RE: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-19 Thread Szabolcs Matefy
Wow, very nice information. However, there were times, when I was told I am 
fairly expensive with my 100Euros (without VAT) rate per day...And I'm in 
Eastern Europe as well, and the statement was made by a company in the UK.

Cheers


Szabolcs

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of olivier jeannel
Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 4:41 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

Thank's Tim :)
Pretty precize :D


Le 17/11/2012 16:06, Tim Leydecker a écrit :
 Given you´re mail account, you´re based in France.

 That´s EU territory. 19% VAT.

 I guess remote work, home office. Your own equipment, hardware and 
 software.

 Your own hours plus the above overhead.


 You guess it would take you 4-5 days to complete the task.

 Adding 3 revision steps to that means another 3 days of handling

 your milestones, e.g. communication and revision loops with your client.

 That´s 7-8 days for finishing a 3 D character model.

 That´s very fast and seems to not include the concept/art-direction 
 bit too much.

 Especially when working with a fresh client who may only be able to 
 judge

 finished, e.g. fully built, textured, shaded and lit renderings.


 I would suggest a small boutique shop price per day, which is at least 
 around 750 EUR/day.

 Because that´s what you do, besides modeling.

 Coming from a graphics design backround, list prices I can relate to 
 range in the 60 EUR/hr range but would not include additional fees for 
 usage of artworks. These fees for, let´s say a worldwide, unlimited 
 use of your character may easily be factor 10.

 For a reason.

 Cheers,

 tim







 On 17.11.2012 15:24, olivier jeannel wrote:
 Ah thank's, that helps.
 Well, the clients seems rather new in the 3d field. (nothing like 
 Lionsgate, or big studio) So I'm not sure how they'll react to the 
 range of price.
 Thank's a lot for your examples :)




 Le 17/11/2012 14:58, Octavian Ureche a écrit :
 I remember doing a commercial for a studio here (eastern europe), 
 and we outsourced a horse model to a friend of mine who now happens 
 to work at lionhead. Point was, it took him 3 days, i recall, to do 
 it, and it cost 1000 euros.
 And that was 4 or 5 years ago, and it wasn't considered that 
 expensive, and we're talking eastern europe here. Don't know if the 
 prices have changed that much since then in the modelling area, but 
 i thought it might be food for thought.
 But the guy had an impressive portfolio even back then.
 On the other hand, i had a friend who recently hired a ubisoft guy 
 with a rather poor portfolio to model a toycar, and he did it for
 400 in 4 days.

 Don't know if it matters whether it's cartoony or realistic, but i 
 think your portfolio will also help dictate the amount of money that 
 you can or can't charge.



 On Sat, Nov 17, 2012 at 3:02 PM, olivier jeannel 
 olivier.jean...@noos.fr mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:

 Ok Thank you !
 So, 400$ * 4 or 5 days for 1 character is not over-priced 
 according to you ?


 Le 16/11/2012 22:47, Stephen Davidson a écrit :
 I would then price it per day. 8 hour days.
 I charge approx. $400/day (314.2924 euros)

 On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 3:51 PM, olivier jeannel 
 olivier.jean...@noos.fr mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:

 I won't be able to be that precise, as I usualy don't count 
 in hours.
 Thus I think for modelling a 1 character 4 or 5 days is a 
 maximum.

 But, really I'd like someone to give me a price example.
 are you usually speaking in hundreds or thousands of euros 
 ? I don't really know...





 Le 16/11/2012 16:36, Stephen Davidson a écrit :
 I always estimate per hour.
 I have found that I can be quite accurate with an hourly 
 estimate
 by breaking down the modeling to it's most basic components.
 For example, on a character model, how long to model each 
 eye.
 How long to model basic body shape. How long to model hands,
 face, expressions (if needed), clothes... you get the idea.

 Then, add up all the tasks, and you will have a fairly 
 accurate estimate.
 It takes practice, as my early quotes were not so 
 accurate. I have
 been working in 3D since before Softimage version 1 so I 
 have gotten more
 accurate over the years.

 On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 4:59 AM, olivier jeannel 
 olivier.jean...@noos.fr mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:

 Hi guys,

 Now that I'm starting enjoying playing with Ice and 
 particle stuff, clients are asking for ...modelling job ^^

 I realize I never charged separatly for this task 
 alone. So my question is how much do you (freelance, homeworkers) 
 charge for 1 character modeling ? (How much do
 you keep in your pocket in the end (forget the taxes

Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-19 Thread Octavian Ureche
This is interesting, and i think it mostly revolves around making certain
things clear beforehand.
Notice that whenever you do the math based on what an employee's rate would
be, you always come up
with ridiculously low sums of money from a freelance perspective.
At first glance, 100 eur/day to me feels like borderline insulting for a
freelance rate.
But, if we do a little basic math, at that rate, an employee would get 2k /
month, and that includes healthcare and vacation. Which for eastern
european standards, is a very good salary.
Now as a freelancer, jobs are usually scarce (except if u're on a roll,
which i don't think happens that often).
So you need to plan your lifestyle accordingly. Backup plans and savings
are crucial. Also as a freelancer you have to add extra expenses to your
rates, like electricity, renderfarm costs (if u'r pulling heavy stuff that
you can't possibly render at home), subcontracting costs (we all need a
hand from time to time), rent for the apt you're living in, food, heating
or cooling expenses etc. That adds a considerable amount of money to that
rate. Something which does not apply to an employee which basically gets
all this for free at the working place (apart from food maybe). The studio
on the other hand adds these to it's hourly rate, which includes employee
expenses.
So while in theory, 100 eur/day sounds like a good fulltime salary, for a
freelancer, it would give a whole new meaning to life (survival training
might be necessary here).

Keep in mind, everything i wrote, is based on eastern european experience,
but i presume it's the same
everywhere else. Numbers vary, but the theory stays the same.

Peace,
O


On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 10:32 AM, Szabolcs Matefy szabol...@crytek.comwrote:

 Wow, very nice information. However, there were times, when I was told I
 am fairly expensive with my 100Euros (without VAT) rate per day...And I'm
 in Eastern Europe as well, and the statement was made by a company in the
 UK.

 Cheers


 Szabolcs

 -Original Message-
 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
 softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of olivier jeannel
 Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 4:41 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 Subject: Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

 Thank's Tim :)
 Pretty precize :D


 Le 17/11/2012 16:06, Tim Leydecker a écrit :
  Given you´re mail account, you´re based in France.
 
  That´s EU territory. 19% VAT.
 
  I guess remote work, home office. Your own equipment, hardware and
  software.
 
  Your own hours plus the above overhead.
 
 
  You guess it would take you 4-5 days to complete the task.
 
  Adding 3 revision steps to that means another 3 days of handling
 
  your milestones, e.g. communication and revision loops with your client.
 
  That´s 7-8 days for finishing a 3 D character model.
 
  That´s very fast and seems to not include the concept/art-direction
  bit too much.
 
  Especially when working with a fresh client who may only be able to
  judge
 
  finished, e.g. fully built, textured, shaded and lit renderings.
 
 
  I would suggest a small boutique shop price per day, which is at least
  around 750 EUR/day.
 
  Because that´s what you do, besides modeling.
 
  Coming from a graphics design backround, list prices I can relate to
  range in the 60 EUR/hr range but would not include additional fees for
  usage of artworks. These fees for, let´s say a worldwide, unlimited
  use of your character may easily be factor 10.
 
  For a reason.
 
  Cheers,
 
  tim
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  On 17.11.2012 15:24, olivier jeannel wrote:
  Ah thank's, that helps.
  Well, the clients seems rather new in the 3d field. (nothing like
  Lionsgate, or big studio) So I'm not sure how they'll react to the
  range of price.
  Thank's a lot for your examples :)
 
 
 
 
  Le 17/11/2012 14:58, Octavian Ureche a écrit :
  I remember doing a commercial for a studio here (eastern europe),
  and we outsourced a horse model to a friend of mine who now happens
  to work at lionhead. Point was, it took him 3 days, i recall, to do
  it, and it cost 1000 euros.
  And that was 4 or 5 years ago, and it wasn't considered that
  expensive, and we're talking eastern europe here. Don't know if the
  prices have changed that much since then in the modelling area, but
  i thought it might be food for thought.
  But the guy had an impressive portfolio even back then.
  On the other hand, i had a friend who recently hired a ubisoft guy
  with a rather poor portfolio to model a toycar, and he did it for
  400 in 4 days.
 
  Don't know if it matters whether it's cartoony or realistic, but i
  think your portfolio will also help dictate the amount of money that
  you can or can't charge.
 
 
 
  On Sat, Nov 17, 2012 at 3:02 PM, olivier jeannel
  olivier.jean...@noos.fr mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:
 
  Ok Thank you !
  So, 400$ * 4 or 5 days for 1 character is not over-priced
  according to you ?
 
 
  Le 16/11/2012 22

Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-19 Thread olivier jeannel

I think it's overall true every where.
On a side note, I'd add that in France when a company hire someone at 
100 e/day (salary) it cost 200e/day to the company due to taxes. And on 
the 100e, the worker has to release back some money for his own taxes, 
of course.


On the over side, the freelance /seems/ to cost more but you can join 
him on weekend and on holydays ;)





Le 19/11/2012 10:25, Octavian Ureche a écrit :
This is interesting, and i think it mostly revolves around making 
certain things clear beforehand.
Notice that whenever you do the math based on what an employee's rate 
would be, you always come up

with ridiculously low sums of money from a freelance perspective.
At first glance, 100 eur/day to me feels like borderline insulting for 
a freelance rate.
But, if we do a little basic math, at that rate, an employee would get 
2k / month, and that includes healthcare and vacation. Which for 
eastern european standards, is a very good salary.
Now as a freelancer, jobs are usually scarce (except if u're on a 
roll, which i don't think happens that often).
So you need to plan your lifestyle accordingly. Backup plans and 
savings are crucial. Also as a freelancer you have to add extra 
expenses to your rates, like electricity, renderfarm costs (if u'r 
pulling heavy stuff that you can't possibly render at home), 
subcontracting costs (we all need a hand from time to time), rent for 
the apt you're living in, food, heating or cooling expenses etc. That 
adds a considerable amount of money to that rate. Something which does 
not apply to an employee which basically gets all this for free at the 
working place (apart from food maybe). The studio on the other hand 
adds these to it's hourly rate, which includes employee expenses.
So while in theory, 100 eur/day sounds like a good fulltime salary, 
for a freelancer, it would give a whole new meaning to life (survival 
training might be necessary here).


Keep in mind, everything i wrote, is based on eastern european 
experience, but i presume it's the same

everywhere else. Numbers vary, but the theory stays the same.

Peace,
O


On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 10:32 AM, Szabolcs Matefy 
szabol...@crytek.com mailto:szabol...@crytek.com wrote:


Wow, very nice information. However, there were times, when I was
told I am fairly expensive with my 100Euros (without VAT) rate per
day...And I'm in Eastern Europe as well, and the statement was
made by a company in the UK.

Cheers


Szabolcs

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of
olivier jeannel
Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 4:41 PM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
mailto:softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

Thank's Tim :)
Pretty precize :D


Le 17/11/2012 16:06, Tim Leydecker a écrit :
 Given you´re mail account, you´re based in France.

 That´s EU territory. 19% VAT.

 I guess remote work, home office. Your own equipment, hardware and
 software.

 Your own hours plus the above overhead.


 You guess it would take you 4-5 days to complete the task.

 Adding 3 revision steps to that means another 3 days of handling

 your milestones, e.g. communication and revision loops with your
client.

 That´s 7-8 days for finishing a 3 D character model.

 That´s very fast and seems to not include the concept/art-direction
 bit too much.

 Especially when working with a fresh client who may only be able to
 judge

 finished, e.g. fully built, textured, shaded and lit renderings.


 I would suggest a small boutique shop price per day, which is at
least
 around 750 EUR/day.

 Because that´s what you do, besides modeling.

 Coming from a graphics design backround, list prices I can relate to
 range in the 60 EUR/hr range but would not include additional
fees for
 usage of artworks. These fees for, let´s say a worldwide, unlimited
 use of your character may easily be factor 10.

 For a reason.

 Cheers,

 tim







 On 17.11.2012 15:24, olivier jeannel wrote:
 Ah thank's, that helps.
 Well, the clients seems rather new in the 3d field. (nothing like
 Lionsgate, or big studio) So I'm not sure how they'll react to the
 range of price.
 Thank's a lot for your examples :)




 Le 17/11/2012 14:58, Octavian Ureche a écrit :
 I remember doing a commercial for a studio here (eastern europe),
 and we outsourced a horse model to a friend of mine who now
happens
 to work at lionhead. Point was, it took him 3 days, i recall,
to do
 it, and it cost 1000 euros

Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-19 Thread Byron Nash
Over here in the US I see a lot of people working for in-house freelance
rates from home on their own equipment. This seems unwise to me since
hardware/software and other costs are not really taken into account. To me,
there is a difference between going into a company and working with their
clients on their equipment versus working at home on your own setup. I
think these trends are creating a false sense of value to clients. In the
long run freelancers cannot maintain this economy and the clientele will
be accustomed to artificially low rates.


On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 8:16 AM, Szabolcs Matefy szabol...@crytek.comwrote:

 Yep. I consider the 100 EURO / day as a it’s-just-1 cent-above-to-say-no
 rate…but I was told it’s way above the average, so it was funny. Especially
 knowing that how much the client charges for the models I made :D

 ** **

 ** **

 ** **

 *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
 softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Octavian Ureche
 *Sent:* Monday, November 19, 2012 1:34 PM

 *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 *Subject:* Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

 ** **

 Yap, forgot about tax expenses (they changed the legislation here a couple
 of years ago, and now they

 roam around 5% for small companies, so one tends to neglect that). Other
 places have it much higher, from what it seems.

 ** **

 Also forgot to add a very important expense (bad eastern european
 habit...) that has a very strong influence on rate: software
 maintance/upgrade costs, and also leasing costs for specialised tools.

 ** **

 As a sidenote, i found out through the years, that sometimes it is better
 to incorporate than to work as a legal freelacer, as taxes are usually
 lower this way (5% vs 20% here - insane, right?). But this one may really
 only apply to this part of the world. Also as a freelancer suing someone is
 a lot harder (or at least threatening to sue - that one usually does the
 trick). Plus, getting an accountant and starting to tackle the financial
 side of a business is a must, as it opens up a world of hurt, knowledge and
 possibilities which every artist should go through to survive in this
 industry.

 ** **

 Cheers,

 Octav

 ** **

 On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 12:10 PM, olivier jeannel olivier.jean...@noos.fr
 wrote:

 I think it's overall true every where.
 On a side note, I'd add that in France when a company hire someone at 100
 e/day (salary) it cost 200e/day to the company due to taxes. And on the
 100e, the worker has to release back some money for his own taxes, of
 course.

 On the over side, the freelance *seems* to cost more but you can join him
 on weekend and on holydays ;)




 Le 19/11/2012 10:25, Octavian Ureche a écrit :

 This is interesting, and i think it mostly revolves around making certain
 things clear beforehand. 

 Notice that whenever you do the math based on what an employee's rate
 would be, you always come up

 with ridiculously low sums of money from a freelance perspective.

 At first glance, 100 eur/day to me feels like borderline insulting for a
 freelance rate.

 But, if we do a little basic math, at that rate, an employee would get 2k
 / month, and that includes healthcare and vacation. Which for eastern
 european standards, is a very good salary.

 Now as a freelancer, jobs are usually scarce (except if u're on a roll,
 which i don't think happens that often).

 So you need to plan your lifestyle accordingly. Backup plans and savings
 are crucial. Also as a freelancer you have to add extra expenses to your
 rates, like electricity, renderfarm costs (if u'r pulling heavy stuff that
 you can't possibly render at home), subcontracting costs (we all need a
 hand from time to time), rent for the apt you're living in, food, heating
 or cooling expenses etc. That adds a considerable amount of money to that
 rate. Something which does not apply to an employee which basically gets
 all this for free at the working place (apart from food maybe). The studio
 on the other hand adds these to it's hourly rate, which includes employee
 expenses.

 So while in theory, 100 eur/day sounds like a good fulltime salary, for a
 freelancer, it would give a whole new meaning to life (survival training
 might be necessary here).

 ** **

 Keep in mind, everything i wrote, is based on eastern european experience,
 but i presume it's the same 

 everywhere else. Numbers vary, but the theory stays the same.

 ** **

 Peace,

 O

 ** **

 On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 10:32 AM, Szabolcs Matefy szabol...@crytek.com
 wrote:

 Wow, very nice information. However, there were times, when I was told I
 am fairly expensive with my 100Euros (without VAT) rate per day...And I'm
 in Eastern Europe as well, and the statement was made by a company in the
 UK.

 Cheers


 Szabolcs


 -Original Message-
 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto

Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-19 Thread Stephen Davidson
Bidding at a per day rate, or per hour rate, is meaningless to most of your
clients.
That is why I bid a job with specific amount for a specific job. I use my
per/hour rate
as a guide to help me come up with a figure for the specific project.

A project that might take me 20 hours to complete could take a novice more
than
twice that amount of time. I have over 25 years experience so I have
learned a lot of
shortcuts along the way. I also notice that my modeling skills have
improved,
over the years, that makes my 3D workflow much more efficient.

The cost of hardware and software have been reduced, drastically over the
last
25 years, so that is a consideration in my bids. I also have a home
office, instead of an office located within a video production facility,
which also reduces my operating costs over 10 years ago, when
being in a video production facility had a big advantage.

With on-line collaboration, and delivery, doing 3D animation business, out
of a home office,
has never been easier and cheaper. It actually costs me less to operate that
10 years ago. The biggest expensemarketing my services.

Next step... move my studio onto a boat. ;)



On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 9:24 AM, Byron Nash byronn...@gmail.com wrote:

 Over here in the US I see a lot of people working for in-house freelance
 rates from home on their own equipment. This seems unwise to me since
 hardware/software and other costs are not really taken into account. To me,
 there is a difference between going into a company and working with their
 clients on their equipment versus working at home on your own setup. I
 think these trends are creating a false sense of value to clients. In the
 long run freelancers cannot maintain this economy and the clientele will
 be accustomed to artificially low rates.


 On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 8:16 AM, Szabolcs Matefy szabol...@crytek.comwrote:

 Yep. I consider the 100 EURO / day as a it’s-just-1 cent-above-to-say-no
 rate…but I was told it’s way above the average, so it was funny. Especially
 knowing that how much the client charges for the models I made :D

 ** **

 ** **

 ** **

 *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
 softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Octavian Ureche
 *Sent:* Monday, November 19, 2012 1:34 PM

 *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 *Subject:* Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

 ** **

 Yap, forgot about tax expenses (they changed the legislation here a
 couple of years ago, and now they

 roam around 5% for small companies, so one tends to neglect that). Other
 places have it much higher, from what it seems.

 ** **

 Also forgot to add a very important expense (bad eastern european
 habit...) that has a very strong influence on rate: software
 maintance/upgrade costs, and also leasing costs for specialised tools.***
 *

 ** **

 As a sidenote, i found out through the years, that sometimes it is better
 to incorporate than to work as a legal freelacer, as taxes are usually
 lower this way (5% vs 20% here - insane, right?). But this one may really
 only apply to this part of the world. Also as a freelancer suing someone is
 a lot harder (or at least threatening to sue - that one usually does the
 trick). Plus, getting an accountant and starting to tackle the financial
 side of a business is a must, as it opens up a world of hurt, knowledge and
 possibilities which every artist should go through to survive in this
 industry.

 ** **

 Cheers,

 Octav

 ** **

 On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 12:10 PM, olivier jeannel 
 olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:

 I think it's overall true every where.
 On a side note, I'd add that in France when a company hire someone at 100
 e/day (salary) it cost 200e/day to the company due to taxes. And on the
 100e, the worker has to release back some money for his own taxes, of
 course.

 On the over side, the freelance *seems* to cost more but you can join
 him on weekend and on holydays ;)




 Le 19/11/2012 10:25, Octavian Ureche a écrit :

 This is interesting, and i think it mostly revolves around making certain
 things clear beforehand. 

 Notice that whenever you do the math based on what an employee's rate
 would be, you always come up

 with ridiculously low sums of money from a freelance perspective.

 At first glance, 100 eur/day to me feels like borderline insulting for a
 freelance rate.

 But, if we do a little basic math, at that rate, an employee would get 2k
 / month, and that includes healthcare and vacation. Which for eastern
 european standards, is a very good salary.

 Now as a freelancer, jobs are usually scarce (except if u're on a roll,
 which i don't think happens that often).

 So you need to plan your lifestyle accordingly. Backup plans and savings
 are crucial. Also as a freelancer you have to add extra expenses to your
 rates, like electricity, renderfarm costs (if u'r pulling heavy stuff that
 you can't possibly render at home

Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-19 Thread Octavian Ureche
Very good points guys. I can totally relate to the conveying value
principle.
I met a couple of very successful freelancers in my time, that charged what
to me seemed like insane rates,
even for an average looking after effects job, just because they knew how
to sell themselves and talk business lingo to clients. And they are still
doing that, and still getting tons of gigs.



On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 5:00 PM, Daniel H vfxc...@gmail.com wrote:


 In general, most artists are terrible practitioners of business and
 pricing. Obviously every model can vary greatly in detail and complexity.
 Stephen Davidson has it correct by evaluating time per component and then
 charging by an hourly rate to establish a starting base point.

 You must also master how to convey value to your client. You can't just
 spit-out an overall price or a day rate, because this leaves questions
 unanswered. The client will ask themselves, why this rate, is this high or
 low in comparison to other artists, what all am I getting for this price,
 what is this figure based on, how do I know if this is a fair price, can
 they deliver what I want and on time, do they understand what I expect,
 what is it going to cost if I want to make changes, etc.

 Here are some main points you need to cover and convey in the written
 proposal to your client.

 1. I will demonstrate in writing that I understand my client's goals and
 the results they are after.
 2. I will demonstrate in writing that I understand the deadline my client
 excepts out of me and its importance.
 3. I will demonstrate in writing that I understand the quality my client
 is after.
 4. I will demonstrate in writing that my client may make modifications and
 how those changes will be handled.
 5. I will help my client understand the complexity and time this is going
 to take.
 6. I will help my client understand the quality I can provide and/or with
 portfolio samples.
 7. I will help my client understand this project is worth the price
 because of the above reasons.

 Because I have learned how to convey a detailed understanding of a
 project, and how to convey value before presenting high prices to my
 potential client, is why I beat other proposals 99 percent of the time. You
 need to price the project based on time, the quality you can provide, and
 based on its value to your client. Always put yourself in the client's
 place and ask the questions they would ask, then turn around and answer
 those questions in your proposal and you will be a bazillion miles ahead of
 what most artists normally do.

 Daniel
 VFXM


 On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 8:24 AM, Byron Nash byronn...@gmail.com wrote:

 Over here in the US I see a lot of people working for in-house freelance
 rates from home on their own equipment. This seems unwise to me since
 hardware/software and other costs are not really taken into account. To me,
 there is a difference between going into a company and working with their
 clients on their equipment versus working at home on your own setup. I
 think these trends are creating a false sense of value to clients. In the
 long run freelancers cannot maintain this economy and the clientele will
 be accustomed to artificially low rates.


 On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 8:16 AM, Szabolcs Matefy szabol...@crytek.comwrote:

 Yep. I consider the 100 EURO / day as a it’s-just-1 cent-above-to-say-no
 rate…but I was told it’s way above the average, so it was funny. Especially
 knowing that how much the client charges for the models I made :D

 ** **

 ** **

 ** **

 *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
 softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Octavian Ureche
 *Sent:* Monday, November 19, 2012 1:34 PM

 *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 *Subject:* Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

 ** **

 Yap, forgot about tax expenses (they changed the legislation here a
 couple of years ago, and now they

 roam around 5% for small companies, so one tends to neglect that). Other
 places have it much higher, from what it seems.

 ** **

 Also forgot to add a very important expense (bad eastern european
 habit...) that has a very strong influence on rate: software
 maintance/upgrade costs, and also leasing costs for specialised tools.**
 **

 ** **

 As a sidenote, i found out through the years, that sometimes it is
 better to incorporate than to work as a legal freelacer, as taxes are
 usually lower this way (5% vs 20% here - insane, right?). But this one may
 really only apply to this part of the world. Also as a freelancer suing
 someone is a lot harder (or at least threatening to sue - that one usually
 does the trick). Plus, getting an accountant and starting to tackle the
 financial side of a business is a must, as it opens up a world of hurt,
 knowledge and possibilities which every artist should go through to survive
 in this industry.

 ** **

 Cheers,

 Octav

 ** **

 On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 12:10 PM, olivier jeannel

Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-19 Thread Stephen Davidson
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Daniel.

You also provide excellent information about the content of your quotes.
All excellent points, listed, in your post.

I did forget to mention something that a lot of artists omit in their
quotes, although you touch on it as cost of making changes.
You also have to have some sort of statement that gives you the right to
charge extra monies when content changes.
This is where your per hour rate is used to figure the added charge for
content change.

Here is my disclaimer, stated at the end of each of my quotes:

This estimate is provided based upon the information available to me, at
the time the estimate was created. Any changes to the script, requirements,
length of animation or added/subtracted elements to the animation will add
to, or subtract from, the total estimate dollar amount. This Estimate is
valid for 60 days from the creation date. Every effort has been made, in
this estimate, to be as accurate as possible. Unforeseen costs can apply
wherever applicable.


On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 10:00 AM, Daniel H vfxc...@gmail.com wrote:


 In general, most artists are terrible practitioners of business and
 pricing. Obviously every model can vary greatly in detail and complexity.
 Stephen Davidson has it correct by evaluating time per component and then
 charging by an hourly rate to establish a starting base point.

 You must also master how to convey value to your client. You can't just
 spit-out an overall price or a day rate, because this leaves questions
 unanswered. The client will ask themselves, why this rate, is this high or
 low in comparison to other artists, what all am I getting for this price,
 what is this figure based on, how do I know if this is a fair price, can
 they deliver what I want and on time, do they understand what I expect,
 what is it going to cost if I want to make changes, etc.

 Here are some main points you need to cover and convey in the written
 proposal to your client.

 1. I will demonstrate in writing that I understand my client's goals and
 the results they are after.
 2. I will demonstrate in writing that I understand the deadline my client
 excepts out of me and its importance.
 3. I will demonstrate in writing that I understand the quality my client
 is after.
 4. I will demonstrate in writing that my client may make modifications and
 how those changes will be handled.
 5. I will help my client understand the complexity and time this is going
 to take.
 6. I will help my client understand the quality I can provide and/or with
 portfolio samples.
 7. I will help my client understand this project is worth the price
 because of the above reasons.

 Because I have learned how to convey a detailed understanding of a
 project, and how to convey value before presenting high prices to my
 potential client, is why I beat other proposals 99 percent of the time. You
 need to price the project based on time, the quality you can provide, and
 based on its value to your client. Always put yourself in the client's
 place and ask the questions they would ask, then turn around and answer
 those questions in your proposal and you will be a bazillion miles ahead of
 what most artists normally do.

 Daniel
 VFXM


 On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 8:24 AM, Byron Nash byronn...@gmail.com wrote:

 Over here in the US I see a lot of people working for in-house freelance
 rates from home on their own equipment. This seems unwise to me since
 hardware/software and other costs are not really taken into account. To me,
 there is a difference between going into a company and working with their
 clients on their equipment versus working at home on your own setup. I
 think these trends are creating a false sense of value to clients. In the
 long run freelancers cannot maintain this economy and the clientele will
 be accustomed to artificially low rates.


 On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 8:16 AM, Szabolcs Matefy szabol...@crytek.comwrote:

 Yep. I consider the 100 EURO / day as a it’s-just-1 cent-above-to-say-no
 rate…but I was told it’s way above the average, so it was funny. Especially
 knowing that how much the client charges for the models I made :D

 ** **

 ** **

 ** **

 *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
 softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Octavian Ureche
 *Sent:* Monday, November 19, 2012 1:34 PM

 *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 *Subject:* Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

 ** **

 Yap, forgot about tax expenses (they changed the legislation here a
 couple of years ago, and now they

 roam around 5% for small companies, so one tends to neglect that). Other
 places have it much higher, from what it seems.

 ** **

 Also forgot to add a very important expense (bad eastern european
 habit...) that has a very strong influence on rate: software
 maintance/upgrade costs, and also leasing costs for specialised tools.**
 **

 ** **

 As a sidenote, i found out through the years, that sometimes

Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-19 Thread Eric Lampi
...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Octavian Ureche
 *Sent:* Monday, November 19, 2012 1:34 PM

 *To:* softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 *Subject:* Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

 ** **

 Yap, forgot about tax expenses (they changed the legislation here a
 couple of years ago, and now they

 roam around 5% for small companies, so one tends to neglect that). Other
 places have it much higher, from what it seems.

 ** **

 Also forgot to add a very important expense (bad eastern european
 habit...) that has a very strong influence on rate: software
 maintance/upgrade costs, and also leasing costs for specialised tools.**
 **

 ** **

 As a sidenote, i found out through the years, that sometimes it is
 better to incorporate than to work as a legal freelacer, as taxes are
 usually lower this way (5% vs 20% here - insane, right?). But this one may
 really only apply to this part of the world. Also as a freelancer suing
 someone is a lot harder (or at least threatening to sue - that one usually
 does the trick). Plus, getting an accountant and starting to tackle the
 financial side of a business is a must, as it opens up a world of hurt,
 knowledge and possibilities which every artist should go through to survive
 in this industry.

 ** **

 Cheers,

 Octav

 ** **

 On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 12:10 PM, olivier jeannel 
 olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:

 I think it's overall true every where.
 On a side note, I'd add that in France when a company hire someone at
 100 e/day (salary) it cost 200e/day to the company due to taxes. And on the
 100e, the worker has to release back some money for his own taxes, of
 course.

 On the over side, the freelance *seems* to cost more but you can join
 him on weekend and on holydays ;)




 Le 19/11/2012 10:25, Octavian Ureche a écrit :

 This is interesting, and i think it mostly revolves around making
 certain things clear beforehand. 

 Notice that whenever you do the math based on what an employee's rate
 would be, you always come up

 with ridiculously low sums of money from a freelance perspective.

 At first glance, 100 eur/day to me feels like borderline insulting for a
 freelance rate.

 But, if we do a little basic math, at that rate, an employee would get
 2k / month, and that includes healthcare and vacation. Which for eastern
 european standards, is a very good salary.

 Now as a freelancer, jobs are usually scarce (except if u're on a roll,
 which i don't think happens that often).

 So you need to plan your lifestyle accordingly. Backup plans and savings
 are crucial. Also as a freelancer you have to add extra expenses to your
 rates, like electricity, renderfarm costs (if u'r pulling heavy stuff that
 you can't possibly render at home), subcontracting costs (we all need a
 hand from time to time), rent for the apt you're living in, food, heating
 or cooling expenses etc. That adds a considerable amount of money to that
 rate. Something which does not apply to an employee which basically gets
 all this for free at the working place (apart from food maybe). The studio
 on the other hand adds these to it's hourly rate, which includes employee
 expenses.

 So while in theory, 100 eur/day sounds like a good fulltime salary, for
 a freelancer, it would give a whole new meaning to life (survival training
 might be necessary here).

 ** **

 Keep in mind, everything i wrote, is based on eastern european
 experience, but i presume it's the same 

 everywhere else. Numbers vary, but the theory stays the same.

 ** **

 Peace,

 O

 ** **

 On Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 10:32 AM, Szabolcs Matefy szabol...@crytek.com
 wrote:

 Wow, very nice information. However, there were times, when I was told I
 am fairly expensive with my 100Euros (without VAT) rate per day...And I'm
 in Eastern Europe as well, and the statement was made by a company in the
 UK.

 Cheers


 Szabolcs


 -Original Message-
 From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
 softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of olivier jeannel
 Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 4:41 PM
 To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
 Subject: Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

 Thank's Tim :)
 Pretty precize :D


 Le 17/11/2012 16:06, Tim Leydecker a écrit :
  Given you´re mail account, you´re based in France.
 
  That´s EU territory. 19% VAT.
 
  I guess remote work, home office. Your own equipment, hardware and
  software.
 
  Your own hours plus the above overhead.
 
 
  You guess it would take you 4-5 days to complete the task.
 
  Adding 3 revision steps to that means another 3 days of handling
 
  your milestones, e.g. communication and revision loops with your
 client.
 
  That´s 7-8 days for finishing a 3 D character model.
 
  That´s very fast and seems to not include the concept/art-direction
  bit too much.
 
  Especially when working with a fresh client who may only be able to
  judge
 
  finished, e.g. fully

Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-17 Thread olivier jeannel

Ok Thank you !
So, 400$ * 4 or 5 days for 1 character is not over-priced according to you ?


Le 16/11/2012 22:47, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

I would then price it per day. 8  hour days.
I charge approx. $400/day (314.2924 euros)

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 3:51 PM, olivier jeannel 
olivier.jean...@noos.fr mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:


I won't be able to be that precise, as I usualy don't count in hours.
Thus I think for modelling a 1 character 4 or 5 days is a maximum.

But, really I'd like someone to give me a price example.
are you usually speaking in hundreds or thousands of euros ? I
don't really know...





Le 16/11/2012 16:36, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

I always estimate per hour.
I have found that I can be quite accurate with an hourly estimate
by breaking down the modeling to it's most basic components.
For example, on a character model, how long to model each eye.
How long to model basic body shape. How long to model hands,
face, expressions (if needed), clothes... you get the idea.

Then, add up all the tasks, and you will have a fairly accurate
estimate.
It takes practice, as my early quotes were not so accurate. I have
been working in 3D since before Softimage version 1 so I have
gotten more
accurate over the years.

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 4:59 AM, olivier jeannel
olivier.jean...@noos.fr mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:

Hi guys,

Now that I'm starting enjoying playing with Ice and particle
stuff, clients are asking for ...modelling job ^^

I realize I never charged separatly for this task alone. So
my question is how much do you (freelance, homeworkers)
charge for 1 character modeling ? (How much do you keep in
your pocket in the end (forget the taxes))

Typicaly, quadrupede / Biped, realistic proportions anatomy
but rather for toon / NPA / stylized rendering results.
In short, only polygonal modeling, (no Zbrush, no hair)

How much do you cost :)






-- 


Best Regards,
*  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956 tel:%28954%29%20552-7956
* sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com
mailto:sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

http://www.3danimationmagic.com







--

Best Regards,
*  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956
*sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

http://www.3danimationmagic.com






Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-17 Thread Octavian Ureche
I remember doing a commercial for a studio here (eastern europe),
and we outsourced a horse model to a friend of mine who now happens to work
at lionhead. Point was, it took him 3 days, i recall, to do it, and it cost
1000 euros.
And that was 4 or 5 years ago, and it wasn't considered that expensive, and
we're talking eastern europe here. Don't know if the prices have changed
that much since then in the modelling area, but i thought it might be food
for thought.
But the guy had an impressive portfolio even back then.
On the other hand, i had a friend who recently hired a ubisoft guy with a
rather poor portfolio to model a toycar, and he did it for 400 in 4 days.

Don't know if it matters whether it's cartoony or realistic, but i think
your portfolio will also help dictate the amount of money that you can or
can't charge.



On Sat, Nov 17, 2012 at 3:02 PM, olivier jeannel olivier.jean...@noos.frwrote:

  Ok Thank you !
 So, 400$ * 4 or 5 days for 1 character is not over-priced according to you
 ?


 Le 16/11/2012 22:47, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

 I would then price it per day. 8  hour days.
 I charge approx. $400/day (314.2924 euros)

 On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 3:51 PM, olivier jeannel 
 olivier.jean...@noos.frwrote:

  I won't be able to be that precise, as I usualy don't count in hours.
 Thus I think for modelling a 1 character 4 or 5 days is a maximum.

 But, really I'd like someone to give me a price example.
 are you usually speaking in hundreds or thousands of euros ? I don't
 really know...





 Le 16/11/2012 16:36, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

 I always estimate per hour.
 I have found that I can be quite accurate with an hourly estimate
 by breaking down the modeling to it's most basic components.
 For example, on a character model, how long to model each eye.
 How long to model basic body shape. How long to model hands,
 face, expressions (if needed), clothes... you get the idea.

  Then, add up all the tasks, and you will have a fairly accurate
 estimate.
 It takes practice, as my early quotes were not so accurate. I have
 been working in 3D since before Softimage version 1 so I have gotten more
 accurate over the years.

  On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 4:59 AM, olivier jeannel 
 olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:

 Hi guys,

 Now that I'm starting enjoying playing with Ice and particle stuff,
 clients are asking for ...modelling job ^^

 I realize I never charged separatly for this task alone. So my question
 is how much do you (freelance, homeworkers) charge for 1 character modeling
 ? (How much do you keep in your pocket in the end (forget the taxes))

 Typicaly, quadrupede / Biped, realistic proportions anatomy but rather
 for toon / NPA / stylized rendering results.
 In short, only polygonal modeling, (no Zbrush, no hair)

 How much do you cost :)






  --

  Best Regards,
 *  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956 %28954%29%20552-7956
 *sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

 http://www.3danimationmagic.com





  --

  Best Regards,
 *  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956
 *sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

 http://www.3danimationmagic.com





-- 
visual | stuff
www.okto.ro


Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-17 Thread Octavian Ureche
PS. the horse was fairly realistic and had a lot of zbrush love put into it.


On Sat, Nov 17, 2012 at 3:58 PM, Octavian Ureche okt...@gmail.com wrote:

 I remember doing a commercial for a studio here (eastern europe),
 and we outsourced a horse model to a friend of mine who now happens to
 work at lionhead. Point was, it took him 3 days, i recall, to do it, and it
 cost 1000 euros.
 And that was 4 or 5 years ago, and it wasn't considered that expensive,
 and we're talking eastern europe here. Don't know if the prices have
 changed that much since then in the modelling area, but i thought it might
 be food for thought.
 But the guy had an impressive portfolio even back then.
 On the other hand, i had a friend who recently hired a ubisoft guy with a
 rather poor portfolio to model a toycar, and he did it for 400 in 4 days.

 Don't know if it matters whether it's cartoony or realistic, but i think
 your portfolio will also help dictate the amount of money that you can or
 can't charge.



 On Sat, Nov 17, 2012 at 3:02 PM, olivier jeannel 
 olivier.jean...@noos.frwrote:

  Ok Thank you !
 So, 400$ * 4 or 5 days for 1 character is not over-priced according to
 you ?


 Le 16/11/2012 22:47, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

 I would then price it per day. 8  hour days.
 I charge approx. $400/day (314.2924 euros)

 On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 3:51 PM, olivier jeannel olivier.jean...@noos.fr
  wrote:

  I won't be able to be that precise, as I usualy don't count in hours.
 Thus I think for modelling a 1 character 4 or 5 days is a maximum.

 But, really I'd like someone to give me a price example.
 are you usually speaking in hundreds or thousands of euros ? I don't
 really know...





 Le 16/11/2012 16:36, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

 I always estimate per hour.
 I have found that I can be quite accurate with an hourly estimate
 by breaking down the modeling to it's most basic components.
 For example, on a character model, how long to model each eye.
 How long to model basic body shape. How long to model hands,
 face, expressions (if needed), clothes... you get the idea.

  Then, add up all the tasks, and you will have a fairly accurate
 estimate.
 It takes practice, as my early quotes were not so accurate. I have
 been working in 3D since before Softimage version 1 so I have gotten more
 accurate over the years.

  On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 4:59 AM, olivier jeannel 
 olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:

 Hi guys,

 Now that I'm starting enjoying playing with Ice and particle stuff,
 clients are asking for ...modelling job ^^

 I realize I never charged separatly for this task alone. So my question
 is how much do you (freelance, homeworkers) charge for 1 character modeling
 ? (How much do you keep in your pocket in the end (forget the taxes))

 Typicaly, quadrupede / Biped, realistic proportions anatomy but rather
 for toon / NPA / stylized rendering results.
 In short, only polygonal modeling, (no Zbrush, no hair)

 How much do you cost :)






  --

  Best Regards,
 *  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956 %28954%29%20552-7956
 *sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

 http://www.3danimationmagic.com





  --

  Best Regards,
 *  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956
 *sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

 http://www.3danimationmagic.com





 --
 visual | stuff
 www.okto.ro




-- 
visual | stuff
www.okto.ro


Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-17 Thread olivier jeannel

Ah thank's, that helps.
Well, the clients seems rather new in the 3d field. (nothing like 
Lionsgate, or big studio) So I'm not sure how they'll react to the range 
of price.

Thank's a lot for your examples :)




Le 17/11/2012 14:58, Octavian Ureche a écrit :

I remember doing a commercial for a studio here (eastern europe),
and we outsourced a horse model to a friend of mine who now happens to 
work at lionhead. Point was, it took him 3 days, i recall, to do it, 
and it cost 1000 euros.
And that was 4 or 5 years ago, and it wasn't considered that 
expensive, and we're talking eastern europe here. Don't know if the 
prices have changed that much since then in the modelling area, but i 
thought it might be food for thought.

But the guy had an impressive portfolio even back then.
On the other hand, i had a friend who recently hired a ubisoft guy 
with a rather poor portfolio to model a toycar, and he did it for 400 
in 4 days.


Don't know if it matters whether it's cartoony or realistic, but i 
think your portfolio will also help dictate the amount of money that 
you can or can't charge.




On Sat, Nov 17, 2012 at 3:02 PM, olivier jeannel 
olivier.jean...@noos.fr mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:


Ok Thank you !
So, 400$ * 4 or 5 days for 1 character is not over-priced
according to you ?


Le 16/11/2012 22:47, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

I would then price it per day. 8  hour days.
I charge approx. $400/day (314.2924 euros)

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 3:51 PM, olivier jeannel
olivier.jean...@noos.fr mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:

I won't be able to be that precise, as I usualy don't count
in hours.
Thus I think for modelling a 1 character 4 or 5 days is a
maximum.

But, really I'd like someone to give me a price example.
are you usually speaking in hundreds or thousands of euros ?
I don't really know...





Le 16/11/2012 16:36, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

I always estimate per hour.
I have found that I can be quite accurate with an hourly
estimate
by breaking down the modeling to it's most basic components.
For example, on a character model, how long to model each eye.
How long to model basic body shape. How long to model hands,
face, expressions (if needed), clothes... you get the idea.

Then, add up all the tasks, and you will have a fairly
accurate estimate.
It takes practice, as my early quotes were not so accurate.
I have
been working in 3D since before Softimage version 1 so I
have gotten more
accurate over the years.

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 4:59 AM, olivier jeannel
olivier.jean...@noos.fr mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr
wrote:

Hi guys,

Now that I'm starting enjoying playing with Ice and
particle stuff, clients are asking for ...modelling job ^^

I realize I never charged separatly for this task alone.
So my question is how much do you (freelance,
homeworkers) charge for 1 character modeling ? (How much
do you keep in your pocket in the end (forget the taxes))

Typicaly, quadrupede / Biped, realistic proportions
anatomy but rather for toon / NPA / stylized rendering
results.
In short, only polygonal modeling, (no Zbrush, no hair)

How much do you cost :)






-- 


Best Regards,
*  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956 tel:%28954%29%20552-7956
* sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com
mailto:sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

http://www.3danimationmagic.com







-- 


Best Regards,
*  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956
* sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com
mailto:sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

http://www.3danimationmagic.com







--
visual | stuff
www.okto.ro http://www.okto.ro




Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-17 Thread Tim Leydecker

Given you´re mail account, you´re based in France.

That´s EU territory. 19% VAT.

I guess remote work, home office. Your own equipment, hardware and software.

Your own hours plus the above overhead.


You guess it would take you 4-5 days to complete the task.

Adding 3 revision steps to that means another 3 days of handling

your milestones, e.g. communication and revision loops with your client.

That´s 7-8 days for finishing a 3 D character model.

That´s very fast and seems to not include the concept/art-direction bit too 
much.

Especially when working with a fresh client who may only be able to judge

finished, e.g. fully built, textured, shaded and lit renderings.


I would suggest a small boutique shop price per day, which is at least around 
750 EUR/day.

Because that´s what you do, besides modeling.

Coming from a graphics design backround, list prices I can relate to range
in the 60 EUR/hr range but would not include additional fees for usage
of artworks. These fees for, let´s say a worldwide, unlimited use of your 
character
may easily be factor 10.

For a reason.

Cheers,

tim







On 17.11.2012 15:24, olivier jeannel wrote:

Ah thank's, that helps.
Well, the clients seems rather new in the 3d field. (nothing like Lionsgate, 
or big studio) So I'm not sure how they'll react to the range of price.
Thank's a lot for your examples :)




Le 17/11/2012 14:58, Octavian Ureche a écrit :

I remember doing a commercial for a studio here (eastern europe),
and we outsourced a horse model to a friend of mine who now happens to work at 
lionhead. Point was, it took him 3 days, i recall, to do it, and it cost 1000 
euros.
And that was 4 or 5 years ago, and it wasn't considered that expensive, and 
we're talking eastern europe here. Don't know if the prices have changed that 
much since then in the
modelling area, but i thought it might be food for thought.
But the guy had an impressive portfolio even back then.
On the other hand, i had a friend who recently hired a ubisoft guy with a 
rather poor portfolio to model a toycar, and he did it for 400 in 4 days.

Don't know if it matters whether it's cartoony or realistic, but i think your 
portfolio will also help dictate the amount of money that you can or can't 
charge.



On Sat, Nov 17, 2012 at 3:02 PM, olivier jeannel olivier.jean...@noos.fr 
mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:

Ok Thank you !
So, 400$ * 4 or 5 days for 1 character is not over-priced according to you ?


Le 16/11/2012 22:47, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

I would then price it per day. 8  hour days.
I charge approx. $400/day (314.2924 euros)

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 3:51 PM, olivier jeannel olivier.jean...@noos.fr 
mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:

I won't be able to be that precise, as I usualy don't count in hours.
Thus I think for modelling a 1 character 4 or 5 days is a maximum.

But, really I'd like someone to give me a price example.
are you usually speaking in hundreds or thousands of euros ? I don't 
really know...





Le 16/11/2012 16:36, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

I always estimate per hour.
I have found that I can be quite accurate with an hourly estimate
by breaking down the modeling to it's most basic components.
For example, on a character model, how long to model each eye.
How long to model basic body shape. How long to model hands,
face, expressions (if needed), clothes... you get the idea.

Then, add up all the tasks, and you will have a fairly accurate 
estimate.
It takes practice, as my early quotes were not so accurate. I have
been working in 3D since before Softimage version 1 so I have gotten 
more
accurate over the years.

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 4:59 AM, olivier jeannel olivier.jean...@noos.fr 
mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:

Hi guys,

Now that I'm starting enjoying playing with Ice and particle stuff, 
clients are asking for ...modelling job ^^

I realize I never charged separatly for this task alone. So my 
question is how much do you (freelance, homeworkers) charge for 1 character 
modeling ? (How much do
you keep in your pocket in the end (forget the taxes))

Typicaly, quadrupede / Biped, realistic proportions anatomy but 
rather for toon / NPA / stylized rendering results.
In short, only polygonal modeling, (no Zbrush, no hair)

How much do you cost :)






--

Best Regards,
*  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956 tel:%28954%29%20552-7956
* sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com mailto:sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

http://www.3danimationmagic.com







--

Best Regards,
*  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956
* sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com mailto:sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

http://www.3danimationmagic.com







--
visual | stuff

Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-17 Thread olivier jeannel

Thank's Tim :)
Pretty precize :D


Le 17/11/2012 16:06, Tim Leydecker a écrit :

Given you´re mail account, you´re based in France.

That´s EU territory. 19% VAT.

I guess remote work, home office. Your own equipment, hardware and 
software.


Your own hours plus the above overhead.


You guess it would take you 4-5 days to complete the task.

Adding 3 revision steps to that means another 3 days of handling

your milestones, e.g. communication and revision loops with your client.

That´s 7-8 days for finishing a 3 D character model.

That´s very fast and seems to not include the concept/art-direction 
bit too much.


Especially when working with a fresh client who may only be able to judge

finished, e.g. fully built, textured, shaded and lit renderings.


I would suggest a small boutique shop price per day, which is at least 
around 750 EUR/day.


Because that´s what you do, besides modeling.

Coming from a graphics design backround, list prices I can relate to 
range

in the 60 EUR/hr range but would not include additional fees for usage
of artworks. These fees for, let´s say a worldwide, unlimited use of 
your character

may easily be factor 10.

For a reason.

Cheers,

tim







On 17.11.2012 15:24, olivier jeannel wrote:

Ah thank's, that helps.
Well, the clients seems rather new in the 3d field. (nothing like 
Lionsgate, or big studio) So I'm not sure how they'll react to the 
range of price.

Thank's a lot for your examples :)




Le 17/11/2012 14:58, Octavian Ureche a écrit :

I remember doing a commercial for a studio here (eastern europe),
and we outsourced a horse model to a friend of mine who now happens 
to work at lionhead. Point was, it took him 3 days, i recall, to do 
it, and it cost 1000 euros.
And that was 4 or 5 years ago, and it wasn't considered that 
expensive, and we're talking eastern europe here. Don't know if the 
prices have changed that much since then in the

modelling area, but i thought it might be food for thought.
But the guy had an impressive portfolio even back then.
On the other hand, i had a friend who recently hired a ubisoft guy 
with a rather poor portfolio to model a toycar, and he did it for 
400 in 4 days.


Don't know if it matters whether it's cartoony or realistic, but i 
think your portfolio will also help dictate the amount of money that 
you can or can't charge.




On Sat, Nov 17, 2012 at 3:02 PM, olivier jeannel 
olivier.jean...@noos.fr mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:


Ok Thank you !
So, 400$ * 4 or 5 days for 1 character is not over-priced 
according to you ?



Le 16/11/2012 22:47, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

I would then price it per day. 8 hour days.
I charge approx. $400/day (314.2924 euros)

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 3:51 PM, olivier jeannel 
olivier.jean...@noos.fr mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:


I won't be able to be that precise, as I usualy don't count 
in hours.
Thus I think for modelling a 1 character 4 or 5 days is a 
maximum.


But, really I'd like someone to give me a price example.
are you usually speaking in hundreds or thousands of euros 
? I don't really know...






Le 16/11/2012 16:36, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

I always estimate per hour.
I have found that I can be quite accurate with an hourly 
estimate

by breaking down the modeling to it's most basic components.
For example, on a character model, how long to model each 
eye.

How long to model basic body shape. How long to model hands,
face, expressions (if needed), clothes... you get the idea.

Then, add up all the tasks, and you will have a fairly 
accurate estimate.
It takes practice, as my early quotes were not so 
accurate. I have
been working in 3D since before Softimage version 1 so I 
have gotten more

accurate over the years.

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 4:59 AM, olivier jeannel 
olivier.jean...@noos.fr mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:


Hi guys,

Now that I'm starting enjoying playing with Ice and 
particle stuff, clients are asking for ...modelling job ^^


I realize I never charged separatly for this task 
alone. So my question is how much do you (freelance, homeworkers) 
charge for 1 character modeling ? (How much do

you keep in your pocket in the end (forget the taxes))

Typicaly, quadrupede / Biped, realistic proportions 
anatomy but rather for toon / NPA / stylized rendering results.

In short, only polygonal modeling, (no Zbrush, no hair)

How much do you cost :)






--

Best Regards,
*  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956 tel:%28954%29%20552-7956
* sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com 
mailto:sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com


http://www.3danimationmagic.com







--

Best Regards,
*  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956
* 

Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-16 Thread Stephen Davidson
I always estimate per hour.
I have found that I can be quite accurate with an hourly estimate
by breaking down the modeling to it's most basic components.
For example, on a character model, how long to model each eye.
How long to model basic body shape. How long to model hands,
face, expressions (if needed), clothes... you get the idea.

Then, add up all the tasks, and you will have a fairly accurate estimate.
It takes practice, as my early quotes were not so accurate. I have
been working in 3D since before Softimage version 1 so I have gotten more
accurate over the years.

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 4:59 AM, olivier jeannel olivier.jean...@noos.frwrote:

 Hi guys,

 Now that I'm starting enjoying playing with Ice and particle stuff,
 clients are asking for ...modelling job ^^

 I realize I never charged separatly for this task alone. So my question is
 how much do you (freelance, homeworkers) charge for 1 character modeling ?
 (How much do you keep in your pocket in the end (forget the taxes))

 Typicaly, quadrupede / Biped, realistic proportions anatomy but rather for
 toon / NPA / stylized rendering results.
 In short, only polygonal modeling, (no Zbrush, no hair)

 How much do you cost :)






-- 

Best Regards,
*  Stephen P. Davidson**
   **(954) 552-7956
*sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

http://www.3danimationmagic.com


Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-16 Thread olivier jeannel

I won't be able to be that precise, as I usualy don't count in hours.
Thus I think for modelling a 1 character 4 or 5 days is a maximum.

But, really I'd like someone to give me a price example.
are you usually speaking in hundreds or thousands of euros ? I don't 
really know...






Le 16/11/2012 16:36, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

I always estimate per hour.
I have found that I can be quite accurate with an hourly estimate
by breaking down the modeling to it's most basic components.
For example, on a character model, how long to model each eye.
How long to model basic body shape. How long to model hands,
face, expressions (if needed), clothes... you get the idea.

Then, add up all the tasks, and you will have a fairly accurate estimate.
It takes practice, as my early quotes were not so accurate. I have
been working in 3D since before Softimage version 1 so I have gotten more
accurate over the years.

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 4:59 AM, olivier jeannel 
olivier.jean...@noos.fr mailto:olivier.jean...@noos.fr wrote:


Hi guys,

Now that I'm starting enjoying playing with Ice and particle
stuff, clients are asking for ...modelling job ^^

I realize I never charged separatly for this task alone. So my
question is how much do you (freelance, homeworkers) charge for 1
character modeling ? (How much do you keep in your pocket in the
end (forget the taxes))

Typicaly, quadrupede / Biped, realistic proportions anatomy but
rather for toon / NPA / stylized rendering results.
In short, only polygonal modeling, (no Zbrush, no hair)

How much do you cost :)






--

Best Regards,
*  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956
*sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

http://www.3danimationmagic.com






Re: Semi OT : Charging the modelling

2012-11-16 Thread Stephen Davidson
I would then price it per day. 8  hour days.
I charge approx. $400/day (314.2924 euros)

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 3:51 PM, olivier jeannel olivier.jean...@noos.frwrote:

  I won't be able to be that precise, as I usualy don't count in hours.
 Thus I think for modelling a 1 character 4 or 5 days is a maximum.

 But, really I'd like someone to give me a price example.
 are you usually speaking in hundreds or thousands of euros ? I don't
 really know...





 Le 16/11/2012 16:36, Stephen Davidson a écrit :

 I always estimate per hour.
 I have found that I can be quite accurate with an hourly estimate
 by breaking down the modeling to it's most basic components.
 For example, on a character model, how long to model each eye.
 How long to model basic body shape. How long to model hands,
 face, expressions (if needed), clothes... you get the idea.

  Then, add up all the tasks, and you will have a fairly accurate estimate.
 It takes practice, as my early quotes were not so accurate. I have
 been working in 3D since before Softimage version 1 so I have gotten more
 accurate over the years.

  On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 4:59 AM, olivier jeannel olivier.jean...@noos.fr
  wrote:

 Hi guys,

 Now that I'm starting enjoying playing with Ice and particle stuff,
 clients are asking for ...modelling job ^^

 I realize I never charged separatly for this task alone. So my question
 is how much do you (freelance, homeworkers) charge for 1 character modeling
 ? (How much do you keep in your pocket in the end (forget the taxes))

 Typicaly, quadrupede / Biped, realistic proportions anatomy but rather
 for toon / NPA / stylized rendering results.
 In short, only polygonal modeling, (no Zbrush, no hair)

 How much do you cost :)






  --

  Best Regards,
 *  Stephen P. Davidson**
**(954) 552-7956
 *sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

 http://www.3danimationmagic.com





-- 

Best Regards,
*  Stephen P. Davidson**
   **(954) 552-7956
*sdavid...@3danimationmagic.com

http://www.3danimationmagic.com