How do you bill for Animations?

[Michael J. Brown]

I've been doing stills for quite some time now. Each time I get close to snagging an animation project (which I still haven't yet) I run into the same delimma - How do I bill?

 

I know of one firm who charges by the second of animation. But this type of fee structure alone will not account for the cost of modeling, lighting and dressing a scene if the animation's length is too short (to recoupe said costs).

 

Do you estimate one fee for all the pre-anime work, then add in another fee (perhaps based on a per-second structure) for the animation itself?

 

Do you just keep a running tab (billing monthly for hours burned through)?

 

What methods are some of you using to bill for animations?

[mi75]

I'm in a similar position except I'm not even getting still work these days. Dam economy!

 

I did a quote the other week and the customer stated the length would be "about" 90 seconds. I gave them a quote for exactly 90 seconds worth of animation with an outline of the basic camera path (time to build + time to render = $). I then stated that a few seconds here or there would be no extra cost as long as it stayed on the same agreed camera path, in other words if it looked wrong because the camera was moving to fast then we would slow the camera down and extend the animation time. Once we get over a few seconds I will be charging a per second fee of x$ p/s.

 

Because that job was worth about $10K I also asked for a small 25% upfront deposit to cover myself in case the project fell over at the last minute.

 

The customer then decided not to do an animation, they didn't realise it could take so long and cost that much.

 

I hope that helps and I'd also like to hear what others with more experience have to say.

 

Mart

[Fernando Lino]

what i've seen is $300 per second for animations or 12k-15k per minute with a minumum of 30 sec.

 

30 sec would be 9k

1min -12k

 

this way ypu kind push your client to go over 1 minute and cover your initial work and your client get a "virtual discount" ...this rate is for full animation, this means animated objects.

walkthrus or static animations would be cheaper of course!!...maybe 50% cheaper.

[mertens3d]

Charging per second of animation never made sense to me. Similarly charging stills based on sq. ft. doesn't.

 

Depending on the job, I'll use up to 3 methods for calculating the cost.

 

1) I write down what my gut tells me in hours and multiply that times my realized rate. (realized rate = total fee made per year / total hours worked per year).

 

2) Then I'll start with what a still would cost (2 sides of a building). If the animation will only entail those visible elements, then i double that cost to get the animation cost.

 

If the animation will show 4 sides of a building, then I'll start with the cost of 2 unique stills and double that.

 

So essentially the animation cost about double what still versions of the same content would cost.

 

3) If the project is large enough, I'll work up an excel spreadsheet and break down all the tasks into estimated hours (modeling, camera animation, lighting, farm management, etc). I multiply that number by 20% (or more) and then multiply by my realized rate.

 

If all 3 of these methods yeild a similar number then I have some confidence that I am on track. If not, then i go back and visit each until they do.

 

Finally you need to decide how much you want the job. Sometimes (especially in this economy) you are willing (and will need to) work for less, so your fee will have to be smaller. Sometimes you need to cut the cost just to help ensure you get the work into your portfolio.

 

Hope that helps

 

ps. don't forget sales tax if your state requires it.

[amer abidi]

Charging per second of animation never made sense to me. Similarly charging stills based on sq. ft. doesn't.

 

Couldn't agree more!

 

You really have to figure out your running cost, how much time the job is going to take you, how much time and resources it'll need to render, and additional outsourcing / extra resources required and multiply it by your formula and you'll get your figure. The numbers stated above are what i believe is the market's charge for good qulaity animations, 9k for 30sec..12k for 1 minute, etc..

 

But charging by the second is just amateurish imo, and gives the client the wrong impression and keeps him/her uneasy, ending up in them requiring reruns and repeats to stick in as much of the work as possible in the least amount of time, costing you more.

 

With experience you'll know just how much work and time a job will take and charge accordingly, and on the spot.

[ihabkal]

Hi Amer,

I guess that after 30 you become mature enough to "know just how much work and time a job will take and charge accordingly, and on the spot."

 

:)

[amer abidi]

...and living in this part of the world, exactly how much to multiply the final figure by! (since down payment can easily be misunderstood by client for final payment)

 

Which i'm sure you agree to Ihab

[Michael J. Brown]

Thanks everyone.

[tayrona]

Clients are always asking: How much it costs a second of animation? or How much it costs a minute?... I always wonder if most of studios are working like that? I hope not.

 

When I answer that "this job is not charged by minutes or by seconds", then they ask.. WHY???

 

Simple: Is not the same a second of animation of a gothic cathedral project and a second of animation of a minimalist white house.. animations could be full of people or full of moving cars... a lot of leafy trees or just some palms.. custom furniture or a lot of custom textures.. there are a lot of factors that make every animation project completely different from another.

 

I am attaching a format that a friend gave me some time ago and has been a very valuable contribution. Now, my budgets are very accurate and when clients check this, they dont ask WHY??

[Dave Buchhofer]

Its all about asking questions, if you know what you need, and can classify things that will make an animation easier or harder to accomplish, then you can possibly get a price thats realistic.

 

Read through some of david's articles on this site for some good practical information: http://www.cgarchitect.com/upclose/DW/default.asp

[alexg]

it makes absolute sense to charge the 'actual animation production job' in seconds or minutes because it is by default what the client base knows. otherwise it will be an added time to educate the client (which may be good, but will waste both parties time)

 

just make sure you separate your fee in 2 different areas.

1. modelling / texturing stage. this is a breakdown of all buildings or rooms to be modelled.

2. animation rendering stage. this is more of camera path, rigging, and the render time itself.

 

why separate them ?

- a small animation of 1 bathroom of 30 sec is different from a huge cityscape with extensive foreground detail of the same duration.

in this case the same 30 sec animation applies, but the modeling cost jumps a lot.

- a separation of the animation gives you a chance to calculate if you in emergency needs to outsource the render to a external render farm. search around and you can find out how much is the minimal if you need to urgently out all the render to 3rd party.

- it also gives you options if the client wants a normal standard definition animation or a full HD output. (a client wants just a screensize say 640pix avi to show their boss is different to a client wants a HD video for the new office park)

 

most clients can understand this type of fee breakdown.

[Michael J. Brown]

Diana, good cost breakdown. Showing a client something like this will certainly help take the teeth from their bite (when wanting to ask WHY it costs what it does).

 

Dave - good resources. I hadn't visited this part of the site in close to a year. It's kind of like rediscovering hidden treasure.