CGTrader Sees a Rise in 3D Design Skills

In the Internet’s early days, the “worldwide web” didn’t really start expanding until enough programmers had been trained to develop websites. Likewise, 3D printing can’t reach its full potential until more people have been trained to design all sorts of 3D-printable products.

One company that is helping to foster the growth of the 3D design community is CGTrader.com Founded in Lithuania in 2011, this 3D model marketplace now has 150,000 registered users and unites 3D modeling professionals from around the world.

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Recently CGTrader.com passed a significant milestone in terms of growth. The number of models uploaded by CGTrader members rose from 10,238 in March, 2013 to more than 104,000 in March 2015.

3D-printable models are available in many categories, including aircraft, animals, household, science, architecture, gadgets, art, and fashion.

“Today, a novice consumer can go our site, download almost anything they can imagine, and send the file to a local 3D printer to pick up their model,” said Dalia Lasaite, CMO of CGTrader. com “Or, they can send the file to online printer and have the model shipped to them.”

Art, jewelry, and miniatures are currently generating the highest number of transactions.

“We started CGTrader to create fair and transparent working conditions for 3D professionals and have been uncompromising in our goals to always put the designer first,” said Marius Kalytis, CEO and founder of CGTrader.com.

While the massive publicity about 3D printing may have seemed a bit overblown at times, it has succeeded in encouraging more people to learn 3D design skills.

“While low-end 3D printers are underutilized by mainstream consumers, we believe the industry is just a few years away from producing consumer products with industrial 3D printers at mass manufacturing prices. This will create immense demand for 3D content and design skills,” said Dalia Lasaite, CMO of CGTrader.com

Advice for Designers

Contributors to the CGTrader website come from very different backgrounds from all over the world. Designers can join for free and keep all the proceeds from their first sale. A 10% royalty fee is charged to continue selling the model on the site.

According to Lasaite, “Most designers are entrepreneurial and ambitious. Many of them are working as freelancers.”

Some designers and teams of designers are doing quite well financially, she notes, “Their main business is selling stock models, and they are living off it. Typically they have large portfolios of high quality models.”

For creative professionals who want to make money creating 3D-printable models , she offers these suggestions:

  • Think how you could create a large number of models with a high level of quality.
  • Specialize in your favorite field.
  • Think about your buyer.
  • Invest in model presentation.

As some of the earliest participants of the site have learned, patience and persistence can pay off. It’s unrealistic to expect to make a lot of money from a single model.

As your experience in designing 3D models grows, you may also find job opportunities through CGTrader.com. Some site visitors turn to CGTrader.com to commission specific types of projects.

LINKS

CGTrader.com

An Explanation of CGTrader’s Royalty Rates

RELATED POST

Infographic of Sales and Search Data Helps 3D Model Designers

Infographics of Sales and Seach Data Help 3D Model Designers

DESIGNERS. If one of your goals is to become a best-selling 3D artist, the team at the 3D model marketplace CGTrader has published some useful data about which models sell best, how to price your models to grow your sales, and which 3D modeling categories are the top selling.

The first two infographics in the series were:

Exclusive Data on How to Sell 3D Models

Exclusive Tips for Maximizing Your Income for Selling 3D Models

CGTrader is is a community-based 3D model marketplace that was founded in 2011 by 3D designer Marius Kalytis. His goal was to create a just and favorable online platform for 3D designers seeking a mutually-beneficial partnership. As a 3D artist himself, Kalytis knew about existing platforms that paid little thought to fair royalty system for users. So, Marius started his own business marketplace granting generous royalties to 3D artists and vowing to democratize the 3D modeling market. CGTrader has evolved into a community were designers help each other, buyers and sellers communicate, jobs are offered, and innovation is sparked.

“We focused entirely on empowering 3D designers by giving them all the support we could think of: helping them sell, share and improve their work, take custom jobs and choose their clients,” added Kalytis. “This is a kind of freedom that I was seeking for myself and that every artist deserves.”

The site has quickly grown to include more than 120,000 registered users and about 85,000 3D models for sale.

To help designers better understand what types of models people are looking for, here is CGTrader’s newest infographics about the most popular search terms in 2014.

CGTrader 2014 search infographic

LINK

About CGTrader