There are many websites that offer similar services to us and many
even offer highly detailed and textured models for free.
Sites such as 'CG-Files' provide customers with a library of 3D models
in various categories all for free and this can be extremely useful for people
who have little or no budget to work with. However the fact that the models are
free and also that the site is a member of a network of websites that
offer similar services means that it relies on advertising as a source of
income, these adverts tend to make the website look somewhat
unprofessional. Whilst free models might be appealing to many people,
we felt that a site that looked as unprofessional might dissuade many users
from wanting to use it’s services, let alone sign up for a user account.
At the opposite end of the market, sites such as Turbo Squid provide extremely
highly detailed models in a range of categories such as people, cars, architecture,
electronics and furnishings.
Turbo Squid is the largest library of 3D products for sale in the world who also offer a
bespoke service in the same mould as the one that we propose and
have created models for advertising, broadcasting, video games, film
and much more and therefore are considered as world leaders in this
field. They have a vast network of clients and artists and even provide a
platform for CG artists to sell their own work through their website
server. They also provide users with the option to purchase 3D tutorials
from a range of developers such as Digital Tutors and cgTraining.
Our ultimate aim is to establish a business that is on a par with Turbo Squid
and to share in their success.
However, currently Turbo Squid have a large existing customer base
and are well known and respected in the industry for their work. As our
company is at such an early stage we have to find ways of competing
with such a company whilst offering similar services.
Turbo Squid’s prices are, in our opinion, quite high for a company that is
so well established and has a number of branches to its tree. Prices for
models can range from $100 (around £60) to $1,000 (£611), whilst the
highest quoted price I could find was $6,000 (£3,669)* for a fully rigged,
complex vehicle model.
Initially, it is unlikely that our models will be as highly detailed as some
of those offered by Turbo Squid and similar companies, and model
rigging is likely to be something that we would only consider once the
business has grown more and we have the finances to employ someone
who could do this work. For these reasons, we feel that we can offer our
customers a much cheaper rate for the work that we would do with the
downside being that we can currently offer far fewer peripheral services.
