I am being asked to produce an animation for a musical group for publication and/or broadcast. I have never charged for my animations before (I just did it for fun) so...how do I charge for my time? What is the average rate for full Poser animations these days? Since this is my first time and I am trying to get my name out there, do I want to charge low or take the money while I can. Please....someone with experience who does this professionally...help me!!!!

This is what I did: I asked what my clients budget was. I know that a 30 sec professional commercial animation can go for anywhere between $150,000 to $1,000,000 ... but who but a huge company can pay those rates? I say "be flexible." What I ended up charging was about $1200 for every 10 sec segment. This was for the Earth X short film for Marvel Comics/Alex Ross. Marvel didn't put up a penny. Alex paid out of his pocket. That's what he could afford. I don't believe there is an average rate. It's what you can get and what they can afford and if you want to do it or not depending upon the amount of time you put into it. Remember 720x486 is broadcast pixels when you render this out.

Well, this ought to be interesting..... I'll start it off, though others here may be closer to current market rates. The company I'm with now does not market animation services, so the rates below are those at my former co. of about two years ago. This was mid-sized video production co. in a major market with mostly corporate clients using primarily SoftImage/SGI. Because scene detail and complexity can vary so widely it is impractical to try to base rates merely on the length of the animation. We bid/charged a fixed price per project based on: -any models purchased (though we would generally not transfer mesh license rights to the client - mainly cause they never ask) -manhours for modeling, scene design, layout and animation blocking ($100-200/hr) Our estimates of manhours was the toughest and would include some uncharged hours for machine/software/designer screwups & redos. (i.e. we might estimate 30 manhours for a project if everything were to work right the first time, but would realize that it might take us 40 hrs with some uncharged screwups) -machine time for rendering ($25-50/hr) -video transfer,compositing & editing ($75-250/hr) -tape or CD duplication (local market commodity pricing) Naturally, our price ranges varied with the size of the client's pocketbook (Huge companies paid more than the local garage band) and how much we wanted to do that particular project. OK...Next opinion please.....

I like your rates. Frankly I've had a hard time too finding what rates to charge when you have a professional media product. I have seen guides and breakdowns for video production, and guides for freelance graphic artists. CGI is a niche I haven't seen. It would be nice to have one that gives the general rates as per city, state, and country.

Attached Link: http://www.gag.org/

Well, it depends entirely on complex the animation is. Blanket rates are really used anymore, and haven't been for years. The best method is to find out EXACTLY what they expect, and then estimate how long and what resources it would cost for you to create. Then add a markup to the resources and multiply what you want to get paid per hour to the amount of time you think it would take. Then add 10% contingency. Also, before you bid this, find a post house or someone with high end equipment that owes you favor and ask them exactly how they want to receive the file. Ask them if they want it drop frame or non-drop frame. Resolution (someone mentioned 720 x 486 being broadcast standard - this is not across the board correct. Broadcast standard can be 720 x 540. It depends on what machine is going to lay the animation to tape. It gets down to whether the pixels are square or rectangle. For instance the Avid Media Composer and Symphony and Express use rectangle pixels so the resolution should be 720 x 486, but other systems accept square pixels so they need 720 x 540. Wrong resolution will result in distorted images), codec, and how they want it delivered. The easier you make it on them, the less they will charge you to drop it to a high end tape format (Digital Betacam or D1 preferable, but BetaSP is OK).

I'd ball park at least 150k for 30 seconds. Ok, it they can't pay it, let them know that that is what is is worth. Then, negotiate a cash payment of what you can afford to live on, replace your equipment, etc. (should work out to at least $50/hour-its not just food and rent, but replacment of equipment./softeare/etc.). Ok, then negotiate the difference between 150k and what you get at $50/hour, and take that as residuals (a percentage of the profits of the video). This lets them get the video done on the budget they have, while letting them know that your (and by extension, the rest of use 3D animators;-) talents are worth a good deal of money. Don't bank on the residuals paying off, they usually don't. But hey, there is always a chance that it will be the next BlairWitch (hopefully with better lighting and camera moves;-).

I'd ball park at least 150k for 30 seconds. Ok, it they can't pay it, let them know that that is what is is worth. Then, negotiate a cash payment of what you can afford to live on, replace your equipment, etc. (should work out to at least $50/hour-its not just food and rent, but replacment of equipment./softeare/etc.). Ok, then negotiate the difference between 150k and what you get at $50/hour, and take that as residuals (a percentage of the profits of the video). This lets them get the video done on the budget they have, while letting them know that your (and by extension, the rest of use 3D animators;-) talents are worth a good deal of money. Don't bank on the residuals paying off, they usually don't. But hey, there is always a chance that it will be the next BlairWitch (hopefully with better lighting and camera moves;-).

150k?? Probably if it was for a video destined for MTV or M2, but he's already stated he's using Poser and that he's never done professional work before. I'm reading between the lines that it's for a regional or local band that he has connections with, although I could be guessing wrong. I'm also guessing if he quotes 150k they will do an, "oh, ok," and tell him not to call, they will call him. I work on nationally syndicated shows and spots, and the budgets for these shows, including animations sometimes can be as low as $50,000. We're doing things faster, better cheaper with animations these days (as are our competitors), so animations for broadcast and cable shows rarely hit $150k for 30 seconds, and when it does, you better believe we aren't using Poser.

Which was my point in the remainder of my statement. Where I discussed residuals. I don't think it ever hurts to remind clients that 3D animation is a difficult and expensive art.

Yeah, I guess you're right. Sometimes clients get used to seeing them, so they do forget what goes into them.