I have SO MANY questions & concerns (plus a few ideas)

OK, so let me begin by C&P’ing the text for the Sketchfab section of the FAB announcement page:

Sketchfab’s licensable content will move to Fab over the coming months, while Sketchfab.com will remain dedicated to its services that enable creators to upload 3D models and share them publicly or privately via the web. Sketchfab’s business solutions will continue to be supported. Over the next year, our goal is to improve these capabilities and bring more of them over to Fab, making it not just a marketplace but a powerful service for 3D content creators and businesses.

When Fab launches, it will replace the Sketchfab Store and you will no longer be able to buy or sell assets on the Sketchfab Store. Fab will release a tool early next month to help Sketchfab creators migrate their models to Fab in advance of Fab’s October launch. Both Creative Commons and Standard-licensed models will be eligible for migration; other license types, such as the Editorial license, will not be eligible for migration. Once you migrate your work to Fab, you will have access to an improved 3D viewer and editor, media galleries, expanded payout options, and the ability to set prices for Personal and Professional license tiers. While all product star ratings will migrate over from Sketchfab, Fab will not support open-text reviews or model comments.

If you have purchased content from the Sketchfab Store, you will continue to have access to it through the Purchases tab of your Sketchfab profile page.

I have MANY questions & concerns about all this, followed by a couple of suggestions, that I really, REALLY hope the people behind Sketchfab, Fab, etc., will at the very least take into consideration, but hopefully also accept & follow.

  1. WHY is this Fab thing even necessary? It sounds like a huge pain in the hindquarters to me, & I’ve no doubt with a lot of other people, as well.

  2. Will/Could we still be able to see the paid models in & of themselves in Sketchfab, like we already do with all of the free-for-download & non-downloadable models, so that we may still admire & preview them before we purchase them on Fab? It would be EXTREMELY nice if we could! I would also be happy if we could continue adding them to our Sketchfab collections.

Furthermore, why doesn’t Sketchfab just replace the old Sketchfab Store links with the links to the same models on Fab? Like this rudimentary illustration here:

  1. Is it possible at all to still keep the ability to provide textual comments, as well as keep all preexisting comments, for all of the paid models when they move to Fab? And if so, why should they not keep it?

  2. If all of the paid models in my cart (as well as my ‘wish list’ collection) move to Fab, will I have to look for them all over again?

  3. Will all of the paid models that haven’t already been migrated to Fab, be put into Fab automatically? I really do hope so!

  4. Will the user interface for Fab be super-easy to look at & navigate? Because I do NOT want to have to deal with a cluttered mess of a marketplace site! The Unreal & Epic Games websites give me an ABSOLUTE HEADACHE as it is!

And I guess that’s all I can think of for now. How can we bring all of these concerns & ideas up to Epic/Unreal/Sketchfab, & ensure that as many of them as possible are addressed, approved, implemented, &/or followed? :slight_smile:

P.S.: I really hope that the good people at Fab/Sketchfab/Unreal/etc. are reading all of the posts in this forum section, & listening to what they have to say.

Hi @TheMouseAvenger .

Epic currently has several marketplaces, all with different interfaces, checkout solutions, etc. Fab is intended to simplify things and put everything a creator might need all in one place, with one interface, one checkout solution, etc.

Will/Could we still be able to see the paid models in & of themselves in Sketchfab, like we already do with all of the free-for-download & non-downloadable models, so that we may still admire & preview them before we purchase them on Fab? It would be EXTREMELY nice if we could! I would also be happy if we could continue adding them to our Sketchfab collections.

Yes. When Fab launches and the Sketchfab Store closes, models that are on the store will become “view-only”, i.e., not available for purchase but still available to look at, inspect, embed, and so on. Any store models that were migrated to Fab will also display a link out to Fab so that if you see something you like, you can get it on Fab (if it’s there) - similar to what’s in the mockup that you shared. And you can still add them to collections.

Is it possible at all to still keep the ability to provide textual comments, as well as keep all preexisting comments, for all of the paid models when they move to Fab? And if so, why should they not keep it?

Sketchfab will still have open text comments and they will remain visible on Sketchfab model pages. Fab will not have open text comments or reviews.

If all of the paid models in my cart (as well as my ‘wish list’ collection) move to Fab, will I have to look for them all over again?

If I’m understanding correctly that you’ve created a Collection that includes models that you want to purchase or download, it should remain intact (unless the model publishers delete their models, in which case they would disappear from Sketchfab entirely). Migrating a model to Fab will not remove it from Sketchfab. It will just become unavailable for purchase once the Sketchfab Store closes. But again, if it’s been migrated to Fab, the model page on Sketchfab should show a link out to the product’s listing on Fab.

If anything is in your cart when the Store closes, you likely won’t be able to retrieve the list of what was in there.

Will all of the paid models that haven’t already been migrated to Fab, be put into Fab automatically? I really do hope so!

They will not. For Sketchfab, we’re putting the choice in the hands of individual creators to decide whether or not they wish to move to Fab. Additionally, not all Sketchfab Store models will be eligible to migrate over, either because of their license type or file format. The Editorial License is not supported on Fab, so models with an Editorial License will not migrate over.

Will the user interface for Fab be super-easy to look at & navigate?

I suspect this will be a matter of personal taste and I can’t answer that one for you, unfortunately. :upside_down_face: Hopefully you will find everything clear and easy to navigate - if you don’t, we’re always open to feedback.

And yes, we’re reading and listening - if I’m slow to respond, it’s usually because I’m off hunting for answers. :slight_smile:

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OK! ^^ That answers all my questions & things perfectly! :smiley: Many, many, many thank yous! ^^

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As previously established, your reply answered all of my questions splendidly, & I wish to thank you most sincerely for writing it. :slight_smile:

I only have one more question, though:

So, what should be done with the (non-editorial) models that were on the store, but won’t be migrated automatically? I’m rather curious as to what your proposal might be. :slight_smile:

P.S.: I copied my old Sketchfab shopping cart, & pasted it into Google Docs, so there’s no need to worry about that. :slight_smile:

I want to know this as well :slight_smile: I assume editorial licenses won’t migrate because they will switch it to PERSONAL licence like other model sites, and it would be too much headache to change it all. Reason being I have 81 editorial models and they sell very well on sketchfab which would mean they will lose a lot of profit as will I. Well that and all my followers who added them to WANT TO BUY will lose their minds.

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They’ll continue to be available to view on Sketchfab. Is your concern that some of your wishlisted items will become unavailable for purchase?

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(post deleted by author)

Yes, precisely! :slight_smile: And many other people as well, I’m certain.

I’m really interested to learn what you & the team’s proposal is. :slight_smile: (curious to hear your answer)

Yes, I was literally just thinking about that myself! Same with all of the (non-editorial) paid models that won’t automatically be migrated over. I mean, it would indeed be a shame if we could no longer patronize these artists by purchasing their works. :wink:

I think that some things will just become unavailable unless their creators upload them manually to Fab or adjust Sketchfab settings to make them migratable. In the case of manual upload to Fab, there wouldn’t be the direct link from their Sketchfab page to the Fab page (unless the person adds the link in their Sketchfab description).

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Hmmm…I must admit, I was thinking rather of some method to make them still available for purchase somehow. After all, I’ve no doubt that the creators of the editorial & not-migrated for-purchase models would hate to have their source of income cut off.

Have you discussed the matter with your cohorts at Unreal, perhaps?

They know better than us for what they’re looking for. So if it’s not migrated… it most likely didn’t pass the quality checkup. Expecting to have 80+ models approved to FAB just because they were available in Sketchfab is unrealistic and insane (trying to use my kindest words here).

Just let them do their job and enjoy the new platform.

It’s no problem of me enjoying the new platform. :slight_smile: I was just worried about the last topic I brought up, that’s all. All of my other concerns were addressed most splendidly by Ms. Abby, & I am more than satisfied with her answers. :slight_smile:

I thanked the team for all their hard work over the past week. Some were still working till 9pm One guy had over 1000 models to migrate I wonder what number he’s up to so far.

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That’s very nice. :slight_smile:

I just can’t get that one last concern to stop nagging me, though… (scratches head) I’m curious as to what a potential answer might be. :slight_smile: