In case you haven’t yet heard the overcast #028, in which I interviewed Matt Kelland and Dave Lloyd of Moviestorm, one of the things we discussed was their strategy for making the Moviestorm venture profitable. A good bit of their plan is tied to the “content store” model, and a look around shows that this model is extremely popular among similar applications. Some of these companies have been working this way for years, which seems to indicate that it can work quite well.

• Moviestorm : content store link : Base Application = Free (with possible paid “advanced” versions in future)
• iClone : content store link : Base Application = Paid
• Antics3d : content store link : Base Application = Free
• DAZ Studio : content store : Base Application = Free
• Google Sketchup : content store link : Base Application = Free version and Paid Pro version
• Vue : content store link : Base Application = Several Paid versions
• Poser : content store link : Base Application = Paid

Content Stores Not Directly Affiliated with a Particular Product

• CoolCreators (iClone materials)
• Renderosity (wide variety of artwork, materials)
• Turbosquid (wide variety of 3d models, materials)
• CG Society (wide variety of 3d models, materials)
• TrueBones (motion capture, animation files)

The one thing all of these content store ventures have in common? They all, in some way or another, offer some free items, and a huge variety of higher quality items for sale. Many of them feature content created by users alongside “official” content from the developer. Pricing is VERY competitive, and surprisingly affordable. Almost all of the above stores run regular promotions where you can really get some bang for your buck. I recommend subscribing to the email newsletters for the stores which interest you to keep tabs on those specials.

I didn’t mention Second Life, which is a unique variant of this model, but there are of course countless content stores in that virtual world. Consult your nearest Second Life guru for tips on the best places to shop.