Purchasing third-party mesh objects?

[Izzy Stipe]

Are there any websites where I could buy meshes created by other users, and am allowed to use them for commercial use in Second Life? I'm basically looking for purchasable mesh objects with unrestricted permissions, if it's allowed of course.

[ChinRey]

There probably are but most sellers of 3D models won't allow them to be used in Second Life. Here is Turbosquid's explanation why:

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May I use TurboSquid products in virtual worlds?

Generally, no. While we greatly respect Second Life and related communities, TurboSquid’s artist community does not believe the IP protections for their work are sufficient in these worlds.

The specific exclusion in the Royalty Free License is based on the virtual world being 

open 

for importing/exporting and the potential for use as a conduit for piracy for TurboSquid models. If a virtual world is more like World of Warcraft or a closed MMO, then that should be allowed. Please check the Royalty Free License for the specific language.

---

 (Source: https://support.turbosquid.com/entries/29237436-Royalty-Free-License-FAQ#h.kkli57wxueoy)

 

In addition to the IP protection problems TurboSquid mentions, there are also issues with Second Life's Terms Of Service. Linden Lab demands fairly extensive rights to any asset created in or uploaded to Second Life and you can't of course grant them those rights if you don't have them yourself.

As if that wasn't enough, there is a thrid problem too: If you want to have reasonably decent quality mesh in Second Life, you will have to create LOD models and a physics model for it. In theory these can be generated automatically when you upload but the result is never really satisfactory for private use and never ever suitable for anything you want to sell to others. That means that even if you start with a ready made mesh model you found somewhere else, you still have to spend a bit of time editing in Blender or Maya or such to create those extra models. Usually it's easier to make everything from scratch.

[BlueTrianon]

The Marketplace has a section for that.

You'll need to check the Permissions on the right side and the Product Details for licensing information (commercial/noncommercial, etc) for each listing.

[ChinRey]

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BlueTrianon wrote:

The

Marketplace

has a section for that.

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Ummm... I actually think most merchants who list in that category are honest, decent people who only sell items they have the right to sell. But maybe I'm just naive

[Chic Aeon]

As others have said buying handmade mesh from other Second Life users would be the way to go. There are tons of full perm mesh objects on the Marketplace and many of those folks have inworld stores. There are building components, furniture and clothes. As with all products there are some items that are well made and others that are not.

Most clothing has demo so you can at least see how the rigging is. Difficult to tell how the texturing might be.

 

The August 2013 change in the Terms of Service cut off buying from sources outside SL and in response to that change many suppliers no longer sell products TO upload into SL -- so two ways to "break the law" if you don't comply. Of course this still happens fairly regularly and there appears to be little control from the Linden side of the equation stopping this. Still much better to stay within the TOS. You might want to read through that very long document  -- especially the section on content creation and what you already agreed to do and NOT to do .

 

 

[Izzy Stipe]

Better safe than sorry, thanks for the info.

[ChinRey]

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Izzy Stipe wrote:

Better safe than sorry, thanks for the info.

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YW. I wish everybody thought like you. Second Life would have been a much better place if they did.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

The marketplace does have some mesh templates that come with a notecard that tells you where to download the dae file and some even have an obj file with them.  Very few of them are pure unrestricted licenses though.  Although you are allowed to download them into SL so you show as the creator, some restrict the use to SL only or restrict giving them for free or below a certain price.