Photos, Who3D, and Gallifrey One, oh my!
Well, that got me moving.
@TheTomNix on Twitter started trying to organise @knuckle_salad and I to go to Gallifrey One. He was even offering for front up the pre-registration fee for us and we could pay him back later, which was lovely.
So it got me thinking about it.
I've now written to the con, to tell them about Who3D's involvement with BBC Wales Research and Development to try and bring back a 3D animated version of the series way back in 2002. I suggested that maybe they should fly Cliff Bowman over as a guest to talk about this unwritten piece of Doctor Who history. I also suggested that if they wanted two of us, given that I did a lot of work on scripting, series direction, and developing storylines, I'd be honoured to attend.
I doubt they'll go for it, but I've lost nothing in approaching them. If they just get Cliff over there, I'll be happy. That project nearly killed Who3D. We all burned out in various ways. I've never really returned to 3D modelling despite numerous attempts. It would be nice if Cliff got the recognition he deserved. He's an awesome bloke.
But it did get me thinking about ways to get over there. My insane, brilliant, and probably doomed scheme to try and make some money would require a lot more work before before it was ready, even though set-up costs would only be $100-200. And getting that groundwork right would be important if it was to have any chance of working. The important thing with that one was that while there's only a small chance of it working, it's not been done, and I'd have a ball doing it.
So, how else to make money?
Selling the Doctor Who toys would work fine, but the children just don't allow me the time. My fabbo cousin-in-law has offered to do all the posting and stuff for me if I do the basics, but again I've not gotten organised for all sorts of reasons. My health and time, Sharon's health, and the demands of two small, increasingly energetic humans.
I could start selling my body on the street, but now that we don't live in Melbourne or Canberra any more, it's not practical. Cooma is a small town, with less people to pay my fees. And realistically I'd have to put my price up to $1 a go, and I'm not sure people would go for it.
So... what else can I do...
Sell photos of myself? I am very, very pretty. And that's sort of the issue. Put out hundreds of photos of myself and what will happen? Everyone would be able to find shots they liked, and yes, I'd make a fortune, but the effect would be catastrophic. People everywhere not doing their work because they'd be looking at pictures of me all the time, people driving around with photos of me on the dashboard of their vehicles not looking where they're going - my conscious won't allow it.
Wait... photos. I have a lot of photos of places and things from my travels. I wonder if I could sell some of those. Not the instant massive fortune selling shots of myself would make, but none of the bad karma as industry nosedives and accidents increase.
I've tried this before on Cafepress, but something about their set-up didn't work for me. It wasn't bad, but I found that with my pickiness it ended up being a lot more work intensive to get things formatted for various products.
Then I came across @TreyRatcliff, and his site www.stuckincustoms.com. He interested me, and I started to look at some of his talks and his attitude was very much my own.
What he was doing was putting his stuff out there at maximum download quality. It all linked back to the Smugmug site where people could buy stuff. Yes, they could download it free, but he found that he got the sales because people want to support you if they like your stuff.
As an artist, I want people to see my stuff, whether it's my photos, or my stories or anything else I do. If they love my work but can't afford to buy it, who does it benefit to make that work available in reduced quality or completely unavailable to them? It won't stop anybody really determined to steal the work, I don't get any money either way, and the honest folks who can't afford it are out something that may give them a smidgeon of delight.
I like to believe the best of people. Yes, some selfish people will always steal things they can and should pay for, believing that they are somehow entitled to it. But most people want to support those they like. They will buy your stuff when they can afford to. Maybe they will download fifty items, but only buy two. But chances are they bought those two when they could afford to.
Who can really ask for more than that?
So, I've set up a trial Smugmug account. I'm uploading pictures as I type. I'll See how it goes over the next couple of weeks. If it does ok, I'll keep going with it and see what happens.
In the unlikely event that it does well enough to cover my trip to Gallifrey One, I'll obviously have a whole new source of income! If it just does well enough to cover the basic cost with a bit extra, then I have some spending money, and some people have my pictures.
So, if you like my photos, go along and have a look. I'll be uploading more over the next few weeks. If your favourite shots aren't up there, tell me and I'll put them up. Download them or buy them, your choice. If you can't afford to buy, put up links to your favourite shots, point people to the site, or point people here so they can read my words.
No matter what happens, it'll be a cool experiment.
@TheTomNix on Twitter started trying to organise @knuckle_salad and I to go to Gallifrey One. He was even offering for front up the pre-registration fee for us and we could pay him back later, which was lovely.
So it got me thinking about it.
I've now written to the con, to tell them about Who3D's involvement with BBC Wales Research and Development to try and bring back a 3D animated version of the series way back in 2002. I suggested that maybe they should fly Cliff Bowman over as a guest to talk about this unwritten piece of Doctor Who history. I also suggested that if they wanted two of us, given that I did a lot of work on scripting, series direction, and developing storylines, I'd be honoured to attend.
I doubt they'll go for it, but I've lost nothing in approaching them. If they just get Cliff over there, I'll be happy. That project nearly killed Who3D. We all burned out in various ways. I've never really returned to 3D modelling despite numerous attempts. It would be nice if Cliff got the recognition he deserved. He's an awesome bloke.
But it did get me thinking about ways to get over there. My insane, brilliant, and probably doomed scheme to try and make some money would require a lot more work before before it was ready, even though set-up costs would only be $100-200. And getting that groundwork right would be important if it was to have any chance of working. The important thing with that one was that while there's only a small chance of it working, it's not been done, and I'd have a ball doing it.
So, how else to make money?
Selling the Doctor Who toys would work fine, but the children just don't allow me the time. My fabbo cousin-in-law has offered to do all the posting and stuff for me if I do the basics, but again I've not gotten organised for all sorts of reasons. My health and time, Sharon's health, and the demands of two small, increasingly energetic humans.
I could start selling my body on the street, but now that we don't live in Melbourne or Canberra any more, it's not practical. Cooma is a small town, with less people to pay my fees. And realistically I'd have to put my price up to $1 a go, and I'm not sure people would go for it.
So... what else can I do...
Sell photos of myself? I am very, very pretty. And that's sort of the issue. Put out hundreds of photos of myself and what will happen? Everyone would be able to find shots they liked, and yes, I'd make a fortune, but the effect would be catastrophic. People everywhere not doing their work because they'd be looking at pictures of me all the time, people driving around with photos of me on the dashboard of their vehicles not looking where they're going - my conscious won't allow it.
Wait... photos. I have a lot of photos of places and things from my travels. I wonder if I could sell some of those. Not the instant massive fortune selling shots of myself would make, but none of the bad karma as industry nosedives and accidents increase.
I've tried this before on Cafepress, but something about their set-up didn't work for me. It wasn't bad, but I found that with my pickiness it ended up being a lot more work intensive to get things formatted for various products.
Then I came across @TreyRatcliff, and his site www.stuckincustoms.com. He interested me, and I started to look at some of his talks and his attitude was very much my own.
What he was doing was putting his stuff out there at maximum download quality. It all linked back to the Smugmug site where people could buy stuff. Yes, they could download it free, but he found that he got the sales because people want to support you if they like your stuff.
As an artist, I want people to see my stuff, whether it's my photos, or my stories or anything else I do. If they love my work but can't afford to buy it, who does it benefit to make that work available in reduced quality or completely unavailable to them? It won't stop anybody really determined to steal the work, I don't get any money either way, and the honest folks who can't afford it are out something that may give them a smidgeon of delight.
I like to believe the best of people. Yes, some selfish people will always steal things they can and should pay for, believing that they are somehow entitled to it. But most people want to support those they like. They will buy your stuff when they can afford to. Maybe they will download fifty items, but only buy two. But chances are they bought those two when they could afford to.
Who can really ask for more than that?
So, I've set up a trial Smugmug account. I'm uploading pictures as I type. I'll See how it goes over the next couple of weeks. If it does ok, I'll keep going with it and see what happens.
In the unlikely event that it does well enough to cover my trip to Gallifrey One, I'll obviously have a whole new source of income! If it just does well enough to cover the basic cost with a bit extra, then I have some spending money, and some people have my pictures.
So, if you like my photos, go along and have a look. I'll be uploading more over the next few weeks. If your favourite shots aren't up there, tell me and I'll put them up. Download them or buy them, your choice. If you can't afford to buy, put up links to your favourite shots, point people to the site, or point people here so they can read my words.
No matter what happens, it'll be a cool experiment.