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REVOSTOCK BLOG


18
Jul
18
New Video Copilot Element 3D AE Plug-In
Hey Guys and Gals,

Andrew Kramer and his team at Video Copilot have just launched a new plugin for After Effects. ELEMENT 3D is described as a "3D object based particle array system." Essentially, this plugin gives you the ability to create 3D objects directly inside of After Effects, at a fraction of the time and cost of more expensive applications like Cinema 4D, 3DS Max, etc.

There's a catch though, particularly for stock producers. Unlike Optical Flares, this plugin's license agreement does NOT allow the use of any pre-rendered material in your templates. Buyers would have to purchase the plugin in order to customize the project.  Additionally, stock video producers would not be able to use the plug-in to create any Stock Video to sell either. 

It is an interesting and different way to license a plug-in.  Feel free to chime in on your thoughts or questions! 

Thanks!

Amy - Revo Template Manager
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COMMENTS

Digital Spatula

I would love to design some templates with this amazing tool but I have a few questions right now with more to come I'm sure. - If we create our models and textures in element, how do we include them? I'm assuming they need to be in the folder required by the plug-in. Does the plug-in remember relative paths so we don't have to give the customer a long explanation to install the textures into their set-up? - What about procedural textures - ones that don't use any images. Can we create our own textures only using the parameters included in the plug-in?

Jul 25 2012 6:40 PM

Digital Spatula

Can we create templates that use the textures and models included in the basic plug-in purchase in our project since the user will also have those resources when they installed Element?

Jul 25 2012 6:42 PM

MDMotion

Hey Steve. I've looked into this...Element assets aren't "seen" by the AE collect files function. But according to AK, you simply create an Element folder next to the footage folder, and everything should load fine. Still early days for me with the plugin but yes; you can create your own procedural materials. The license and Videocopilot's own interpretation of it is pretty strict: We can't use models or presets, even from the basic plugin (doesn't really make sense since everyone has it, hmm?). All the best, Mike

Jul 26 2012 4:31 AM

Tamotion

I just bought Element. After such a long discussion I just wanna make sure I got this right. Pretenders are ok for AE templates as they can't be modified further? Does it matter if you're using Andrew's models or only your own stuff would be ok? Since it couldn't be edited is it the same rule for stock backgrounds? And Michael, I can imaging plenty of scenarios where I'd want to include pretenders: I might even include a few variations. But there are things you can't achieve with AE alone and would be great for pretenders even if you can't change camera movement etc.

Jul 25 2012 2:30 PM

Tamotion

kk5hy has the answers to my questions. I was reading the comments from the top down instead of bottom up.

Jul 25 2012 2:33 PM

kk5hy

So when in doubt, ask.. I just received this from Mat Kramer So, you can create your own 3d elements and use your own textures to resell. Just not any of his models or textures. Jake, This is an example of how we intend the plug-in to be used in regards to being re-sold in templates. 1. You create a 3D model of something with your own textures. 2. You design an animation in After Effects with Element 3D. 3. You save the AE project file and place the 3D model and textures into a folder. 4. Zip it up, upload to RevoStock or similar. 5. Customer who owns Element 3D buys the template. Anything pre-rendered with the plug-in cannot be re-sold or re-distributed in templates though. Hope this helps! Thank you.

Jul 22 2012 10:29 PM

RevoStock Staff

Hey Jake- Thanks for your input. Just to be clear, the use of Element in templates is perfectly fine. The potential issue, at least for template designers, has more to do with the 'no prerenders' clause in the license agreement. Buyers would have to own the Element plugin, if they wanted to fully customize the project. In the past, it was possible to simply include a prerendered version that made projects available to everyone (whether or not they owned the plugin).

Jul 23 2012 12:17 PM

dnavarrojr

FWIW, the license may not be legal. Adobe lost a law suit last year dealing with their restrictions on the academic versions of their products. The Adobe license does not allow any commercial use of the academic version. Some law student from Yale sued them and won, claiming that they cannot restrict what he does with the product. Further muddying the waters of "shrink wrap licenses" for which many states have laws invalidating them. That doesn't mean Revo should allows renders from Element, but depending on what happens with Adobe's appeal, it could make it possible to use pre-rendered footage in the future.

Jul 24 2012 4:08 PM

kk5hy

"Additionally, stock video producers would not be able to use the plug-in to create any Stock Video to sell either. " Are you sure about that statement? You mean I can't create a text layer or logo, make it 3d using his plugin and sell it for stock? I think what the license means is you can't use any of his 3d models which are royalty free in themselves.

Jul 21 2012 11:18 AM

RevoStock Staff

My understanding is that anything prerendered using the plugin could not be resold as stock media. Stock footage created with Element, would seem to qualify as 'prerendered.' Would love to hear other thoughts on this!

Jul 23 2012 12:52 PM

expressodesign

thank you, Amy!! but how can someone know if 3D work rendered in Element 3D and not other 3D program?

Jul 19 2012 10:09 AM

RevoStock Staff

Expressodesign: you raise a really good point here! How would anyone know this, if the work was entirely created with your own models, materials, etc? We hope Andrew will jump into this discussion at some point and address this. It would be easy to catch people that are using presets and objects included with Element, but for original work, who can say for sure? Good point.

Jul 20 2012 9:00 AM

Murphymedia

Yeh I could have guessed that too. But as I understand it if you use your own 3D modeled objects then it would be fine to use the plug-in only to create particle arrays, animations and whatever else fun stuff the plug-in is able to do?

Jul 19 2012 9:06 AM

RevoStock Staff

Kerry, here's the language in the license agreement: "...no Package Content that You have rendered or any Work that You have created can serve as any sort of stock footage, stock photography or stock media, as animated background or editable media files, or otherwise be offered to the public or compete with the Package or any Product, whether offered for free or payment." The exception being, if you were to "sell a single, locked Work" to a "single end user". This would be ok, since it will not be modified any further.

Jul 20 2012 9:09 AM

MDMotion

Thanks for bringing this up, Amy. It's a fantastic tool and I hope producers and buyers alike will take advantage of it. The license may come as an unpleasant surprise for some, but prerendering Element actually doesn't make much sense in a template context. I can live with that. Looking forward to seeing projects using this, thanks!

Jul 18 2012 6:10 PM

RevoStock Staff

Thanks for your comment, Michael! Prerendered animation has its own limitations, particularly for users that prefer maximum control over the editing. I would imagine that those users will love Element for this reason, even if it means an added expense upfront. Then again, stock producers have always had the OPTION of including prerendered project files + the original. They can no longer cater to the needs of everyone, which could potentially affect sales.

Jul 20 2012 8:57 AM

MDMotion

Yes, that makes sense. The license agreement is certainly a bit controversial(?) If producers and buyers purchase Element "as planned", everything works out. If not, I wouldn't be surprised if Videocopilot decides to re-evaluate their decision. I'm not a license agreement expert, but seems that we may be in uncharted territory with this. Would be great to hear from Andrew himself here. Thanks again!

Jul 20 2012 1:20 PM

RevoStock Staff

Hey Michael- it will be interesting to see how this plays out, and how it affects the industry at large. Perhaps less reliance on plugins might be something to consider in the future. Time will tell!

Jul 23 2012 12:33 PM

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