Lately, I have been asked for the Camaro model I made in the modeling tutorial. Awesome! Someone wants to study my work and learn from it! So I refuse to send it to him. He was unable to learn from my work and I abandoned my duty to help all those who are willing to learn. I am just a sick twisted fiend refusing to help those in need.

I'm pretty sure most of you would agree with what I did and know what I am getting at, some of you disagree because of the way I worded that paragraph, and others would disagree no matter what. So, for those of you who don't agree, why wouldn't I send it to him? He asked nicely. He thanked me for my time. Seriously, what's so bad about this guy that I refuse to send him the model? Well, it's all about keeping your models safe from the bad people.

Before I start explaining and helping you out with keeping your models safe, I wanna say one thing. While I do not really know whether any of those who contacted me are actually going to take my model for their own evil deeds (to sell it as their own, say it is their own to get publicity, etc.), I just assume so. And I think you should too when it comes to something like this. You can't trust anyone on the web. You can't see their face and you can't look at their subtle facial expressions or body language and make a judgement on whether the guy/gal is shifty or not, so you gotta assume the worst. I'm sorry to all the good people, but don't blame me. Go after all the bad people. Anyways...

Here is what I conveniently left out in the first paragraph: He never really said anything about what he wanted to do with the model. He just asked for it. That's it, I just made up the initial assumption that it was for learning. Two, the message was short messy. That's a sign of the message being rush, the sender doesn't really care. Things clearing up now? Hard to trust something like that. Basically, my point is that you have to watch out for people who want your models. I find that a good person will be quick to explain what they want with the model and how they plan on using it. Most of the time, a bad person will not. They will ask first, hope you say OK. If not, and they are desperate enough, they may or may not come back with an explanation. Oh, but wait! That was obvious! He didn't give a reason, if they give a reason, then it's OK right?

Here is another example from awhile ago. Someone sent an Email telling me that my tutorial was great and 'written perfectly' (I know that is not true, but ok, I can take a compliment). He goes on to explain that he is willing to make a pretty render to put on the top of the page to attract people there. I send him a message back, assuming he actually did the tutorial (he never actually said he did it) saying that his idea is great and I would love to put one of his renders up there. Then he sends me back a message saying "Ok, then send me the model. I'll be waiting.". Riiiight. One less click in the life of my delete button. Sometimes the bad people can be elaborate, they can start by gaining your trust, or at least trying to, and then pull something out of you.

Ok, but what if it is someone on a trusted forum? Replay the video. It doesn't matter, you don't know where that person came from, who they are, what their intentions are. Even if they seem nice for their last 1000 posts they could be up to something no good. What if they all of the sudden went bankrupt and are desperate for money? Good people go bad sometime too. Sending your model to them via PM is just as bad as doing it by email. I shouldn't even have to say anything about posting it directly in the thread where everyone can just take it and run.

Ooh! I've got you now! What if they are your best friend, a friend you would trust with your life? Ok, you got me. However, I would still be careful with friends. Why? Sometimes friends may not be as good as you think. I don't think you should refuse them if you really do trust them, but it still requires a bit of caution. Overall, if you found out that someone took your model and said it was their own and you wouldn't like it, then you have all the reason to refuse no matter who that person is.

If you are wondering why I am so cautious, maybe borderline paranoid, it's because it has happened to me. It wasn't a big deal, it was a crappy model, but it hurt just the same. He would have been classified under the second example, he gave an explanation for it and he gained enough of my trust. Since then, I get offended when someone asks for one of my models. Especially when the give no reason. It's even worse when there is a tutorial that tells you exactly how to do it. I mean, I took a lot of time to make the car model, regardless of whether or not there is the tutorial. Who are they to ask for it? They should spend their own time teaching themselves or taking classes. I never needed anyone's model and neither should they.

Final Note: As always, there are exception. If you don't care about the model, by all means, share it. If you trust someone enough with it, go for it. If it all goes south, just understand you can't really do much about it except learn from it.

Category: blender Tags: trust, save, model, 3d

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