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Messages - crazychristina
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126
« on: September 11, 2010, 16:09 »
I think istock will do remarkably well out of its new direction. The NUMBER of contributors and buyers leaving is not a very useful measure. All members are equal but some are more equal than others. As long as their most prolific contributors and biggest buyers are happy, especially if they get more prolific contributors (Getty pros) and bigger buyers (agencies who want only macro quality) they won't care. And they'll still be offering micro, whether it be branded as istock or Thinkstock doesn't really matter much. Many independents will stay - how much is a sub sale on SS worth?
127
« on: September 11, 2010, 16:00 »
One hears from time to time about designers whose agencies will not let them use microstock. The Agency collection, which will also be available on Getty, looks to be a way to enable these people to start shopping at istock. Foot in the door. Who knows how big this market is.
128
« on: September 10, 2010, 22:28 »
With most contributors focusing on the changes to royalties, I believe a much bigger bomb is about to drop on istock. From KTs original post: Vetta Collection Changes
Effective September 27, 2010
Vetta has been more successful than we ever thought possible. It's been a wakeup call to the industry--it's that good. Vetta has far surpassed the definition of microstock and is underpriced when looking at any of its competitors. As such, we will be increasing the prices for Vetta content as well as adjusting Vetta royalties, which will now range from 22, 24, 26, 28, & 30% when sold on iStock. Even with the decrease in royalties, this will be a net gain for contributors, and customers are still getting one of the best collections in the world at a fraction of traditional stock pricing.
The Vetta Collection will now be mirrored at Getty Images under their traditional license model. We've been doing similar content mirroring with iStock Vectors and Videos for several months now, with exceptional results.
The Agency Collection
Effective September 2010
Later this month we will introduce a new collection here at iStock--it will be the first time we've allowed outside agencies on the site. The Agency Collection will feature some of the world's best photographers and agencies, selected by Content teams at Getty Images and iStock. Later in the month, we'll be inviting select iStock photographers to submit to the collection as well.
The Agency Collection will be priced at a premium to Vetta and will be available on iStock, Getty Images, Jupiter and PunchStock.
Exclusive iStock contributors will be invited on an individual basis to add their content to this collection. We will pay a modified royalty for the Agency Collection that fits between traditional stock and current iStock royalties. The royalty range for this collection will be: 22, 24, 26, 28, & 30% when sold on iStock. For content sold off of iStock, all royalties will be 20%. istock is going midstock, with current Getty pros dominating. The micro collections will become the new Dollar Bin. Most current contributors will become irrelevant. Vetta has proved that the market can bear it.
129
« on: September 10, 2010, 18:42 »
istock is changing to a new business model. The Agency collection will be a midstock collection of Getty pros and selected istock contributors, attracting buyers who previously wouldn't consider micro. The micro collections will be kept as the budget outlet but not the core business. A one-stop shop for buyers of all colors, capitalising on the istock brand. Should do well. But the majority of current contributors are not very relevant to this model.
130
« on: September 10, 2010, 01:43 »
The decision to go exclusive with istock or remain independent has always seemed something of a line ball for most people, financially speaking. Surely the significant decrease in royalties for most active istock exclusives (not talking about the bulk of inactive/bronze contributors here) makes this decision much easier. Quite apart from righteous anger as an excuse to jump ship, won't istock see a much smaller growth in new contributors henceforth? Maybe they don't care as the majority of their sales come from just a few top contributors anyway.
131
« on: September 09, 2010, 18:03 »
I think the istock community will slowly die as a result of these changes. You're just working for the man now. Lobo eats tacos while contributors burn.
132
« on: September 09, 2010, 06:05 »
I believe istock is encouraging big producers at the expense of smaller producers. Only the biggest producers will be able to access the best royalties. The long term effect of this will be a lack of diversity, with a huge number of similar images in the library. Short term profits but long term death.
133
« on: September 02, 2010, 04:51 »
I would rather Istock put their time and money into getting a decent website sorted out ;-)
I think we all would. All this fantasy nonsense makes me puke __ there isn't any 'steel' or 'cages' or 'battles'. It's just a bunch of sycophantic time-wasters massaging each other's egos.
plonk
134
« on: September 01, 2010, 20:08 »
Ratings don't count. I don't recall seeing any battle that I thought wasn't judged on merit, even when I disagree with the judgement. There's always some difference between judges with respect to emphasis on technical skill vs artistic merit (which is, admittedly, subjective).
135
« on: September 01, 2010, 17:11 »
The istock Steel Cage is a forum that allows two people to compete in a Photoshopping contest (photo compositing). It's just a fun thing, and most contestants are designers who love the chance to hone their skills and get away from the humdrum for a while. Each battle is 5 rounds. One person starts with a composite image (can't be a single photo), and the psd passes between contestants. Each has to create a new composite image while retaining some element from the previous one. See this for example. The winner gets some free credits from istock (about 40). The annual Battle Royale is a knock out competition with prizes attached. It starts differently. Seed images are provided (a lightbox this year) and would-be contestants have to create a design from those images and upload it (by 5 Sept). There's a link to the upload site on the page I linked to. The offerings are judged and the top 32 go into the knock out tournament. Each battle in this is much shorter than the regular steel cage, only two rounds I think. 32 seed challenges 1 seed, 31 challenges 2, etc. The person who is challenged decides who goes first. There is a time limit for each round of a battle. Failure to meet the deadline results in disqualification (and loss, obviously). Any member of istock is eligible to enter (except for residents of a few localities which have laws against that kind of thing). There are links to the conditions and rules on this page.
136
« on: September 01, 2010, 14:41 »
The qualifying round for the istock Battle Royale has started. First prize $5000 + Wacom Cintiq.
137
« on: August 13, 2010, 05:36 »
I know that redmonkey8 is attempting to live off his photography, microstock plus some assignment work. He gave up his day job some time ago. Nils (4FR) is a professional photographer. Taavet is an illustrator who's videos must be contributing substantially to his income. As Carlo is a student his income from microstock is probably a large part of his current income, if not in future. He's only 20 I think. Kurt I'm not sure about. He's still a student in IT I think (postgrad) so photography is probably a substantial income for him too. So yes I'm bending things a bit, but not too much. They're all on the way up in microstock. Sorry for my comment about quality, it wasn't directed at you.
138
« on: August 13, 2010, 03:44 »
You're right, although I'm not sure what Carlo is a student of - might be art and design. Guess they're just are amateurs, uploading crap...
(Vetta crap, of course)
139
« on: August 13, 2010, 01:51 »
Success breeds success but can also breed stagnation. Thus there is room for new players in a changing environment.
Wrong! today there is no room for new players, youd like to think there is, but it isnt. Theres room for part-timers, weekend snappers, etc, whos happy with a few bucks per month, thats all.
and this is the result of all agencies opening the doors for just about anybody followed by clogged up files, spamming, etc.
Nowdays, the supply is outstripping the demand by lightyears.
I'm in one of the 'races' on istock, with about 60 others - a very small selection. A few are doing very well. Note their start dates. A couple who started a few years ago didn't actually become very active until more recently. http://www.istockphoto.com/4frhttp://www.istockphoto.com/kparishttp://www.istockphoto.com/taavethttp://www.istockphoto.com/redmonkey8http://www.istockphoto.com/carlofrancoI believe all of these are making their income from photography (illustration videos on one case), a substantial amount of it from microstock.
140
« on: August 12, 2010, 18:31 »
Success breeds success but can also breed stagnation. Thus there is room for new players in a changing environment.
141
« on: August 12, 2010, 07:46 »
DeepMeta tracks the number of views on all images. What additional information are you looking for?
142
« on: August 11, 2010, 01:10 »
It will be a sad day when societies stop attempting to protect IP. I'll have to go to school to learn what I'm interested in instead of buying VTs from Gnomon or Lynda.com. Books will stop being published since the pdfs are so easily found online. And, as you say, good music will only be available live. Pity if your favourite musician lives in another country.
143
« on: July 30, 2010, 18:11 »
An admin commented that they are close to resolving some long-standing technical issues that have been affecting uploads, so perhaps the new limits will stay in place.
144
« on: July 29, 2010, 02:16 »
I guess they think Photoshop CS5 is free too.
145
« on: July 21, 2010, 16:43 »
Wow, huge achievement. Well done.
146
« on: July 16, 2010, 18:26 »
Awesome work btw Averil! Hope i'll get half as good one day 
That's not mine. Not for nothing is Tony the current leader, although there are some serious challengers. I'm not one of them.
147
« on: July 16, 2010, 18:04 »
Averil, on a sidenote: i've been wondering if images from sites like image*after can be used in the steel cage? You know by any chance?
Usual copyright issues apply. I think I've used a couple of images from sxc.hu, but that might have been for something else. The only thorny bit is that steel cage images actually are considered promotional use, so I guess the commercial use restrictions should also apply. If I'm using my own non-stock images I don't generally think of checking them for obscure logos, but I probably should. istock has a cagesaver which is a screensaver consisting of highly rated steel cage images. I think this is the 'promotional use', apart from the images that turn up in the Contact sheet on a regular basis. ETA: There are some grey areas. I occasionally shoot myself when I need a figure doing something specific or in a particular pose. However these images don't get uploaded into the collection. I guess that if I use them in the steel cage then they should be MR'd, but there's no means to do that officially. In reality it's not a problem as they are shots of myself, but someone might use a personal photo of someone else in the cage, and that could be problematic. Actually, in a recent team battle the current steel cage leader did use a non-stock image of one of the regular onlookers, but did ask her permission first (image below). 
148
« on: July 16, 2010, 15:53 »
Permission to use images in the Steel Cage is part of the Promotional Use program - so if you opt out of that, your images aren't available to Steel Cage participants.
^^Unless they buy them. I have been fortunate to have some members license my images to use in the steel cage. I really appreciate it when that happens
A contestant doesn't qualify for free steel cage downloads until they have won a battle that goes to completion (ie, not a disqualification win). Up to that point they buy images or use their own, or other sources. I occasionally buy an image if the small size (which is what is available for steel cage use) is not big enough for my design. Although not a designer I have spent several hundred dollars on cage battles. There is a limit on the number of free images one can download too. Also, The annual Battle Royale does not qualify for free image use.
149
« on: July 15, 2010, 17:23 »
Fully agree, cclapper and madeleide. And the promotion thing doesn't work for non-exclusives anyway - never ever will an independent get an IOTW (or anything else special) at istock. So I'm not sure it matters for independents whether they are opted-in or not. But I must say, I even less like the idea of other contributors using images for free in the "steel cage". Can you opt out of that?
As a steel cage regular I do find images that are not available for use in the steel cage, so yes, it must be possible to opt out. Perhaps it's worth pointing out that most of those who compete there and who follow the battles are designers, hence customers, and it does attract interest (and potentially, business).
150
« on: July 14, 2010, 17:04 »
I'm wondering what part the designer of the label had in this (as far as using that image is concerned). I imagine that the image library knew better than to pass off editorial imagery as suitable for commercial use.
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