computer models of ships from the Honorverse.

crewdude48 wrote:

cthia wrote:I'd also like to have an old-fashioned plastic model kit of a superdreadnght. Right on my desk.

The most common question you would get is "Why do you have a double ended dildo on your desk?"

Only acceptable response: Why, doesn't everyone?

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I'll get my hat...

crewdude48 wrote:

cthia wrote:I'd also like to have an old-fashioned plastic model kit of a superdreadnght. Right on my desk.

The most common question you would get is "Why do you have a double ended dildo on your desk?"

Wow. Just ... wow. I want to hear the explanation of how form follows function in few enough words to have ANY impact on that. There's no getting out of the gutter on this one. That said, I'll have to go look for the pewter models. If MaxxQ wants to go into business and sell something that was detailed enough that I could explain away the resemblance, I'd buy.

I'm pretty sure this was another motivation for Evergreen changing their shape.

Dca wrote:

crewdude48 wrote:The most common question you would get is "Why do you have a double ended dildo on your desk?"

Wow. Just ... wow. I want to hear the explanation of how form follows function in few enough words to have ANY impact on that. There's no getting out of the gutter on this one.

I don't try. Whether it's a male or female I'm talking to, I just say it outright, show 'em a picture, say, "It's unfortunate about the resemblance, but the shape follows David's rules for Honorverse grav physics.", and leave it at that. If someone wants to press the issue, then I just wing it, but most of the time, they accept it.

Dca wrote:That said, I'll have to go look for the pewter models. If MaxxQ wants to go into business and sell something that was detailed enough that I could explain away the resemblance, I'd buy.

No can do. Like I said in my earlier post, I (or anyone wanting to do that) would have to pay a licensing fee (if DW was selling it), which would probably amount to something like around five figures minimum (just a guess on my part, but if I was David, $10,000 would be the bare minimum I would charge, with the upper end in the low six figures), plus royalties. On top of that, my association with BuNine would prevent me from doing something like that anyway.

Dca wrote:I'm pretty sure this was another motivation for Evergreen changing their shape.

Maybe, but not necessarily. I asked a (female) friend of my sister to read the comic, because she is a huge comics fan. After she was done, we were talking about it and she loved the art, and she definitely said she wanted to read more to find out about the stuff that was hinted at in the flashbacks and -forwards. Anyway, the discussion turned to the ships, and I mentioned how Evergreen changed the canon designs. That piqued her curiosity, and she asked what the canon designs looked like, so I showed her the color plates from HoS.

Of course, her initial reaction was expected, but after I went through my usual spiel outlined above, she understood and just shrugged it off. Frankly, it's really nothing new. Aren't rockets like the Saturn V just big phallic symbols anyway? Unless you're watching Flesh Gordon, no one really snickers at rockets, so in my experience, unless one really brings it to the attention of someone new, they might question it, but they'll pretty much accept it.

Works for me. I guess the one track mind tends to wear its own rut.

MaxxQ wrote:I don't try. Whether it's a male or female I'm talking to, I just say it outright, show 'em a picture, say, "It's unfortunate about the resemblance, but the shape follows David's rules for Honorverse grav physics.", and leave it at that. If someone wants to press the issue, then I just wing it, but most of the time, they accept it.

I'm told that David had never really visualized what the ships looked like before someone gave him a drawing at a con. It kind of caught him by surprise.

It is going to happen that someone will make 3D models of the ships and release it on the web. With the growing number of 3D printers people will print their models, toys & other things and companies/people will lose their merchandizing income.

Chev wrote:It is going to happen that someone will make 3D models of the ships and release it on the web. With the growing number of 3D printers people will print their models, toys & other things and companies/people will lose their merchandizing income.

In some ways, yes. Legally, a person can build a mesh and print it out for themselves, but if they start trying to sell them without permission from DW (or even Evergreen, if they use *their* designs), then they can get into a bit of trouble. OTOH, as you say, someone *could* create their own mesh and release it for free. Not sure what the legalities behind that might be.

The deterrent to that is that that 3D printers require a bit of an initial investment, both financially, and in time needed to learn what materials work best for what project. On top of that, one would also need to be able to create the mesh in the first place, which means using some sort of modeling software. That can run the gamut from free (Blender or a couple other, less capable programs) to several thousand dollars (3D Studio Max, Maya, etc). Then, there's the learning curve for any modeling software, if the person wanting to make the model has never used it before.

Some of the initial financial outlay can be removed by designing your model using whatever software, then sending the finished mesh to Shapeways. For a small fee, Shapeways will print your model for you, and some people even sell their models through Shapeway. There's a lot of Trek, BSG, and other models based on other well-known IPs for sale there, but I think most of it is original designs based on the particular universe. That's kind of a gray area, I think, but I could see certain IP owners raising a bit of a stink about it. Then again, maybe not.

Frankly, I can't see many people making that kind of investment in time and money just to have a few models for themselves. Not saying it'll never happen, but I don't think it'll happen enough to hurt any marketing chances for DW or Evergreen later on. Of course, they can also use the software and equipment to create their own stuff, which would have no restrictions - people are doing that right now at Shapeways.

The other problem is that for awhile now, some people have released their 3D meshes for use in renders that other people make. For instance, someone may decide to download a mesh of the Discovery from 2001 made by one person, a pod created by someone else, and maybe an Dave Bowman or Frank Poole mesh made by a third person, and combine them into a single shot. Manners requires credit given to the modelmaker(s), and that a percentage of any money made from doing something like selling prints (if permission was given to do that in the first place) goes to the creator(s) of the mesh(es) used. Unfortunately, there's several meshes available for printing at Shapeways that were "stolen" from the people who created them. These meshes were released freely, but with the caveats I mentioned above, and yet there are people who are making money off someone else's work.

Shapeways has taken down *some* of the models, but others are still up and for sale. The 3D community is pretty good at policing this sort of thing, but we don't catch everything.

tl;dr - While it may impact marketing, I don't think it will impact it much, and if it starts to, there could be problems for the person selling/creating without permission.

kzt wrote:

MaxxQ wrote:I don't try. Whether it's a male or female I'm talking to, I just say it outright, show 'em a picture, say, "It's unfortunate about the resemblance, but the shape follows David's rules for Honorverse grav physics.", and leave it at that. If someone wants to press the issue, then I just wing it, but most of the time, they accept it.

I'm told that David had never really visualized what the ships looked like before someone gave him a drawing at a con. It kind of caught him by surprise.

Yeah, he talked about that at HonorCon, I think. He said that he's not very visual when it comes to what his designs look like, so it was a bit of a surprise when someone finally got the look "right". I can see how that happened - until I saw Isler's drawings, I couldn't make heads or tails out of what David was describing, and I'm supposed to be some sort of artist. Of course, that was all before I got involved with BuNine.

I think in the not too distant future FedEx Office will have self serve 3D printers and many homes will get them. There are also enough people out there (not me I don't make 3d models) who would model for fun and release it for free. I make mods for games that take a lot of time to make and I release them for free. If the Honorverse gets as popular as we hope someone will do it. Now I am thinking in the 5 to 10 year time frame.

Chev wrote:I think in the not too distant future FedEx Office will have self serve 3D printers and many homes will get them. There are also enough people out there (not me I don't make 3d models) who would model for fun and release it for free. I make mods for games that take a lot of time to make and I release them for free. If the Honorverse gets as popular as we hope someone will do it. Now I am thinking in the 5 to 10 year time frame.

[putting on librarian hat]Libraries are actually a more likely place than FedEx offices. A growing number of libraries are investing in them for the public.

kzt wrote:

MaxxQ wrote:I don't try. Whether it's a male or female I'm talking to, I just say it outright, show 'em a picture, say, "It's unfortunate about the resemblance, but the shape follows David's rules for Honorverse grav physics.", and leave it at that. If someone wants to press the issue, then I just wing it, but most of the time, they accept it.

I'm told that David had never really visualized what the ships looked like before someone gave him a drawing at a con. It kind of caught him by surprise.

IMHO, I think it would be mostly a male thing about the dildo connection. I wonder if women would actually make the connection alone. I am not saying that women are uninteligent. Intelligence has nothing to do with it. I am saying that generally men's minds natuarally live in the gutter. Women don't, in my experience. And my experience takes me back to trips to Greensboro, N.C. NCAA championships. Many of us booked hotels in nearby Winston, Salem, N.C. The twin city; Well, one of the tallest buildings in Winston, their crowning glory, is the Wachovia building. I swear to you, from a few miles away, entering into the city from I-40 the Wachovia building looks like a huge phallus sticking up in the middle of the city! King Kongs girl would be happy in Winston! It's the butt (npi) of jokes within the male circle, but women seem to be lost on the connection. When discussing it with women who lived there all their life I am quite surprised they never heard of it or even made the connection.
http://www.panoramio.com/m/photo/22697507