Atmosphere Packs, and now, Sunset Pack

[FrankB]

Hi fellow TG2 friends,

I would like to to test drive an idea with with you. In the past, and to this day, the part of Terragen that interested me most has always been clouds and skies in general.
I have spent countless hours designing skies for various specific purposes, and I believe that has given me a certain level of proficiency in this area. In the past few days, the thought woke inside me to pack together subject matter specific atmospheres and skies, together with their recommened lighting, camera and render settings, and sell them for little money through my website.

My first question to you is: what do you think about this?

Then, I thought of (in fact I've already done it), making available the Atmosphere Packs through two different pricings: one for personal use, one for commercial use. My intial thought is that a ready made set of skies for USD 1.99 provides good benefits for personal use, whereas for commercial use, it's more like 20 USD. So my second question is: Does that sound reasonable to you?

I've started the whole thing on my new webpage (http://nwda.webnode.com/terragen-2-tech-packs/), just to give it a shot. I actually have no idea if it's going to work. The first available Atmosphere Pack is a rather special beast. It contains specifically tuned project files to make skies that resemble the old 17th century marine art paintings from the Netherlands (and their artists from that time).

The second pack is already in the works, maybe it takes a few days to complete. This one will be a sunset package with a selection of cloudy and also clean skies, that look much more realistic that the default sky - and I hope, much more interesting, too ;-)

Now, I would also like to mention, that despite making my atmospheres and skies commercially available, I'm not going to stop sharing my knowledge through this forum - in fact I will continue doing that in any case. For now, I would simply like to get a little bit of feedback from you guys about the idea.

Lastly, if someone with a little bit of TG2 experience is interested in testing the packs I'm producing, please contact me through pm.

Thanks;
Frank

[choronr]

Since I've been in the procurement profession since 1956, and retired from it a few years ago, I would say that it might be your best pursuit if you would offer the personal files separately on its own site, while offering the commercial files separately on another site. The commercial site could offer additional technical help; whereas the personal site might not; but only suggesting links to this forum for specific help.

You really need to separate these two ventures to become more successful. The commercial site would garner fees for it's content, whereas the personal site would not. The commercial site would be your primary focus.

Bob

[FrankB]

Thanks for your thoughts, Choronr.
I have considered that as well (before I started). I have decided to leave it like that for now. Maybe if I get a notion of the products being in demand, I could split out the commercial bit to a separate site.
I make my living through other things, TG2 is still just a hobby, hence, immediate financial success is not really important. This is also the reason why I let buyers choose if they purchase the commercial or private use license, without any verification on my end if the are being truthful or not.
I simply trust. That's not very business-like, I know that, but everything else, like more control, or maintaining a separate site, would require too much of my precious time for too little benefit - (unless it becomes a VERY profitable business, which is unlikely).

Some of the feedback I'm seeking is whether fully tuned atmospheres and skies are an interesting product in the first place. I have facts on the questions whether the idea can generate prospects. I see many TG2 newbies (private and commercial) express their desire for presets, see them struggle with skies in particular, and I've got answers to that. I'm wondering what value these answers have. I've been making up a pricing and I wonder if it's reasonable.

Thanks,
Frank

[Tangled-Universe]

Hi Frank,

That sounds like a good idea. You must find some way to earn back your i7 system eh?
I think 2 bucks for non-commercial is very cheap, maybe a bit too cheap even. But that also depends on the amount and quality of the content, of course. I'd say, 5 bucks.

Of course I'm in for testing Still have another week off, so
Just let me know. Maybe we could desing a couple together. (I think many people are interested in some very nice cumulus we all saw lately from Luc?)

Martin

[rcallicotte]

This sounds interesting.   

Hi Frank,
(I think many people are interested in some very nice cumulus we all saw lately from Luc?)

Martin

[mhaze]

go for it - I'll buy some

Mick

[FrankB]

Thanks for the encouragement!

I'm about to make available another Atmosphere Pack later today: Sunsets

If you would like to read the pre announcement and see a few teaser images: http://nwda.webnode.com/news/pre-announcement-sunset-atmopshere-pack/

I'm pretty proud of the Sunset Pack. I have been able to make great skies with these configurations in the past, and while working on a distributable version, I have improved them even further. This time, with the Sunset Pack, user will have a more general purpose package, compared to the rather specific 17th Century Marine Art Pack. I'm already anxious to see the images made using the Sunset Pack configurations.

Enough for now, I'll let you know once the pack is available through the shop.

Cheers,
Frank

[FrankB]

The "Sunset Atmosphere Pack" is now available: http://nwda.webnode.com/terragen-2-tech-packs/
This pack is bigger, contains more contents that the previous pack.

After the first transactions, I saw paypal eating a substantial commission that I haven't calculated with before. Also, living in the Euro zone, I had to redo calculations and adjust the private use prices. No worries, they're still in the range of the cost of a Latte at Starbucks in the US ;-)
1 - 17th Century Marine Art = 2.49 USD
2 - Sunset Pack = 3.49 USD

I hope that's still reasonable for you guys. I would like to hear if you see that as problematic.

Thanks,
Frank

[choronr]

Wow; later today, I'm going to be buying these ...outstanding work Frank!

[FrankB]

This sounds interesting.   

Hi Frank,
(I think many people are interested in some very nice cumulus we all saw lately from Luc?)

Martin

Does this come close to Luc's cumulonimbus(es)?

[attach=#]

[old_blaggard]

It's getting there. Try increasing edge sharpness more perhaps.

[Volker Harun]

It's getting there. Try increasing edge sharpness more perhaps.

This could be a philosophy . I would decrease it ,-)

[PorcupineFloyd]

I'd increase feature size (or smallest size?) together with contrast to get rid of those visible, perlin scars (detail is nice but it looks too  repeatable).

[FrankB]

Optimizing it from here is a pretty tough job. I will need more time.
I can tell you already that increasing the contrast in the fractal is counter productive at this point.

However, I am determined to get it done. Bear with me.

Frank

[rcallicotte]

It looks pretty freaking awesome, Frank. 

Enjoy your holiday.   

Optimizing it from here is a pretty tough job. I will need more time.
I can tell you already that increasing the contrast in the fractal is counter productive at this point.

However, I am determined to get it done. Bear with me.

Frank