I’m not sure that I’ll have anything interesting to add, but feel free to email me at apollos[at]blenderunderground[dot]com if you want to discuss this any further.

thanks again for the tutorials and the web site

Welcome to Blender Underground. To be honest, I made that comment casually, and I really know nothing about internet marketing, or much about marketing in general.

However I can say this: that statement I made isn’t really accurate if you think about it. TV and radio content have been free for years. The way this has worked is through advertising. Companies sponsor ads, and that in turn pays for the content. The viewer/listener gets the content; in turn they watch the ads.

Of course with cable TV and satellite, the service isn’t free like broadcast TV is, and the same with satellite radio. The internet, however, is a remarkably free place. It’s also a great marketplace.

There is a website called http://www.thirtydaychallenge.com. Check it out if you want, I’ve only been casually following; but their goal is to teach you how to use the internet (web 2.0 specifically) to market a product or service. It costs nothing, it’s absolutely free, and it might generate some ideas in a direction that interests you. One of the main focal points of the challenge is generating traffic.

As for Blender Underground, we’ll probably end up doing a combination of things to support the site, from donations to DVD sales (suggested by another user.) We’ll probably do a little advertising as well; we already advertise for our web host, bluehost.com. The trick becomes generating high traffic, and interest in the product(s) being offered.

Hope this helps a little.

Yeah I remember getting that, sorry if I didn’t get back to you about it. I think I decided I would check into it when I had a prayer of generating 10,000 views!

With only a few views on Viddler, less than 150 on Metacafe, and only 250 on Youtube, I figure I’m better off using that content to push people to this site, and worry about those ad bucks when it grows a little.

BTW I haven’t seen the video, but I’ll have a look. Thanks for that!

“Combining free with profitable is one of the big challenges of the 21st century! =D”

Have you seen the vidoe by Mark Pesce called “Piracy is Good?” (LINK) it’s a video describing how to gain revenue in an unorthodox way. It’s a bit different from what I suggest and that is to use either Brightcove or Revver both of which allow revenue from views. I think I’ve already e-mailed you about how they work.

If not I can do that.

quote:

“Combining free with profitable is one of the big challenges of the 21st century! =D”

apollo do you know serious papers or essays about this subject? in my little exploration with ubuntu and blender i have little or none knowledge about this, i appreciate if you talk about this or give me some clues of info or simply your thoughts of this issue, i think this is interesting for all of us who enjoy being “out from underneath the watchful eye of The Man” and open source

thanks for the tutorials, keep out the excellent work

The simple answer is: I have watched a lot (not all) of the video tutorials out there, and I have spent loads of time just goofing around with Blender. When I run into something I don’t understand, I generally go to the Blender Wiki or some other source to try and get an answer.

Do you learn it specifically for the tutorials?

Some things, definitely. When I did the segment on Pivot Modes, I had to do a lot of experimenting and some doc searching to obtain a coherent understanding–enough to pass along some reasonable info to the audience. One of the great benefits of doing these tutorials is that it forces me to learn the material better.

Are you just digging deeper than everyone else?

I don’t think so. I’m regularly impressed by the knowledge of some of the people in the Blender community (many of the video tutorials I list in the resources section demonstrate this); and there are many things in Blender that I only have a beginner’s understanding of. That will change of course; and my quest to provide good tutorials will drive me deeper into a more advanced understanding of subjects like rendering and character animation/rigging.

Or have you just found really great resources?

I think the resources available to Blender users is impressive, and I have to give all the credit to those who have gone before me to provide great tutorials — video and otherwise.

I hope you just basically know everything because, when you get to the more advanced topics, I will be learning tonnes!

I only think I know everything…I think.

Seriously though, I think the time I spend making the tutorials look somewhat professional is partly responsible for the perception of knowledge on my part. You Dave, most likely know more about Blender than I do. The fact that I spend hours editing out all of the bloopers from the tutorials creates the illusion that I have it all together

However I’m waiting for future Apollos to travel back and tell me (past/present Apollos) all the secrets of Blender that only the future can reveal. Then I will be the wielder of deep Blender secrets. Future Apollos is the really smart one here. Past Apollos is kind of a dunce.

Your work is very much appreciated.

Thanks very much. The fact that you take the time to comment, and to be a friend of this blog is appreciated as well.

I hope you just basically know everything because, when you get to the more advanced topics, I will be learning tonnes!

Your work is very much appreciated.

Very kind of you to suggest. I’ll consider this. Blender Basics might be a great DVD value once I have enough segments to put it forth as an A-Z presentation on basics. I have a few more tutorials to go!

I will probably put up a donations link at some point, thanks for that. I want the tutorials to be as free as Blender itself is, but there’s nothing wrong with allowing those who find it valuable to offer a donation.

I may eventually offer additional advertising links on the site as well. I already have a bluehost.com link on the sidebar for those who want to sign up for a hosting account. This is for the company that hosts Blender Underground, so I am pleased to promote them.

Combining free with profitable is one of the big challenges of the 21st century! =D

You can make a living out of this, put the tutorials in a neat DVD and we’ll buy it. Or you can leave a ‘Donation’ button for your page.

Just a suggestion..