Price charged for Rendering Time.

[Lebrun]

Hello everybody,

 

I need somme advices here. Its' been 9 months that I work as a freelancer and there is a point that I'm not comfortable with in each price quotation that I've done : How much do you charge for rendering time.

 

It is like 50%/75% of your hourly rate for each hour of rendering? Or just a fix price for each render you do (considering time).

 

Honestly I miss that point and think that I'm undercharge this step in my work, but maybe not too.

 

Thanks a lot in advance for your advices.

 

Cheers,

 

Pascal

[Matt McDonald]

We don't charge for render time but we make sure the client knows that it exists and it must be accounted for in the schedule. I'm not a freelancer though so you might get some different opinions.

[Lebrun]

Thanks for your comment Matt,

 

it's sure that it cost something for me to render good quality work, that I think I have to consider this cost. Right now it count maybe for 5 % of my total price for a project. I dont know if it's fair that way.

[Matt McDonald]

are you rendering on your workstation? I don't charge for rendering mostly because the rendering is happening on our farm and I am able to continue working. If the process of rendering prevented me from doing other work I might think about charging for it.

[notamondayfan]

I agree with Matt, I wouldn't put a cost down for rendering as it's something that can be done in the background. Animations are different though, especially if you are rendering on a remote farm.

 

If you find you are waiting for renders instead of doing tasks, then you need to look at your work-flow and hardware.

 

Dean

[harryhirsch]

""I wouldn't put a cost down for rendering as it's something that can be done in the background.""

Can be done...but if he can not do it in the background he could charge his client for that. Yes, you need better hardware and then you can..or overnight. But the reality is that most startups and freelancers do not have high end tech and work overnight to meet teh deadline, so if they render they have a slow computer. You use your hardware, software and electricity for it, and you payed for that right? In all other businesses peopel charge the client for every step that has to be done, we do this for a living. If we can do it at the same time, that is just our workflow. if you want to be extra fair you can put the render hours on your bill and put "'free" in it instead of a number, so your client feels good that he gets something for free and he also knows that your production time is reasonable.

[Lebrun]

Thanks for your input Harry. I'm exactly in the situation that you described in your post. I have to absorb all cost, just buying 3ds Max, Photoshop and V-Ray in the last 10 months was qui something for me (for example). Honestly this question about render time charge is related to my present contract: my client need 29 (!) renders , 2400x2400. The first two renders (already done) present a two bedroom set in a childroom context and in a teenager context. The 27 other renders is individual presentation of each furniture of the two set. So basically its a render job (I have to do a little bit of composition but I re-use almost everything of the 2 first renders). So even if I recently buy a render node it take some time to manage 27 renders, personally and with the client.

 

Thanks again for all your answers, it's really appreciate.

[notamondayfan]

OK in situations like that, it may be the case where you charge extra for rendering. 29 images in a short space of time usually commands a premium any way, whether you actually add it to the price as a seperate item, or just charge a % more to the total bill is up to you.

 

I would still consider a render-node or two though, as it's fine sending your final renders to a farm, but you're going to have a bottle neck with drafts and amends.

 

Dean

[RyderSK]

We don't charge for render time but we make sure the client knows that it exists and it must be accounted for in the schedule.

 

This is exactly what I do. I don't charge them for technical stuff they don't understand or don't care, everything is already in the sum of money I charged per each visual, which should be high enough to cover everything else.

It's simply our responsibility to own enough HW power (or lease it through render farm) to be able to render out all that comes in. But that should be no problem if you price properly, because HW is relatively cheap investment.

Well the point is, it shouldn't be a separate fee on your invoice, it should be accounted for upfront.

[Lebrun]

Thanks Jaraj, always relevant comment. Maybe I express my self wrongly...my english still need improvement but I dont charge separatly render fee on my invoice, it was more about considerate it in my global price per image.

[RyderSK]

Thanks Jaraj, always relevant comment. Maybe I express my self wrongly...my english still need improvement but I dont charge separatly render fee on my invoice, it was more about considerate it in my global price per image.

 

Ah I see, well than you don't need to come up with any elaborate formula just charge as high as you are able to get away with to make yourself comfortable with the profit margin :- ).

I think the reason I understood it as separate fee (and I think most did too) is that there are people who do it this way, and actually divide the total invoice into quite many sub-items (even to a point of modeling/rendering/etc...) thinking this might look transparent to clients and create some further trust but I believe it cause great confusement and force the clients into unnecessary "optimisations" in the budget.

[Lebrun]

Totally agree with you on that.

[CliveG]

...actually divide the total invoice into quite many sub-items (even to a point of modeling/rendering/etc...) thinking this might look transparent to clients and create some further trust but I believe it can cause great confusion and force the clients into unnecessary "optimisations" in the budget.

 

Absolutely..... if you give them a shopping list, they'll just start shopping.

 

"I'll have more of this and less of that..."

 

Less (information on invoice) is more (easy life for you).

 

As a basic principle in answer to your original question, for me - any time I'm working on their project that prevents me working on somebody else's project, I charge them. So even if I'm in the car, music pumping, driving to a meeting, it's still time I could otherwise be working on somebody else's project and so they pay for that time (and my fuel).

 

If they want 24 renders, well I'd probably farm that and on charge. But the basic idea is not whether you're working on modelling or materials or lighting or anything constructive for them, it's whether what you are doing is time that could be spent working for (and charging) another client.

 

Clients have an uncanny way of working out what you give away cheap.... and then using more of it!