hi guys i a beginner game programmer/3d modeller but i had some questions about the whole 3d modelling side. I have been using blender for a couple of months now and i can start to create some pretty nice looking models. But i was just wondering if you guys texture them yourselves or do you just sell the model as an untextured model? And i was also wondering how much you sell your models for and how do you go about selling them? Like do you sell bundle packs of things like weapons. thanks :D

My advice is that if you're still a beginner modeler, you shouldn't be trying to sell your models. Unless you're absolutely sure they are usable and decent enough quality. Otherwise you'll maybe sell one or two models and it won't be for much...

You can sell the models textured or untextured, but textured sell better, obviously. You're offering more. With the textured model, even if the person buying the model doesn't like the texture, they have the texture maps already set up for them, so it saves them time.

If you absolutely suck at texturing though, avoid doing it. It will only take away from the model.

You can sell your stuff on sites like turbosquid.com but most all of these types of sites are going to require a percentage of the sales. You could try to set up your own site and store but that takes money and know-how. It's harder to sell like this as people are more willing to trust a site like turbosquid over some personal website.

Models can be sold for however much you think they are worth... Though if you want to compare prices, just visit turbosquid and look up the different prices for objects. Some stuff is outrageous like a simple cube for $100. But most stuff is fairly priced. The more detail and work that went into a model, the more it should cost. A great looking highly detailed character model with facial morphs and weight maps and textures sell anywhere from a couple hundred US dollars up to a thousand or more. A nice looking gun model would go for anywhere from $30-$200 depending on the quality and details.

If you can't make super highly detailed stuff, your best bet would be to make packs of items, like weapon packs or shrubs or tree packs or vehicle packs. These could be low res low quality packs of generic object to use for games or whatever. These actually do pretty well at selling from what I've seen. Generic character packs are always great sellers.

Also make sure to try to include as many file types as possible, watch your polycount (especially when modeling for games). Sometimes it is good to include different polycounts/levels of detail for a model. For example, a nice high res car model could also include a mid res and low res version for more practical use.

The models should be as clean and organized as possible. Make sure layers are set up and named properly, things are color coded, good file name conventions, and simple instructions for some of the models explaining details if needed.

But yeah, as far as pricing is concerned, you're just going to have to determine what you think is fair and look at other similar models to stay competitive. Don't try selling a simple model for $200 that took you an hour to make.

One way that freelancers calculate prices is by how many hours will be required to complete the work and how much they feel their hourly wage should be. If you feel you should get $30 per hour and a model took you 3 hours to make, you could price it at $90. However if you're selling it on a site like turbosquid where anyone can buy it and use it, the price needs to drop considerably, to maybe a third of the price or less. Seeing as how you'll be able to sell the same object dozens if not hundreds of times, you shouldn't charge people full price.

I wouldn't charge them $30 per hour for me yet. I was just thinking like $5 as i am just trying to raise some funds for books and the like. But Thanks alot for directing me to turbosquid :D i will have to start using their services and hopefully i will make a few good models which i can sell for ££ :D Btw can u sell models multiple times or are you selling the exclusive rights to the model? And is this site well used? i mean if i put some high quality models on is there a chance they are going to sell?

It's one of the more widely known sites, yeah. I believe turbosquid only lets you sell multiples. Meaning many people can by the same model and it's just royalty free for them to use in any projects they want. I don't think they do any exclusive rights deals at turbosquid.

Also if you end up putting some of your stuff up for sale, it would be a great idea to advertise your models and post links to them on different 3d forums and places where you think people might be looking for those sorts of models. That way you're not just relying 100% on turbosquid to get people looking at your stuff.

Check out .turbosquid. Compare their stuff to yours, it should help you get an idea of what your models are worth.