CompuServe Messages

This is a pretty difficult question to answer, particularly since you're in the European market, and I think it's different than here in the US. Here animation services seem to be lumped into the "high end" and "low end" categories, with plenty of room in between being charted by desktop folks. There _are_ 3DS'ers pushing the high-end market, although the top of the line stuff (film res cine/fx) seems to be the domain of SGI, still. High end averages at $1000 per finished second, but there's plenty of leeway there. I've seen network stuff being done from anywhere from $300 to $5000 per second, and I'm sure it goes further in each direction. I usually try and figure out how much work the proposed animation will be. I ask for either a storyboard from the client or a $$$ deposit to create a client approved storyboard from which to make my estimate. That way I don't cheat myself or my client since we both know from the outset what is involved and approximately what the animation will be. John Tissavary (LUNA cie, inc)