Not cool bro...

[DennisD]

So I'm chatting with an animator on skype. He's "highly recommended" by a friend. I tell him I need:

• ORIGINAL animated designs
• Full resale license rights

I don't have the time to do 50+ designs myself by the deadline. I need him to take some of my storyboards and assets and turn them into something usable to resell to customers.

So he quotes me at $10/animated second, which is a reasonable price...

However, as we move forward, it becomes clear that he doesn't intend to create animations from scratch. He plans to use 'fill-in-the-blank' templates off of VideoHive...

After I confront him about this... he understands, and we continue talking about UNIQUE animation.

NOPE!

Kid starts sending me examples of his "original work" which are just more templates. I know because I own them myself. They still have the "your text here" placeholders in them.

LISTEN KID:
I can buy and edit templates myself!
WERE YOU NOT LISTENING TO ME THE PAST 30 MINS?
There must be a misunderstanding, right?

NOPE!

Turns out he DID understand what I was asking for, but he was trying to cut down work on his end, but still charge me the full price for it.

Apparently he didn't care that it'd break the license agreement of the original work. He didn't care that I could be sued for illegally breaking copyright. He thought I wouldn't figure it out.

Templates are MEANT to be used with clients. I understand showing off templates you own as a producer trying to book clients. Except in this case, he's not the producer.. I am. He's an animator FAKING his skillset, trying to squeeze extra money out of me, and knowingly setting me up to break copyright laws.

This is why it's important to be an expert in what you do.
The person who referred this kid to me said he was a "very gifted video artist". This is because the referring party isn't well versed in video.

I SAW the templates because I own them myself.
I spotted his hesitance in following my storyboards, his hesitance when I told him I'd need access to the project files when he was done.
I knew when that him "checking his files" before quoting me, was him templates similar to what I asked for.

Imagine if I had spend a few grand on this kid and then gotten sued?
Not cool bro...

 

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[Stephanos83]

Definitely not cool. I will remember this if I ever need this type of work done. Thanks for sharing. I wouldn't have known.

 

[ShadowX]

Lot of those people on Fiverr too. They sell stuff that can be used by online creator software -_-

 

[RogueInnovation]

Nice diligence Duty.

I've found that behaviour to be everywhere and in almost every institution.
I actually expect BS like that and do smaller runs first up, that way you minimise risk.

Also, I picked up recently that getting a concept guy (can you show me a few scetches and a few concepts etc) and an "eye" guy (can you turn this into x) can be really helpful in ensuring it is original. Ask guy for the ideas and find another guy that can execute, or, take it back to him to see how he executes and if he can finish the project.

I am hesitant to buy anything at face value, because imo its worth nothing and most business people are not 1000% honest. I am amazed at how many people buy from independants like they are as trustworthy as a supermarket etc. The difference between big and small is usually thorough biz practices that help them stay away from this tom foolery, so assume the worst, and be prepared for better once you've gone through diligence.

Learn to enjoy roasting people upon purchases of any kind, and throw curve balls and you'll spot phonies faster.

 

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