Many people here use blender for hobby work rather than professional work. I’m in that boat, and develop games for fun.
Because it’s for fun and not for commercial gain, there is no competition introduced by releasing any files I create.
So I release files, and I assist other users where I can. And people use my blendfiles, and I get credited by them and thanked by them. It’s all the motivation I need to keep doing it.
Who would paint a masterpiece and keep it in the basement?
- A person who makes a awesome blender piece and never shows anyone
Who paints a masterpiece, puts a cellphone quality photo on facebook and then puts the original in the basement?
- A person who shares a render, and then forgets about the blendfile
Who paints a masterpiece, puts a cellphone quality photo on facebook, and then sells the original?
- Anyone who’s doing blender for a job
Who paints a masterpiece, and distributes copies of it for free?
- A person who did it for fun, and doesn’t mind others using it.
An interesting component of any online community is Respect. In an online community where no-one can see your face, it is important for people to recognize your alias, and to recognize and acknowledge what you post. In the case of a differing of opinions, unbiased people will take the side of the person, that to them, commands the most respect. And they are more likely to take your advice if they respect you.
So how does one get respect?
- A moderator get’s respect out of fear (even though the BA moderators are very good at being people)
- A person with high post count gets respect out of perceived level of experience
- A person who lays out ideas clearly, and is regularly correct is either loved or hated depending on how they present themselves.
- A person who consistently makes few, but useful posts also gets respect
Sharing blend files is a way of working on the last section. If people ask how something done, and you provide a blendfile, you get a little respect. If you do it without anyone asking, and simply share it, respect get’s given to you by a lot of people.
When I first joined this community, there were already names I knew. Agoose, Monster, Blendzo and a few others. (They are people who hang out mainly in the game forums) The reason I knew them was because they had shared resources that I had then used.