etipuette of commissioning artist
I'm not an artist myself, just an aspiring modder, who is seeking a contract artist and willing to pay for the assets he or she produces. I hope its appropriate to join the community specifically for this purpose. I have a general interest and appreciation of great art and the talent that produces it, but its not really my forte. I don't have the knack for it.
I'm happy to include stock art assets in the mod when appropriate in order to save money, but I also wish to commission unique and novel pieces not on offer elsewhere, which is where Polycount comes in. There appears to be many talented artists seeking paid work here and deservedly so.
As a disclaimer I've never undertaken a project like this before nor entered into a "relationship" required by a such an endeavour, which is why I'm posting in a message about the etiquette of art production.
What are the expectations of an artist? How would he/she react to being approached by an aspiring modder without any experience or even a connection to an indie game studio let alone a publisher?
Is it appropriate asking to make an offer on a piece rate basis? e.g. being paid per asset and not a fixed contract? I would be happy to agree that the ownership of the asset remains with the artist to avoid concern about asset farming.
Whats the typical practice regarding payment? Do artists regularly demand payment prior to production? Is it appropriate to pay in installments at various stages of production?
Would you recommend commissioning an artist from another country? I'm from New Zealand and think it would be difficult to find computer graphics artists nearby. I remember there being a community similar to Polycount, here, but I can no longer find it online.
I would appreciate it if folks would answer any or all of the above questions. It would be very helpful.
I'm happy to include stock art assets in the mod when appropriate in order to save money, but I also wish to commission unique and novel pieces not on offer elsewhere, which is where Polycount comes in. There appears to be many talented artists seeking paid work here and deservedly so.
As a disclaimer I've never undertaken a project like this before nor entered into a "relationship" required by a such an endeavour, which is why I'm posting in a message about the etiquette of art production.
What are the expectations of an artist? How would he/she react to being approached by an aspiring modder without any experience or even a connection to an indie game studio let alone a publisher?
Is it appropriate asking to make an offer on a piece rate basis? e.g. being paid per asset and not a fixed contract? I would be happy to agree that the ownership of the asset remains with the artist to avoid concern about asset farming.
Whats the typical practice regarding payment? Do artists regularly demand payment prior to production? Is it appropriate to pay in installments at various stages of production?
Would you recommend commissioning an artist from another country? I'm from New Zealand and think it would be difficult to find computer graphics artists nearby. I remember there being a community similar to Polycount, here, but I can no longer find it online.
I would appreciate it if folks would answer any or all of the above questions. It would be very helpful.
Replies
Basically though, just contact artists, tell them about what you want, and then ask for a quote and then for from there. Everything can be negotiated. Generally you pay them after you receive the work, or at least after they've made it and shown it to you (you'd pay, then they'd send the final source files).
Don't overthink it too much. Just go ask artists or put up a job listing!
Plus.. whatever you do, make sure to create a paper-trail and at least confirm (even if in a round-about fashion) what's been agreed.. you might regret not doing that (a common tale of woe for modders and their ilk).
-Yes, you just need to agree on specifics about the piece, that's all. For example, do you plan on paying per asset quality or some other rule set (how much time it took to be made?), same with the artist, some like to get payed per hour on the models, other per poly, etc. See what fits you best. (I suggest asking back here for rates if the need arises, I have seen plenty of artists try and rip off people, charging over 800 pounds for what amounts to a sub-par mouse model pre PS2 quality).
-Yes, make this point extremely clear. You don't want any bad blood later on, where you claim to have rights to the model (EI: Don't sell on Unity store, etc) only for the artist to claim they can do whatever they want and polish it up to sell it on Poser or something.
-Usually upfront 25-50% (after rough sketch and concept is put in place) with remainder once piece is delivered. Some others like to be payed afterwards (usually busy freelancers don't want to rip you off, tend to do this so they don't put themselves in a legal fiasco) and some before hand. I suggest looking and talking with the artist what is best for both of you.
-Not sure, many people, when contacting an artist for freelance work will do so via the internet, so not that out of the ordinary. Standard really. It's always better to find an artist on your home turff, incase anything happens (closer working environment, etc), but if you can't, no big deal, as long as you both get the work done, it's all that matters.
HOWEVER, whatever you do, just make sure of one thing...MAKE A SIGNED CONTRACT AFTER YOUR VERBAL AGREEMENT!
I've seen too many people make the mistake (even here, on PC) where they assume just making a verbal contract is enough, even for a small job. IT NEVER IS, a contract will make sure both of you are on the same page and that neither side can screw the other over if the need to follow suit should arise.
Something like "Artist X agreed that he would get payed per hour on model work at rate of Y" is a good example of keeping things simple enough, but still set in stone that make sure no one legs it on the way.
That's pretty much the only advice I have. The rest really depends on the artist honestly.
http://wiki.polycount.net/CategoryGameIndustry#Freelancing
Useful Legal Documents For Designers
These LAGD (Legal Advice for Game Developers) videos might be worth watching too.
I had a short stint as a freelance artist (although I was producing stills rather than assets). A couple of points that might help:
Set out the standard of work that you require, this can come from assets pics that you provide or from the artists portfolio/site.
Ask for regular updates - this can be pics of the WIP - this means that if an artist goes in a direction you weren't expecting then you can request changes without incurring potential re-working costs.
Work out the payments before agreeing to go ahead with the contract, I've only ever been paid on completion of a project but agree with Ace-Angel: work out what works for both of you. I would imagine asset creation is a bit of a tricky one to work out on a piece by piece basis unless you know about modelling - i.e the complexity of certain objects rather than their size.
One point to consider; digital art theft is on the up. I raise this point not to infer but to make you aware (if you're not already) that some artists you approach may be cagey about entering into such a relationship as you're suggesting. IMO if you're after the final result only then artists may not want to provide the original DCC or photoshop files.
Hope this info helped.
Its very helpful to someone like me is new to the whole process. Its good to be able to make well informed judgements on how to proceed so as not to cause bad feelings between the two parties so early on in what I eventually hope to be a career.
I originally thought that it would be the artist who would have the final say on what basis they would charge out for their work, but with your allusion about the flexibility of contract terms above and seeing how many artists are competiting for limited work there is, perhaps I can swing the contract terms in my favour a little. Don't get me wrong, I would never consider using the unfortuate state of affairs to exploit the labour of creators. I believe that the vast majority of artists must work hard and therefore should be justly rewarded for their efforts, but it be nice to reach an agreement thats favourable to both parties.
I definitely will, though I would like to stipulate that the assets could be used on multiple projects by me, though I would never sell them to make a profit. I doubt the artists would be able to sell the them either because they are intended to be quite particular, specifically design for my mod project and perhaps later a full-fledged game if I were to be successful with my mod.
-Usually upfront 25-50% (after rough sketch and concept is put in place) with remainder once piece is delivered. Some others like to be payed afterwards (usually busy freelancers don't want to rip you off, tend to do this so they don't put themselves in a legal fiasco) and some before hand. I suggest looking and talking with the artist what is best for both of you.
-Not sure, many people, when contacting an artist for freelance work will do so via the internet, so not that out of the ordinary. Standard really. It's always better to find an artist on your home turff, incase anything happens (closer working environment, etc), but if you can't, no big deal, as long as you both get the work done, it's all that matters.
I definitely intend to because the contract will represent quite a lot of money, particularly to me. A couple of the guys who responded have provided some very helpful links to legal templates that I think will prove very valuable as I proceed with my project. Thanks guys.