Freelance Pricing?

Zamolxis

I am green to the game scene much less the freelance scene so I would like some feedback, if any of you guys feel so inclined, on how to approach pricing for contract work. This concerns modeling, texturing, and concept art.

How do you calculate pricing? (hourly, by polygon, by the drawing, by the pixol?) Whats usually charged on average? How does it differ from the east to the west coast? How does it differ if you work remotely or on site? Thanks.

pliang

It all depends on your negotiating...just make sure if it matches your current quality of life, skill sets and how fast you work to back it up.

I haven't done much freelancing but that some of the thigns it applied.

tokidokizenzen

I've only done a few contracts in the past. I'm currently involved in another one now. All my contracts are part time because I have a full time job in the game industry. The way I go about pricing is I look at what I'm currently making now in salary and figure out what it ends up as in an hourly rate. You'll be surprised as most people do in how low it comes out. When you add in things like health care the rate will go up a bit. Also be sure to add in a higher tax since contract money gets taxed more than if you are an employee at a company. That's pretty much it basically. If you don't have or never had a job in the industry then find out what those starting out make for a salary. This may be a good place to start. As you gain experience and become more in demand, or you offer a higher level of quality then your rate can go up. I charge by the hour. My current contract has me concepting, modelling, and painting. I think hourly is the most fair for both parties. If you work on site it does not differ at all unless you are getting some sort of benefits like health care. Then your rate should be lower to account for that. East or West I don't think it differs. The rate should not change. If a potential client is telling you that it's cheap to live an Texas and therefore they want to pay you less then you may not want to do business with them

aesir

Decide how much you feel like you're worth per hour, estimate the hours to do the job, give a price. Maybe start on the cheap side if this is your first job.

hawken

If your new to it, concentrate on getting as much work as you can, if they ask you to quote a price, tell them the bare minimum you honestly feel you need.

you will always have the chance to get greedy once you have some experience

Zamolxis

You guys are great. Again, additional feedback on your experience is welcome. Thanks everybody!

I'd also like to ask one more thing. How does texture work that may or may not include normal map work equate in the pricing sceme? How is it different from concept art or modeling when considering pricing?

aesir

It equates into what you charge based on how long it takes you. Just caclulate how many hours things will take you.

Gav

I'd try to go hourly as much as possible but you could also set a price for the actual piece and then charge hourly for adjustments/changes.

I generally try to break everything down to the hour because it's easy to track and work with. Locking into one price without specifying charges for reworking it can come back to bite you in the ass. If the client really can't make up their mind, they can easily take advantage of your time.

You've got to keep in mind that when a company hires you as an actual employee, there's a bunch of stuff they cover that you now have to. For me it's my families health insurance, electricity, I had to upgrade hardware, software, etc. Take all of these things into account, then set the price you absolutely need to make before you'll start dipping into the red. Don't forget that you also have to take care of your own taxes...so, keep track of all of that and maybe even make a separate bank account that you deposit 30% (or whatever your tax rate is) into. That way, you don't fool yourself with how much money you have and it will be much like getting a pay check from an employer.

I have an excel sheet with all of my clients/assets that calculates and keeps track of who owes me money, who's legs I need to break, who paid up, the assets that need to be completed...and the payout of those assets and time taken. I add all of the pay together to calculate how much money I've made to date and automatically deduct my tax percentage off of it. That way, I can see what's ACTUAL money and what's going to the man. I also add together all of the time taken and, if I want to, can keep track of how much I'm making per day, on average. Kind of a good way to keep an eye on how things are going. Do I need to charge more? Am I taking too long? Do i need to take on more jobs? etc.

Prices will always change. It all depends on what's needed, how good you are, what your cost of living will be (like mentioned above), etc. If you're really green, yeah, I'd low ball it. Just be careful though, people will only pay you how much you think you're worth, y'know? It's possible that this client could be reoccurring and could even recommend other people to you. If you charged the first company $200 for a texture but eventually realize you're worth $400 a texture...it can become awkward...and stuff :P

word!
Gav

Zamolxis

Hey thanks for the advise Gav! Great work by the way! I really appreciate you all taking the time to reply.

Ghostscape

Keep in mind when you're estimating that the customer is going to want rework done.

For the last freelance gig I did, I took my desired hourly wage, multiplied it by the number of hours I figured it would take for the work + re-work (be generous, not conservative), and gave a quote based on that.

And then he proceeded to be happy with just about everything so little re-work was required and the check was the same size

Sage

Well decide what you want to make an hour if you live in the USA you won't want to make less than 10 dollars an hour, why because you can't live off that. And more importantly you can make these amount of money almost at any job that requires no skills. So it also comes down to what you are worth. Kind of simple. I went really low to make a point. So if something they ask takes 20 hours you'll be charging 200 dollars, simple, right? Well that's sort of the problem, the money adds up very quickly and the client will be like what the hell. So it's sort of important to keep in mind why you charge what you charge, and what you are worth. Also keep in mind what your expenses are. This will also make what you charge go higher than you thought you would have to. A reasonable asking price would be 20 an hour if you know what you are doing, but then again the money adds up quickly. If you are an established artist and have the goods to prove it then the client won't have a problem paying that much or little depending on your point of view. I usually keep in mind the clients budget when I charge, but then I'm not a good business man. Good business men want to make money and deliver on what they promise.

Dealing with money is always awkward especially if you are not a money type person, which most artist are not, but you learn to deal with it or you go hungry. You also should establish ground rules when working with your client. Asking for more money because the client wanted changes without telling them first right from the get go will just make yourself look bad. I always concept shit out before I make the 3d model and I tell them why. Once it's approved it's extra to go and change it on a whim. Even established grounds rules you'll find yourself in sticky situations.

Alex

Armanguy

My first time getting contract work i low-balled the amount the person had to giveme because well i dont have any real experience so i ended up getting only 100 dollars for somthing i should have gotten 500 for but as i went on working with the client and my skills increased it was easier to ask for more money and eventually i was getting the right amount of money you just need to know that dont lowball yourself right away but dont make it too expensive for somthing that will only take 10-20 hours to finish

pliang

Another thing I forgot to mentioned was also just being able to negotiate...

Zamolxis

Great info here. Thanks!

Sandbag

never underestimate the importance of a good contract. Always have a written contract with very specific terms. The Graphics Artist Guild (GAG) publish a book yearly that has a ton of good advice and sample contracts, though be wary they are a bit greedy (so don't go getting your hopes up when they suggest you be making $45 an hour from the get-go..). It may not apply specifically (unless they've finally entered the digital realm of art more wholly) but it will be very useful information that you can apply to video game art none-the-less.

I would also keep in mind your client's budget when deciding prices. Not that you should be prejudice against a large or small corporation, but think about it, would you charge the same price to a tiny game company who's title will never see more than 5,000 copies sold with a one-country distribution as you would to a company selling 500,000+ copies distributed worldwide?

Even if it's the same amount of work they are very different situations. You don't want to rip yourself (or your client) off, but I still feel strongly that it is an important aspect of pricing to consider.

Another important aspect (maybe this stands out so much from my illustration background) is to consider what rights you'll be retaining for the work. Do you retain the right to re-sell the asset to another company/for another use, or are they going to receive exclusive rights to use? Will they have exclusive rights for a limited time, maybe a year or two, or forever? Will you be receiving continued payout as a result of profit made from the game your assets are a part of?

All of these are very important aspects of pricing guidelines...

And as an illustration professor always said "you can't G-E-T unless you A-S-K. You never know when a client might have no problem with allowing you to retain the right to resell your work or what other perks or benefits you can get just by asking.

Also, If your client simply cant afford to pay what you think (or know) you require, but you either have to have the work or feel they really deserve your time then consider alternate benefits. In illustration that could mean free tear-sheets or publicity through bolder work-signing, but for games it could mean a cut of the profits, access to free or discounted technology or hardware, or even just a free game when the development is completed...you never know unless you ask...

...just my 2(,000) cents...

Slash

http://freelanceswitch.com/rates/ <-- this will be helpful.

ironbearxl

I forgot what I was looking for when I found this link, but it was important enough for me to bookmark:

http://cedrichohnstadt.wordpress.com/2007/12/06/bidding-out-a-project-part-1/