Who is destroying this industry?

[ericgu]

Hi everybody, I am new here. But I have been viewing your any discussion for long.

Recently I notice something depressing. We are a startup visualization studio. We have some clients in the beginning, who are architecture firms. They have clear need for how their image should look like. And pay good.

We also joined some freelancer website, to openly bid for any project, with people all over the world. (I am sure you guys know what kind of websites I am talking about).

I don't really wanna rely my business on that part, just for more opportunities. Actually sometimes you would find some good clients there, long-term relationship, more projects than normal architecture firms.

However, the problem I recently noticed is, some people or studios in these websites, they have ridiculous quote. For example the same job, we have to at least quote for $800, they give the number as $75. And I have to admit that their work is not as poor as $75, they do work not bad!

Of course you will think they are not competitive at all and you have your own stable clients, it will not hurt you.

But actually it will, it will destroy the whole industry. This is a global economy age, I just think there should be some organization like AIA in arhitecture to protect the visualization artists.

[RyderSK]

We also joined some freelancer website, to openly bid for any project, with people all over the world. (I am sure you guys know what kind of websites I am talking about).

 

This was big mistake. For good mental health, I would never advise anyone to even look up such websites. Occasionally I visit it with my brother/programmer and we a have a good laugh ( through tears..) at people bidding 75 dollars to queries like "I need a service like VIMEO, but different design" (Honestly, I haven't changed neither the sum, nor subject, look it up). If you think you have it bad there, look up those 2 bilion of graphic designers.

 

Secondly, no one is destroying anyone's business ( underbidding is completely within law for most part ) and there is no need for any sort of organization at all. And visualization is not even industry.

What would even such grotesque organization do ? Everyone around world would sign in, pay yearly fees and enjoy nice agreed minimum wage from Canada to China ? The rest would magically get ignored by clients and could no longer underbid ? American government would penalize anyone who would get visualization service from companies outside ? It's not so easy as with plumbing.

 

You make it sound like global market and under-bidding is new Apocalypse, and honestly, I read hundreds of topics like this every year (cgsociety is great expert on this, it must be the very most popular topic right after "help me get into industry" ) and it's not like those things are new phenomena, they're age old as humanity itself since inventing some form of exchange.

 

There is nothing depressing about current situation anywhere. What you want to read (and motivate yourself !) is that good clients should be chasing you, then you can charge whatever you wish, but as long as you're the one who needs clients, what do you expect ?

 

No organization will ever help you with exclusivity/quality of your own work.

[ericgu]

Thanks Juraj, I think most of your points are quite brilliant. I agree it is no longer worth to stay in these websites. But still, looking for new clients and business is always needed. We are a commercial visualization studio. Pricing really affects a lot.

[Scott Schroeder]

There is something like the AIA, it is the ASAI (American Society of Architectural Illustrators). You can expect them to protect you as much as the AIA protects it's members, which is little to none. Though, the ASAI do produce a booklet of people looking for work that members of that and the AIA get, but it may or may not lead to actual call backs. I'm only a member of the ASAI because my current company pays my member fee.

 

Is this industry being destroyed? No, and all Juraj's points are valid and I agree with all of them except the idea that visualization is not an industry. With the amount of work being produced each year, it absolutely is an industry albeit a disorganized one. However, we do need to pay absolute attention the our sister industry's in the VFX and games and the plight some of the major well known studios are facing due to massive underbidding. When you win an academy award for your VFX work and you are pulling the shutters down for good on your studio, that's not exactly a healthy industry.

 

If anyone is "destroying" the industry, it is ourselves. It's the giant pool of amateurs running around working for pennies on the dollar and no sort of contract in place that is making it hard for the professionals to find work. It's the people who will say "Yes" to the crooked people looking for a rendering and willing to pay 3 bucks for it, if they even pay you. It's the people that say, "Oh, it's okay I didn't get paid. It's just business." At least in America, the housing boom created a place where scumbag people formed companies looking to make it rich, and that created a lot of slime that is finally being filter out post-boom. It was strikingly similar to the dot com boom/bust and any other boom/bust we've had.

 

I will say this, I think we are at a point where a lot of the places that need visualization work are finally seeing that the higher end work really does make an impact. A lot of the expected quality is determined in where you are at in the visualization process. When you are doing SD or DD, the need for quality isn't that great as things are still changing rapidly. When you are a part of the press release, fancy wow images then the need for quality tends to skyrocket. It's like in Caddyshack and the when the great Judge Smails says, "Well, the world needs ditch diggers too." Meaning, not everyone is going to need the hyper real work. We can only have so many Peter Guthrie and Bertrand Benoit clones out there. There will always be the need for the low end stuff. It's just up to you to decide what you want to do.

 

[RyderSK]

We can only have so many Peter Guthrie and Bertrand Benoit clones out there. There will always be the need for the low end stuff

 

Heh, this is quite nicely put :- ) Peter is great bussnissman as well, he's not doing so well just because he outputs high-end work, he has much broader skillset. High-quality isn't so tied to great money, it can be low-quality too, but it's true it mostly concerns en-masse productions and not design development.

 

When I say visualization isn't industry my point is the scope has outgrown its original group. There are thousands of companies with such a different scope, not just in matter itself (providing imagery and pictures), but some provide designs, some whole marketing campaigns (companies that transformed themselves into smaller or bigger marketing agencies,etc.) it can hardly be enveloped into single body such as architecture. Visualization can in my opinion currently refer to quite different professions and business bodies currently.

 

I am aware of quite uneasy situation in entertainment sector of CGI, but they have much less options. I somehow don't feel so affected by it, VFX/Games is something while I incredibly admire (a ton...I am at Polycount daily) I have hard times finding similarities in our business options. We have such a broad options of clients available now (one week we in-source on SOM's towers, then we go back to our interiors, but offers range from automobile sectors, kitchen companies, furniture companies, photographers, medical,... vast range of opportunies) that I hesitate to describe my work as "architectural" visualization anymore.

 

Every market becomes eventually saturated with amateurs when possible entry is low level ( look at graphic design and photography, which are both often describe as horror stories, but there are still so many recogniseable professional anyway ), which is what currently happens. Hardware is cheap, Software is "at touch of hands", Resources are everywhere. Yet, all these people create awareness of growing market and push for bigger quality. Quality or luxury is something that doesn't get lost and will always, be in demand.

 

While I haven't experienced the previous "safe haven" of visualization in past 10 years, I am aware current situation is harder. But that is nothing to cry about, it won't come back anyway. Simply doing work is no longer enough, and much more thought has to be put into what kind of work to do, how to present and market your business and lastly, maybe think of the possible niche segments that are finally viable today, or create your own.

 

I really can't stress enough to anyone to keep calm that things aren't bad at all, there are still great opportunities, but it requires some ingenuity. Instead of 100perc. around the clock working, put some time and care into thinking, how to move forward with your work in different ways, analyze your options of potentional clients (not just your current clients).