Advice sought - Work opportunity; Character Art for kids show

Jarvgrimr

Hey all,

I am a 3D artist, and I have gotten involved with a small 2D animation studio (in Australia) for some prospective work. I am a recent graduate, so any sniff of work has been jumped upon, and it's quite hard to come across in this part of the world.

Anyhow, the studio want me to make a kind of ... proof of concept, a fully modelled character (fur covered), and preferably with some animation (I am not an animator by trade, I have done some but I haven't pursued it). They want this asset to use as a pitching device to for the production company, so the production team can choose between 3d or another format, so if the 3D is a no go, then I won't get any work out of it anyway... but if I they like the 3D then this could be a big job.

The head of this group is one of those "I'm a creative" type of creatives; as in he doesn't give any logical deadlines or information, knows nothing of 3D animation or production cycles. His timeframe deadline was "yesterday/tomorrow". So in other words, useless. Plus this fully modelled, textured and covered in realistic fur, and preferably rigged/animated character is being done for free... at first. I am only going to send footage of the character, and frames, thus proving the concept is sound.

I am not parting with the asset until I get paid (This seems like the right plan. They don't have an animator anyway, I know a guy who can animate in Modo, which is the software I am going to use and I am going to see if he wants to do the animation side.).

Now I was wondering if any of you fine Polycounters had experience doing freelance character work, what were your timeframes? What did you charge for your work? I am in no way a veteran or heavily experienced 3D artist, but I know I can achieve this. My problem I have little clue about the ways of being a freelancer, and what my time and effort is worth. Pretty much I'd like any advice on what's a good stance to take with an offer like this, I am keen for any work I can get, but I don't want to get screwed too savagely.

I wanted to get some advice from people more in the know. The character will be cartoony, the only difficulty will be the fur, and the rigging animating if I am forced to do it.

I will be working in Modo, any fellow Modo users got tips for the Fur pipeline for Modo? Or just any advice at all, I dig Modo, but changing my workflow has been a bit staggered, I got too used to 3DS Max... love 3DS Max.

Any and all help and advice is welcome and very much appreciated!

Thanks for your time!

Jarv

ysalex

'the studio' - it's not a studio if they don't pay.

'The head of this group is one of those "I'm a creative" type of creatives; as in he doesn't give any logical deadlines or information, knows nothing of 3D animation or production cycles. His timeframe deadline was "yesterday/tomorrow".' - another red flag.

Let's put it this way, they want YOU to do the work, and they do the pitch. In otherwords, you're risking non-payment for actually doing something, and they're risking non-payment for doing nothing.

As a freelancer, you'll come across stuff like this all the time. In general, if they can't afford to pay, they will never be able too. Always get 1/2 up front, and never work on spec.

Another concern is the manager. People who are 'creative' types but have no background in actually creating are typically impossible to please and difficult to work with. I made these mistakes early in my (graphic design) freelance career, and I always regretted it.

Sam Hatami

I'll try and give you a bigger perspective on this. No matter which work field you are in, freelance or on site, you have to do some type of self-sacrifice eventually, to get where you want to get. But how this is done, is totally up to you!

When you are just at the start of your career, in most of career paths, you have to make sure you trust the right people. Put your trust in those who doesn't make promises and are honest about the consequences.

You will get opportunities like this probably a few more times before you land a full internship/contract. In most of the cases, since you are new, you probably have to put some extra spare time, if you think it's worth it.

HOWEVER.

That does not mean you should take anything and do anything just because you're new. You will hear alot of anecdotes, advices and suggestions from peers that might tear a big hole in your stomach if you're trying to apply them all, for instance:

"Work overtime, you better get use to it"
"I usually put in extra hours, because I'm interested!"
"It's more important to gain experience than to get paid"
"You have to make sure you get paid upfront, otherwise its fishy!"

etc..

All of these are true for whoever is saying it. But you have to make sure you do something that feels right for YOU and in the situation you are in. Mistakes will be done, wrong turns will be taken. But you could make this less severe, by trusting your gut more than anything.

Don't trust someone that makes promises you wouldn't make, or doesn't make sense. And if you end up doing this anyway, you'll learn how to spot these behaviours better.

Good luck

Kevin Albers

Working for free helps to drive the average industry wage down to, well, close to zero, including YOUR future wages. You might want to consider turning down this 'offer', or suggesting a reasonable price, such as a few thousand dollars for something that might take you a fair number of weeks to complete.

Not parting with the asset until you receive payment is probably a good idea, but they might just use whatever you DO give them (renders or some such) as their only assets for the pitch, and then they might never pay you. From your description, this organization doesn't sound very professional, so who knows what will happen?

ebagg

When I was nearing the end of college I worked for a month under a non-paying animated television show creating 3d character assets. I left after a month of the "creative" director yelling at us every meeting for having full time jobs, school, families, and other things taking time away from us outputting 40+ hours worth of work into his pet project.

Ever since then I have never worked for free. You have learned a trade skill, and anyone who wants your hard work for free is trying to exploit you (with very few exceptions, the only one situation that immediately comes to mind is working with friends on a project where none of you are getting paid).

Stephen Silver puts it better than I did;
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWXYoD7wfOs"]stephen silver-Protect your art career - YouTube[/ame]

Rick Stirling

I think one of the best things about having experience is the ability to recognise people wanting you to work for free, and having the confidence to tell them there is zero chance of you doing that.

confracto

here's your answer.

Jarvgrimr

Thank you all for taking the time to respond to my query. In the end I made the wrong decision regarding this; and took the advice of friends and family members. My brother, who works in traditional FX, was a big advocate of the concept, as that is how he had to get his start when starting work in his industry.

However the times have changed, and as you all say; doing work for free does not mean you will get a job (It may used to have meant that, in the days when you went into a studio to do the work). It is someone trying to take advantage of artists, especially in these days of freelancing.

The worst part is the people who were asking for the asset didn't even give me the timeframe I needed... so what I was able to get to them was an incomplete asset anyway. So essentially everyone lost.

Anyway, lesson learnt, and I really regret not taking the forums advice.