Freelancer's Salary?

[TJunkers]

I know this should be in the salary section, but I don't have permission to post there apparently and this is something I really need to know....

 

What's the best way to figure out how much to charge for an Architecture Visualization freelance project? I know that's very vague, but I have been getting a lot of offers recently and I honestly keep making up a number because I am not sure what it's worth or how much I should be asking for!

 

Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.

[Brodie Geers]

If it's just a side thing for you then this will be a very helpful guide

 

http://www.cgarchitect.com/news/Reviews/Review070_1.asp

[Devin Johnston]

Since your in the US I'd day a normal amount to charge for an average rendering is between $1000 & $1500. If your not running a business and aren't depending on this as your primary source of income you can really charge anything your comfortable with, but don't give your work away just to get the job because it hurts you and the industry in the long run.

[FlytE]

Work it backwards. Lets assume one image takes you 1 week to produce. That means you can fit 4 images in a month.

 

Figure out how much you need a month to cover your basic living essentials, food, rent, electric bills, project overheads, equipment, gasoline, etc etc. Once you have worked out how much that is, add on how much profit you want to make on top of that.... i would recommend at LEAST 10%. Divide it by 4 and assuming you are going by the 1 image = 1 week principle - thats about how much you charge per image.

 

That being said, Maxer's suggested figures seem reasonable to me.... for what its worth.

[rmccoy]

I can not recommend this book enough. It's a great book for navigating the freelance world. It's geared more towards designers but it's still great for freelancers.

 

Talent is not enough:

http://amzn.com/0321702026

[Jonathan Sanchez]

As Andy said.. figure out your personal cost of living + savings, and charge appropriately to reach that amount. I personally charge on an estimate of how many hours it will take me. I have a set hourly rate for certain tasks and charge accordingly. In the US, the typical hourly rates are between 25 to 100/h... although you better be real good to charge the latter :-)

 

P.S. There are A LOT of threads that talk about this matter.... don't be afraid to perform a forums search.

[TJunkers]

Thanks everyone for the great replies! Sorry if there where other threads, my search doesn't work, it keeps saying search=?null (I may have broke it)