New online art marketplace launches

A new marketplace for 3D models has opened its virtual doors.

Presto3D is a service that allows artists to submit models for sale at prices they can set. But, more innovatively, it allows buyers to see full 3D previews of the models – which the company says are suitable for gaming – before they buy them from within their browser.

“Before Presto3D, the only preview of the model you got to see was a 2D image. Imagine if you went to iStockphoto to buy photos and instead of a picture preview, the only description they gave you was ‘this is a photo of a woman in a red hat’,” said Joshua Koopferstock, product manager for Presto3D.

“There’s a good chance that what you’re buying would is not exactly what you need. The same goes for 3D models. Most buyers come to a 3D marketplace because it is more cost-effective to buy certain models than to create the models themselves. But if the model is going to require hours of fix-up work, that cost-saving benefit vanishes. With a 3D preview, we get rid of these unpleasant surprises.”