CompuServe Messages

Myself and my associate try to stick to a $50 per hour charge for 3DS work. This is the least we feel our time is worth. Most clients want a total project cost and could really care less about the hours you spend doing it. If they knew what was involved, they wouldn't ask for an animation by tomorrow. We recently bid on a 1.5 minute presentation animation for $6,000. It involved an incredible amount of modelling though. Our competitor did the same job on an Amiga for $10,000, but they squeaked it out in 4 days. We wanted 2 weeks to complete it, which is why we didn't get the job. We also did a series of 4 stills that we charged $500 per file. It really depends on the market and client, we have found no "hard" pricing structure. Hardcopies and tapes are always extra, we do not mark up these costs either. If we actually logged the hours spent on a project, not including render times, the hourly rate would probably be less than minimum wage 🙂 Most of my time on 3DS is for selling my own design work and not serving outside clients. These prices may not be realistic for a full time professional 3D'er. Well theres my 2 cents, hope it helps. Mike