Charging for character model?
I'm getting started on a freelance modeling gig and they're asking about numbers. I'm still kind of new to freelancing, so I could use some suggestions for both hourly rates and fixed prices.
They're asking for a character model, in a cartoony style, that's about 1500 polys, for a game. I would likely also be unwrapping and texturing, myself.
I've been out of school for two years now, and have done one internship as a modeler, one freelance job for which I did modeling, texturing, lighting and rendering, and two volunteer projects, doing 2D animation and 3D environment modeling. The last two games ended up falling through.
So based on what they're asking for, and my experience, what can I reasonably ask for?
They're asking for a character model, in a cartoony style, that's about 1500 polys, for a game. I would likely also be unwrapping and texturing, myself.
I've been out of school for two years now, and have done one internship as a modeler, one freelance job for which I did modeling, texturing, lighting and rendering, and two volunteer projects, doing 2D animation and 3D environment modeling. The last two games ended up falling through.
So based on what they're asking for, and my experience, what can I reasonably ask for?
Replies
If you are asked to do the work faster, working more hours than 8 hours per day, you MUST charge more money per extra hour. And if you are forced to work on weekends, much more.
If they have already provided you a concept you should have a timeframe in mind. But i say you that a character with 1500 tris (poligons), mapped and textured in the old way (hand painted) are being done in 3 days as much... and with a 1024 texture.
So, if you work 3 days, 720 plus taxes should be your minimum price for your services (in Spain taxes are a 21%).
Of course, you can charge more if you already have a name and your level of quality is pretty high.
Another thing: if they ask a baked model from a hi-poly or a normal mapped model, the price increases.
It would be good to see other freelancers sharing info, but in this forum they don't like to help in this matter due to the fear of the competence/rivals.
I also have done several works for projects that did not see the light... but that does not matter. As recommendation, don't sign any NDA unless if it's included in the contract, and charge a 50% beforehand (always). Big studios doesn't have any problem with that, but if you work for an subcontractor (outsourcing company), or for an individual, a negative is a good sign of BAD CLIENT.
Hope this helps.
It took me a while to accurately gauge how long something should take, so I ended up under-charging pretty significantly in the past. Now I use toggl.com to measure the time I spend on projects, which has been a tremendous help in this regard.
Start with a reasonable rate, though you certainly don't want to work for slave wages. Always remember, you're a skilled craftsman, your time is worth much more than minimum wage. When demand for your services becomes greater than you're availability, its time to increase your rates to balance demand.
I think the problem with an hourly rate (say 30 quid an hour) is that if you take it to 8 hours a day (which is 240) that seems quite a lot more than people charge normally.
There seems to be a 'going rate' in the UK. you can try and ask for more, but they will tend to beat you down to 200 max anyway.
I wish I was a producer of some kind , they charge up to 800 per day, jeez.
just to add that some people who are not very experienced would work for as low 70 per day, which might not be as bad as it sounds, as its can give you a bit of experience. It's up to you as to where your skill level is and what you can tolerate.
some companies do pay for hotel expenses etc.depends how much they need your particular specialization.
I am living back in the north east , so the london studio experience is a bit out of the question now.
though if they need me for a full week, or longer, i can buy a travelcard at lower cost and that is reflected in my invoices too. the lesson there, i guess: be reasonable with your rates. charge what you're worth, including all of your costs. but also pass on any reduction in your costs to the client... that kinda stuff does get noticed.
is it better to charge the client or charge HMRC
I mean, I'm not doing freelancing but when I thought of it, I was assuming I'd charge about 10$/hr as a beginner artist. Do such prices even exist?
in my opinion this line of work should not be considered as a low level minimum wage work. so charging $10/hr doesnt make sense to me.
also consider that this line of work involves years of training and usually quite a bit of $$$ investment every year on various things.
if you are a beginner without enough high quality art samples then charge ~$200 per day.
if you have big portfolio and long experience you can charge as high as ~$350 per day.
^ yes.
rate is not always dependent on time spent. sometimes you have to do higher quality+quantity of work within the same time frame. one has to sort of go into "turbo mode" and that can be exhausting and should not be considered as regular 8hr day work mode.
some projects need very careful scrutiny of every single detail during the entire work flow WITHOUT any extension in time limit. so basically you are doing more work in less time. so you have to charge accordingly.
I've been running into a lot of people who simply don't understand how much work goes into creating a character. But that's normal, I have had much more success doing non-character work. I've always taken my time with character art, so it doesn't mesh well with a lot of requests where they are asking for fully sculpted game characters to be completed in a week for $300-400. I don't recycle/reuse existing assets so it can get a bit time consuming starting from scratch.