notice at my last job, before my boss beat me to it and sacked me for running his business badly while he was away for three weeks visiting his family...

I'll spare you the details, but essentially, I had a client who was a real nightmare to deal with. Not only were the deadlines stringent, but he was far too aggressive with the haggling. At that point, I just gave up and told him I wasn't going to work for him anymore and gave him a refund.

I guess I should expect no better since the client came to me through Fiverr, though I did make it clear in my gig description that I charge by the hour and I even told the client this was how I operated.

I was also honest in quoting the number of hours taken to do the work, but he wouldn't have it, despite having agreed in principle that it was going to cost a certain amount per hour.

So it ended up being a complete waste of time. The good thing to come out of it was that I realised I really needed to take my business in a different direction.

Rather than work as a freelancer and getting paid occasionally and only for the job that I do, I need to find ways to make my business sustainable. Freelancing is really no different to a full time job and a salary. You still need to work for someone who is effectively your employer. The biggest difference is that the pay is sporadic.

Rather than earning income, I need to build an income stream. I realise that no business can ever be considered completely hands free, but I need to build something that can sustain me and run on it's own for a little while, even if I become ill or simply want to slack off for a week or two.

There is an idea that I am considering at this moment in time. I'm not sure if it's going to be the 'Holy Grail', but I'm willing to at least dabble a bit with it.

The worst is that I fail utterly and completely, but that is probably not much different to my current situation so I really have nothing to lose.

After one year playing badminton

Badminton was excellent today. I think recently I've really gotten back into the groove. I don't think I've recovered my ability, technique and most things I learned from my old coach (put the sport down for four years because of work), but I find I'm playing with a much greater freedom than I ever did - psychologically and physically. I think the tension I used to get after work contributed to my stiffness and immobility as well as poor movement technique. Now I'm far more relaxed and maybe the time out of badminton has helped my body recover. I'm now able to move around a lot better, I'm less tense and less wary of 'doing it wrong' with regard to technique, movement, etc. 

I also used to be afraid of cramping up my calf muscles as have often happened in the past. Now I've been playing for almost a year non-stop, stretching, moving, twisting and there hasn't been a hint of it happening again (a few bruises, though, but that's neither here nor there). I think it had been a psychological thing as well - the more I thought about it, the more likely it was going to happen (that's what it seemed in hindsight). I also used to do a lot of warm up routines in the hopes it'll eliminate the chance of injury entirely - which it didn't. Now I don't think about it and I find I'm moving around a lot better and more freely. I don't even bother warming up beyond an initial knock up.

Truly, my shackles are off.  

That said, warming up is beneficial, if only to give you a great head start in games.

Anyway, I had a lot of very well contested and very close games. The first one I never really expected to win cos I was playing against a guy I usually have a lot of trouble with, but somehow I did. Not bad considering it was my first game and I'm sure my opponents have played one or two games already before I arrived on court. It went right down to the wire.

Next game, I played against two strong players alongside the weakest of the four. Won that one, though we were in danger of throwing it away.

Third game, I lost 22-20. The set up was a bit more balanced this time round.

Fourth game was another game I won. Had to come from quite far behind to win that one.

Fifth game was the pick of the bunch. Really went down to the wire. We were never more than 2 points away from each other, but eventually lost it 25-23. I could have finished it much earlier, but a critical miss on my part when it was match point meant I threw it all away. Better not think about it too much, I think.

And then there were one or two other games, with the last one being an anticlimax. Losing by a large margin in a game that was largely one sided.

And finally, I wonder if it's because I'm playing in a more leisurely environment that I am able to express myself better. If it's a league club, sometimes you feel the wrath of your partner after one mistake. But I think it's cardinal sin to take it out on your partner. It's easy to take it out on someone because of your own inadequacies half the time.

Fiverr: One month later...

Last month, I mentioned that I set up a gig on a website called www.fiverr.com, where I offered to render someone's Sketchup Model for $5.

Well, after a month of waiting, like buses, they all come along at the same time. I've now done six jobs and potentially, there may be more to come. And at last, they were clients who understood what I offered as part of my gig. I guess most who didn't were lay people who thought I could just conjure something out of thin air with one or two clicks and it'll only cost $5.

Having worked on those jobs, I've found it's a bit more work than I expected. The trouble with some models is that there's still a bit of fiddling around before it's render ready. My renderer, SU Podium, is a third party plug in for Sketchup, so no surprises that there might be a few technical issues from time to time. Other people wanted materials added to the material, but even without all that fiddling about, at the most fundamental level, you still needed to set up and test the lights. That can take as little as 15 minutes or an hour, depending on how the model was set up and how many lights there were/the client wanted. To top it all off, the model needs to be rendered and that can take hours depending on the settings used.

I guess I should probably have anticipated it over time, given I used to do this full time for a living.

If I get the chance to 'Level up', then I will probably structure my gig so that I get at least reasonable recompense for my time. I'm thinking of doing something similar to stock photos. A small sized image might go out for a very affordable price (in the case of my gig $5), but larger resolutions may cost more, etc.

Anyway, it's starting to feel like a real business. I'm getting more emails than usual, but I wonder if it's just a last minute rush to Christmas. In my experience, things tend to get more hectic as major public holidays approach, mostly because employees are chasing pay rises, so the work comes in thick and fast.

Still, all that extra work done is no bad thing and hopefully I've won a few regular clients.

That said, I don't think Fiverr is going to replace my previous job as a major source of income, so I guess the ideal thing would be to try and get a few more contacts or sit tight and hope that more clients with serious work will come my way.

I've had one or two people asking me about full scale 3D Visualisation services. One or two of them appear to be put off by the price I quoted (or they're just taking forever to come to a decision). I'm still negotiating with one or two others. If they don't balk at the price I quote them, then I might have some real work to do after Christmas and the New Year.

If it goes as planned, then it will have come full circle. This time last year, I was made redundant from my previous stressful job and since then, I've tried to find something that didn't involve 3D Visualisation as my experiences leading up to my redundancy almost put me off 3D rendering for life. But now that I'm essentially working for myself (even if it's for peanuts), I'm beginning to rediscover some of that 'job satisfaction'.

Who would have thought?

Working for peanuts: Fiverr

About a month ago, I joined the website Fiverr which allows you to buy or sell services for US$5. So since I'm out of employment and am struggling to get freelance projects, I thought I'd give it a go.

The way it works is you create a 'gig' in Fiverr and you do this by naming the gig and describe in detail what you are going to do for $5. Then you wait. Hopefully people will come across your gig by searching or browsing and actually buy something from you.

You can offer anything, from article writing to posing in a Santa's costume and singing Christmas songs to a friend or relative of yours. Since Architectural Visualisation is all I can do, I thought I'd offer something along those lines.

I discovered a rendering plug in for Sketchup which allows you to create photorealistic renderings of your Sketchup models. It also achieves it's worth by being simple so you don't have to spend months learning new software. I figured I could offer to sell renderings of Sketchup models that people provide. It isn't much work - all I would have to do is load the model and render. Simple.

Well, a month after joining, I've completed two jobs. One I felt was a bit pointless - the buyer simply wanted me to copy a photo, but in 3D. The other (which I finished today) I almost screwed up because I didn't realise the guy had left instructions for me. I assumed Fiverr was going to drop an email if the buyer responded with instructions, but it seems like they didn't. So the poor guy waited three days while I was oblivious. Luckily, I indicated in my gig that I should be allowed 5 days to complete the job. This is mostly to cover my own back in case I somehow get loaded with work or something goes horribly wrong. Like my house catches fire and my computer is destroyed, etc.

And then I've had three enquiries that came to nothing. Actually, make that four. One came requesting models and renderings of socks, of all the things on planet earth and they were apparently in a rush. Since socks aren't my forte and I refuse to be caught up in rush jobs, having learned my lesson in Hong Kong, I turned that one down.

The thing with these clients is that they not only misunderstood the intention of my gig, but they appear to want a lot of work to be done for peanuts. Either that, or they don't realise how much work is actually involved in what they ask. The three enquiries that came to nothing wanted me to build something from a plan or an image and create a rendered image with it. The guy I just finished working for probably at least understood to some extent what is involved in my gig, but I had to draw up the model in 3D anyway since all he could give me was the front elevation of the house (he had apparently misplaced his 3D model and other important files...).

With the three enquiries that came to nothing, I made it clear that they needed to pay more (order another gig) if they did not have their own Sketchup model and wanted me to build one for them. I also named a few terms and conditions of my own that they needed to be aware of before work went ahead. Other than that, I was willing to do whatever they wanted.

I heard nothing from them since.

So for the job I just finished today, I screwed the T&Cs, requesting the extra pay and just did the work for $4 ($1 of the total $5 is actually pocketed by Fiverr).

I suppose I'll have to do this from now on. While the pay isn't great, it's obvious some of these people are looking for a cheap lunch, whether they are cash strapped companies looking to outsource on the cheap or bored housewives with nothing better to do. Still, I would at least be getting some exposure (provided I did well) and if I was really serious about starting up, I can't afford to be picky about pricing, etc.

That said, many sellers are requesting multiple gigs for jobs that they feel are worth more than $5 and they are pretty successful too. I was simply following suit. I've tried a few of these sellers myself and I've had no qualms about paying more for work that appears to be way beyond $5. But then, it's maybe because I understand what goes into making a 3D model, having worked in a similar industry for four years.

But that said, I also understand the wanting to get away with paying next to nothing for a service. I have that temptation myself, but it's also worth keeping in mind that sometimes you really do get what you pay for. I paid $5 for a 3D model that was shoddily made and I requested a refund straight away. A professional quality model might cost you in the region of $80 or more and in Arch viz, most professionals are hesitant to charge less than $25 per hour.

As for my latest job, well... somehow it kinda feels good to be working again, despite dreams of being financially independent and not having to move a mouse around for pay. Surprisingly, it has taken me only 8 hours to complete the job. 6 if you don't count the rendering times. 5.5, if you don't count time spent washing up and making coffee. Far less than the 5 days that I quoted in my gig. I guess the rule of thumb is to model only what you can see, whereas one personal project took weeks because I was concerned about all the niggly details and I was looking to sell the model on Turbosquid and other places.

Well, here are the results:

There's room for improvement, but I did this quickly (for me, anyway) and I didn't bother to sweat the really small details. But then, I can only really go on whatever information I was given. The grass looks a bit too uniform and unnatural, but I've never really figured how to make good looking grass without crashing the system. I think in the future, I'll probably be better served trying to fake it in GIMP instead. It's worked in the past when I was still an obedient employee.

Hopefully, I've done well enough to earn some favourable feedback. The first guy I worked for left one message with, literally, a few words in order to get me started and then I never heard from him again, despite submitting my work.

I think it'll be a good thing if I get a steady stream of business from Fiverr. If I can get 10 good reviews, then I can start adding extras to my gig and charge more for my services. So, with that in mind, if anyone reading this wants some work done that's similar to the above or if they have a 3D model built in Sketchup they would like me to render, then feel free to visit my gig.

Or better yet, if you have money to burn, go here instead...

Christmas Decorations - LED lights

So it's almost that time of the year again. Christmas is coming and all the stores around the UK have already put up the decorations. It's all commercially driven, of course. Most households won't put up their decorations until well into December. Still, it's a good time as any to shop around for Christmas decorations before all the festivities are well under way.

I love putting up the Christmas decorations, particularly the incandescent fairy lights. To me, nothing screams Christmas like a string of multicoloured bulbs.

Other family members aren't quite so keen on it. I guess it's more to do with their upbringing - they don't identify with Christmas as I have growing up. They are even less keen this year because of the rising cost of electricity. Coupled with the poor economic climate, it's more important than ever to find ways of saving money.

Pretty on the eye. Not good for the wallet...

Fortunately, saving money doesn't necessarily leaving out the lights altogether. I did a bit of online shopping and came across this website: http://www.lights4fun.co.uk. It's a family run business that specialises in lighting for all occasions.

The Christmas lights they sell are all LED. The thing with LEDs are you can apparently save up to 90% on your bills. Specifically, the equation goes something like this: 10 LEDs = 1 incandescent bulb. Since I want to save a bit of money over Christmas, I thought it might be worthwhile to try them out. There was a bit of a clearance sale going on, so I bought a few.

LEDs never really did it for me in the past. I don't think they really captured the spirit of Christmas the way old fashioned incandescent bulbs did. Maybe they were too white. Maybe the colours aren't quite the same. Whatever it was, I just preferred the incandescent bulbs.

Having opened and tried out the lights when I received it, however, I was quite impressed. They now have LED lights in 'warm white' and for me, these look the best out of the bundle. The coloured lights didn't seem all that at first glance, but having hung them up just to see what they would look like, they looked pretty good. They're brighter than my old set of lights, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

So does this spell the end of the incandescent lights? I still see them being sold in places like Amazon, but having a brief scan on the web, it seems that most Christmas light vendors now favour LED lights - Lights4Fun even go as far as saying this is what they specialise in. I guess it means that incandescent lights are being phased out gradually, if not all at once.

I grew up with the incandescent lights, so it'll be a shame to see them go. But I guess we have to move on with the times, particularly since the LEDs are more energy efficient, last longer and are better for the environment.

Lights out. Let's do more for the environment and save money.

Selling 3D models: my first sale

Because I'm out of work, I'm currently thinking of ways I can earn income online, but most of the options I've looked at either don't earn you that much or turn out to be a complete waste of time. Others have some potential, but a lot of effort has to go in to make it work - sell your work online.

I worked as a 3D artist in Hong Kong and I threw something together during my spare time. Something I made using nothing more than a set of software tools that either cost very little (compared to high end tools like Maya, et al.) or nothing at all. Specifically, I use Sketchup and SU Podium, the latter being a rendering engine for the former and is capable of photo realistic renderings while being very easy to learn and use.

In fact, it's so easy that I wonder why I ever had to bother using 3DS Max for work like this, but I suppose it'll come down to how versatile the tools are and while SU Podium is easy to use, it likely lacks many of the more advanced features of Max that give users better control over what they are doing.

Anyway, I spent more time refining the 3D model I made so that I could throw it up at The3DStudio.com and various other places that sell 3D models for you and give you a cut of the profit.

That was two months ago. Recently, I had an email from Creative Crash (of all places) announcing that one of my models have sold. Good news, but ultimately nothing to get that excited about since I managed to make a record breaking $31.90 by selling stuff online. In two months. And making it available on more than one website.

I think it isn't helped that the product I submitted was a 3D model of a house and architecture in general don't sell that well as 3D models. Oh, well. It's something and it's probably worth adding to it from time to time. Plus, the beauty is that I was at least able to use a free program like Sketchup to create something that I can sell online.