What percentage of fee is modeling?

[heni30]

Hi,

 

If a client gives you a good model of, say, the exterior of a small office building - 6 stories -

how much do you discount from your normal fee? This is just the geometry - no materials.

 

Medium complexity - no wild curves or anything.

 

Thanks.

[datacrasher]

George

I would say it depends on the time it takes a person to model the building i would never give a discount unless he/she is a regular client (customer) i usually paint my walls white and that's about it

[ihabkal]

I do modeling regularly for big studios and they pay $200 to $300 for the model. They all pay the same thing. I ask for more they say they are paying China $200 to $300 and that they can always get back to my Chinese competitor if I insist on more.

[heni30]

What jerks! There are problems with Chinese firms with communication, though. I had to work with one last year for 3 months and while they did do great work it was frustrating trying to get them to correct mistakes because it seems like they would first put their lower tier people to work on things and you would get something average with mistakes. Then you had to go back and forth to try to get it right and right when you were ready to fire them after a forceful email they would put their higher tier people on it and you would get something truly amazing.

 

They were very punctual and would pull all nighters to get things done. But maybe you can ask for more gradually and after they see the problems with overseas work they will come back to you but it would be a risk you would have to take.

Edited July 29, 2012 by heni30

[Nic H]

no discount for provided models imo

more often than not architect provided models are pretty bad for the purposes of arch vis - especially if you need to animate or texture them

 

cant beat a fresh lightweight model!

[pailhead]

I sometimes work on sketchup models, and i subtract the hours it saves me from the price. Sometimes i have to remodel the whole thing, sometimes i can actually use it (archicad, SU, etc). When i worked for other people that do 3d, and i'm provided with a really useful model, i just chardge for the time it takes me to texture and render it.

[Jonathan Fantucchio]

I get Revit models all the time. I normally have to fix them up or add alot stuff to them. So no discount. I just include it in the overall price. I do sometimes feel that I'm loosing my modeling chops a bit.

[John Dollus]

If the client supplies the model, add 10% instead.

[Scott Schroeder]

If the client supplies the model, add 10% instead.

 

Bingo! I charge more if I get the model. I have yet to have a client provided model that isn't a ball of turds. I rarely accept client models for anything other than pre-viz or modeling reference.

 

While software like SketchUp and revit isn't bad in itself, the typical user base is fairly clueless as to what constitutes a good modeling practices. Think about all of the hours you have spent cleaning up their crap model for free or for your discount. You could model it yourself from scratch and still save time and money. You are LOSING money by accepting models and having to fix/add stuff to it just to get it to an acceptable level.

[Frosty]

I agree with Scott and John almost 100%. Almost. If I know who did the model and I am confident they are capable of a clean and useful model, I'd discount slightly. But that has happened exactly twice in 13 years.

 

Usually, the models are, as Scott suggests, a ball of turds and useful only as sketch to model from.