Autodesk Apps Store for 3ds Max, Maya and others

[Bullit]

Not Softimage or not yet.

http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/

[Maximus]

thats actually a very interesting thing.

[Pooby]

It will most likely be The result of an idea someone had to extract more money from users under the guise of offering a streamline service to the customer, With a view to forcing 3rd party developers to 'benefit' from having their plugins be official autodesk apps.
Which means, following the apple model, that autodesk can grab 50% of the sales of other peoples work.

[Yanik]

Darn I had plans to create a similar service myself. I am not sure if I should continue or not if this becomes successful.
The system I had planned would be a little different.

- Wysiwyg portfolio for the product.
- Ticket system. Submit bugs/requests directly. Similar to github.
- Wiki system. Directly access manuals, faqs or user generated tutorials. Similar to github.
- Version management. Subscribers get notified immediately when a new version would come out. Clients would also be able to install older versions. Developers can provide change logs and specify milestones.
- Storage. Using Amazon S3 to store files secured in the cloud. It's cheap and you can upload large files.
- Dependencies. Each plugin/app can specify what dependencies it has and to which versions.
- Companion to. Specify with which other apps it works.
- Responsive. Working on every device/resolution. I wanted to integrate it in Softimage, Maya using the QT webkit module. Something like a netview but more advanced. Also I had plans to setup a 1-click installation system.
- Restful API.
- Snippets. Similar to gist.
And a lot more.

Basically I want to create a open platform where customers and developers work together on building better tools. I'm doing this in my spare time and made a good start developing it in Django. Unfortunately it was a bit too slow/heavy for my needs and I'm currently writing it in Flask where I would have to do everything manually. It will take me a lot of time(months) and I'm not sure if it's worth it.

What's your opinion? Is anyone willing to donate(of course only when it's done) or should I ask the developers to pay for access/features?

[McNistor]

It will most likely be The result of an idea someone had to extract more money from users under the guise of offering a streamline service to the customer, With a view to forcing 3rd party developers to 'benefit' from having their plugins be official autodesk apps.
Which means, following the apple model, that autodesk can grab 50% of the sales of other peoples work.

I'm not saying I'm liking this business model (quite the opposite, I'd be the first to throw a rock at them if it comes to that), but nobody is forcing said devs to sell through Autodesk (or do they?).

[Pooby]

Not exactly force, but if AD succeed in making a centralised app store that becomes the place to go and users in the future dont feel they need to search around for plugins like they do now, then developers may feel like their plugin may be overlooked if they dont go the app store route.

[Letterbox]

Not exactly force, but if AD succeed in making a centralised app store that becomes the place to go and users in the future dont feel they need to search around for plugins like they do now, then developers may feel like their plugin may be overlooked if they dont go the app store route.

For that to happen don't you think AD would have to be exceedingly good at marketing this?

[azurecgi]

For that to happen don't you think AD would have to be exceedingly good at marketing this?

[Pooby]

Not exactly force, but if AD succeed in making a centralised app store that becomes the place to go and users in the future dont feel they need to search around for plugins like they do now, then developers may feel like their plugin may be overlooked if they dont go the app store route.

For that to happen don't you think AD would have to be exceedingly good at marketing this?

They would have to be really good at marketing this to make it work. Yes.

[luceric]

app store FAQ for developers http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/it ... d=20149725

[McNistor]

luceric, one might think if such devs were to be interested in this, they'd at least be able to find information about what they'd be intending to get into. Ergo, your post is not only unnecessary, but it might be interpreted as some shameless Autodesk promoting.

[Draise]

Darn I had plans to create a similar service myself. I am not sure if I should continue or not if this becomes successful.
The system I had planned would be a little different.

- Wysiwyg portfolio for the product.
- Ticket system. Submit bugs/requests directly. Similar to github.
- Wiki system. Directly access manuals, faqs or user generated tutorials. Similar to github.
- Version management. Subscribers get notified immediately when a new version would come out. Clients would also be able to install older versions. Developers can provide change logs and specify milestones.
- Storage. Using Amazon S3 to store files secured in the cloud. It's cheap and you can upload large files.
- Dependencies. Each plugin/app can specify what dependencies it has and to which versions.
- Companion to. Specify with which other apps it works.
- Responsive. Working on every device/resolution. I wanted to integrate it in Softimage, Maya using the QT webkit module. Something like a netview but more advanced. Also I had plans to setup a 1-click installation system.
- Restful API.
- Snippets. Similar to gist.
And a lot more.

Basically I want to create a open platform where customers and developers work together on building better tools. I'm doing this in my spare time and made a good start developing it in Django. Unfortunately it was a bit too slow/heavy for my needs and I'm currently writing it in Flask where I would have to do everything manually. It will take me a lot of time(months) and I'm not sure if it's worth it.

What's your opinion? Is anyone willing to donate(of course only when it's done) or should I ask the developers to pay for access/features?

I am alllllll very much for THIS business model or appstore. I don't have much funding at the moment to help you out, nor personnel in my studio, but when the time comes, you'd have my support.

[luceric]

luceric, one might think if such devs were to be interested in this, they'd at least be able to find information about what they'd be intending to get into. Ergo, your post is not only unnecessary, but it might be interpreted as some shameless Autodesk promoting.

the FAQ I posted answers the sales split and other question brought up in the first page of this thread

[Rez007]

luceric, one might think if such devs were to be interested in this, they'd at least be able to find information about what they'd be intending to get into. Ergo, your post is not only unnecessary, but it might be interpreted as some shameless Autodesk promoting.

the FAQ I posted answers the sales split and other question brought up in the first page of this thread

I think there was nothing wrong with what luceric posted. Especially, since it was to reference specific operations...50% commission was mentioned eariler as a reference to Apple, which is not true - Apple takes 30% actually. The link posted by luceric clarifies AD's operation policies and commission - which currently sits at 0% with a possiblity of going up to 30% in the future...

This is a very smart move by AD and looks very interesting. Having Apps/add-ons under one roof makes them easier to find. Being approved by AD as well, is an added bonus for perspective customers. Having to go through some kind of approval process eases the minds of a purchaser, regardless.

[McNistor]

This is a very smart move by AD and looks very interesting. Having Apps/add-ons under one roof makes them easier to find. Being approved by AD as well, is an added bonus for perspective customers. Having to go through some kind of approval process eases the minds of a purchaser, regardless.

Oh I have no doubt this is a smart move by Autodesk. "Smart" as in potentially profitable for them that is.

"easier to find"?! Type words in search engine, press enter. I'm pretty sure you'd have to do the same on a website like that. Sure, to find on a seachengine you need to know what you're looking for first, but for that there are forums. Like this one. Not much different than small market places where small "farmers" come to display their merchandise. Ah but the supermarket is so glamorous and clean and civil.

"having to go through some kind of approval process eases the minds of a purchaser, regardless."
Yes, approval process by the entity that sells the approved product is a reliable and trustworthy criteria to guide your purchasing decisions.

Did I mention that selling your product through an intermediary ends-up being more expensive for the end-user or less profitable for the creator of the product? The "middle man" always wins.
Why some people do not encourage and support the small developers and choose to make business the "the vultures" I'll never understand. Is the commodity of not having to search a bit more that valuable to you? Kind of a rhetorical question, obviously.