Thursday, September 24, 2009

Interview with Simon Newstead, founder of Frenzoo


We had already the opportunity to give our members some hints of Frenzoo, the 3D world of avatars and style. Today, we're going to do something more, by introducing YOU Simon Newstead, founder and ceo of Frenzoo.com


Here's the Interview


Frenzoo is a world of 3d avatars and style. How did you get with the idea of linking together style/fashion and avatar?

We looked out and saw the emergence of fashion and lifestyle websites online, and also the rise of the avatars and advances in 3D technology. These were close to our hearts as many in the team are really into gaming, social networking and Japanese street fashions. These parts all came together when we developed the concept for Frenzoo - a social community where the emphasis is on avatar style & creativity.

glittergirl painting her evil ...

2. It seems that one of keys for a succesfull 3d virtual worlds is opening the doors to user generated contents. What are you doing in such area?

In summary - a lot!

We don't do content development in house, it all comes from third party creators - users of the website who create for fun or profit or both. We support direct 3D importing from programs like 3D Studio Max, Blender, Maya.

But apart from that we have our own unique web based tool to create designs for items directly from our website, for personal use by members or sale in the Frenzoo virtual shop. It's easy to use and make great things. We have a great and growing catalog for members to buy from!

3. You have recently gave support to 3d modelers to import their creations in Frenzoo. Can you explain a bit more these new features?

Sure. Now any Pro can get a lifetime pass for $US 3.95 and upload an unlimited amount of creations to the shop, be it clothing, furniture, animations etc
In selling to other members they can earn Gold coins which can be sold on reseller sites which have just gone live. We support 3D Max as well as Collada import for other software packages. For those who create in other virtual worlds like IMVU or Second Life it's a really small effort to publish existing works in Frenzoo.

4. What's are you plans for the future. Can you disclose your next steps?

Good question. One of the biggest requests from our members is to be able to do more with their avatar, which they have styled and made unique. So we have just introduced our first beta for chat. Now it's quite simple - 1 on 1 with a simple background, but we plan to extend this into 3D spaces and also support more around it. Our members are pretty excited about that!

5. What's are your demographics? and how old is the average Frenzoo user?

We are a global audience, especially because we support many different languages apart from English. Our largest market is US, but Europe and Asia are not far behind. There is a really nice mix of ages, from teenager through to 20 something and up. Our average age is around 19 years old at the moment, and mostly female.

6. Can you give us , probably some Koinup readers are thinking to signup in Frenzoo, some tips to get the most out from Frenzoo and talk a bit about how Frenzoo is generally use and what people use to do while in your world?

Tips - jump in and ask questions to our volunteer angels if you are stuck - it's a really friendly community. You can hangout and chat and get to know some new people, create your own fashions or animations in the create tool (for free), join a club, check out a contest or hang out in the forums. The vibe is really friendly on Frenzoo.


JOIN THE FRENZOO GROUP ON KOINUP!

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