[Philip Lelyveld comment: this article is NOT about 3D, but illustrates one possible future for content and revenue generation]

[The Next Web]

Last night at the New York Tech Meetup, Kieran demoed Folio, platform for designers, illustrators, developers and creators to market and sell their digital content. Currently, supported file types include just about anything you can create in Photoshop or Illustrator such as PSD, EPS, AI, JPG, PNG, TIFF, PDF. In the future, the marketplace will open up to all digital assets including 3D models, motion graphics, audio content, photography, financial models, MS Word Templates, drum beats, WAV files, audio loops and even snippets of code.  …

Folio’s platform operates like an app store for digital goods with the simplicity of Dropbox, giving every creative professional the ability to sell their digital assets in minutes. Using a simple menu bar application, the creative can just drag and drop the file, add a descriptive tag, set a price, upload and it’s instantly for sale on the Folio network and shareable with a unique URL to Facebook and Twitter. For those looking to buy assets, it’s just as simple. To monetize, Folio takes 30% of each transaction, which is equivalent to Apple’s iTunes model.

Folio’s platform is curated to maintain quality control by a community of approved moderators who are paid a fixed percentage of the price of the file. To protect against copyright infringement, Folio complies with MPAA rules to remove content immediately if wasn’t posted by the original person, and anybody who uses or buys copyrighted content will be issued a refund. As a rule, users of the platform are told they must have creative copyright of their content in order to upload.  …

See the full story here: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/05/10/nycs-next-startup-folio-unveils-its-drag-and-drop-marketplace-for-digital-assets/