What should I charge as an hourly fee for my 3d models?

Migitino

I'm, what I would say a low-mid level 3d modeler. I don't work with texturing and just make some more basic models (Some models are attached) . I'm wondering how much I should be charging per hour for my models? As I said I am fairly new to 3d modeling, I first started 3d modeling around October of 2019 and was doing it on and off until about September 2020, when I really started to get into it.

I do understand that pricing is not the same for everyone, but at least a baseline would be nice.
The model below took about 19 hours of work.
The model has an overall tris count of 1 940 778 (1 424 430 without the lights that I still need to optimize)

poopipe

modelling is a skilled trade, as a freelancer you should charge a similar amount for your time that a skilled tradesperson would. 

a painter/decorator might be a good reference.  

Migitino

(Ignore this, meant to reply to poopipe)

Migitino

poopipe said:

modelling is a skilled trade, as a freelancer you should charge a similar amount for your time that a skilled tradesperson would. 

a painter/decorator might be a good reference.  

~ $20 CAD/hour is what I'm seeing for a painter in Canada, however it seems high (at least to me) for a 3d model that took me 19 hours. That would put this model at about 400 CAD. idk to me it seems a little high.

Thanks for the insight though!

lluc21

If this was a commission ordered by a client for you to do it from scratch then you would charge the full 19 hours at your rate, but I think what you're referring to is that you want to put this model for sale so that it can be bought by someone? If that's the case you have to look at online stores and see what people are charging for similar models with similar amounts of detail and quality.

I don't sell much online, but when pricing my models I usually go with 10% of what it would cost to make exclusively, so in your case it would be around $40. This can vary greatly as some models can go for much more or much less depending on the demand

poopipe

yeah - i meant hourly rate for a commission / short contract.  selling individual assets on spec isn't something I've done.

don't underestimate the cost of creating assets - $20 an hour to the employee means a cost to their employer of double that - even charging $400 for this model could constitute a saving to the buyer (provided you find a company to buy it - which is the hard bit)

i think lluc21's approach is sensible - its cheap enough for a hobbyist/indie to just buy without thinking too hard

Eric Chadwick

• Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines is an excellent resource on a great range of employment issues. Pricing guidelines, legal info, copyright law, sample contracts, how to negotiate, and more. Highly recommended!

Your local library may have a copy already.