callagrafx is himself a capable 3D modeler, but in this particular case, he reused a model from a stock library he has permission to use in his professional work as part of a render test, liked the result, and decided to share it with the SC4 community. One situation that I view as a textbook case of appropriate reuse of a third-party model is the CAL Winterton Tower upload from callagrafx, on the LEX at SC4 Devotion. So, this of course begs the question– is it acceptable to use third-party 3D models as part of uploads to the exchanges? From my vantage point, the answer to that question is “yes”, but qualified with some common sense caveats.
Those recent discussions have really made it clear to me that this practice has long needed a closer examination, and to that end, I would like to give some of my thoughts on how best to handle these situations, from a practical and ethical standpoint. The use of such “pre-cooked” assets is one that has gone on for a long time in the SC4 community, ranging from small props to entire buildings, but there has been a noticeable lack of consistency in terms of how these assets are treated by those who use them, and by exchange policies. Recently, I’ve been involved in a number of discussions with people in the SC4 world–both public and behind the scenes–about the practice of reusing third-party 3D models, obtained through various sites, such as 3D Warehouse, CGTrader, and TurboSquid, as parts of uploads to community file exchanges.
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