#Animation Cost
10 messages in this thread
I need to get some idea of what is a reasonable amount to pay for an animation.
I'm looking at needing about 3 to 3.5 minutes of finished product. The subject
is an air crash and requires precision placement and modeling of two aircraft,
live video footage of the background, accurate scaling and modeling of all
aircraft lighting, cockpit view overlay and voice and text caption overlays.
The output medium would probably be S Video. What can i expect to pay for a job
like this. Obviously Industrial Light and Magic will charge more than your
average computer animator, but I only need precision, not special effects! Are
project bids the norm, or is it based on seconds of finished animation as I've
read elsewhere? Any figures or comments would be appreciated, as I need to get
a handle on this, in terms of at least a ball park estimate so I can purchase
wisely!
Thanks much.
Craig:
>> I need to get some idea of what is a reasonable amount to
>> pay for an animation.
Aren't we all! <bg> It depends on the amount of time spent by the animation
house more than the finished seconds of animation provided. We've done
animations of 10 seconds that here more difficult than 3 minutes of another!
Greg Pyros Pyros Pictures
Craig,
I'd get a few bids from a variety of professionals. Then determine from there.
You certainly would get a bill in the thousands. 3 minutes is a long time, and
accuracy will raise the cost to higher than an average "artistic" looking
animation. That's all I can say. 🙂
JNJ
Craig,
>>I'm looking at needing about 3 to 3.5 minutes of finished product.<<
This is certainly a long animation when it comes to forensics. Is this a total
time of the different views or just one of the views that you need?
>> … and modeling of two aircraft,<<
If you could tell us what kind of aircraft is involved, then we could tell if
it will need to be modeled or can we purchase one that has already been built.
There are a few companies that specialize in model creation that might have
what you are looking for. If they do, then your costs will drop significantly.
If you need the cockpit view, then probably no one will have that, it would
have to be built. There is another approach you could use for the cockpit view
that would be cheaper than building a 3D model, but it would have some
limitations that might not be acceptable to you.
>>live video footage of the background<<
Is there going to be anything from the background such as a cloud that will
pass between the camera view and one of the aircraft? This would definitely
complicate things.
>>Are project bids the norm, or is it based on seconds of finished animation as
I've read elsewhere?<<
I find that things change so much after everyone involved gets a chance to see
the first draft, that it would be almost impossible to bid such a project.
That's why I charge by the hour.
>>Any figures or comments would be appreciated, as I need to get a handle on
this, in terms of at least a ball park estimate so I can purchase wisely!<<
I'm not sure that my numbers will even be in the ball park without more
details, but I would not be surprised to see this project go ___over___
$15,000-20,000.
I maintain a list of forensic animators in the "Index & Info" library thats
called "Forlst.txt". It contains such info as, areas worked in, additional
qualifications and contact info, you might want to download it and take a look
at it.
Feel free to ask more questions…..good luck.
Regards…………Rick – Technical Animations
Rick,
Appreciate your answers to my questions. On the cockpit view thing, would this
have to be "modelled", or could I get some calibrated pictures of the cockpit
from the inside and give this to an animator to work with? What would that
entail, in terms of time (read:MONEY) and level of expertise for the animator
to use pictures for a cockpit overlay, and what would he/she need from me in
terms of pictures, measurements etc. If this would work, then I need to find
out how to go about getting the materials that the animator would need,
hopefully without needing to hire another person to do it for me!! Any clues?
Thanks
Craig Fries
Craig,
>>On the cockpit view thing, would this have to be "modelled", or could I get
some calibrated pictures of the cockpit from the inside and give this to an
animator to work with?<<
If the camera is inside the cockpit and needs to pan, then you would most
likely need a 3D model. With a still picture you can only look in that ONE
direction. It ___may___ be possible to use a video camera moving and panning
appropiately, but this would involve alot of manual work by the animator. I
want to stress that using a video camera if it is panning is only a
possibility.
Remember that what the camera will see is NOT what the pilot would see. A human
has a much wider field of view that a camera with a normal lens.
>>What would that entail, in terms of time (read:MONEY)<<
Really I couldn't say other than I think it could be a major cost of the
animation. If you have 3 minutes then it would be twice the cost of 1.5
minutes, another words its twice as many frames that someone would have to
manual create opacity maps for. This assumes that the other aircraft is a
computer model, its visable and something from the cockpit is in front of the
computer model aircraft…etc…etc. Lots of different possibilities that
could totally change the whole picture.
>>If this would work, then I need to find out how to go about getting the
materials that the animator would need, hopefully without needing to hire
another person to do it for me!!<<
I would talk with the animator thats going to use what ever it is that you come
up with. He/She will have their own views on what they need. They might even
need to be there, sometimes you just can't tell someone everything without
being there and seeing it for yourself. If you are the attorney, then would you
want to be the one taking the pictures or video.
Are you the attorney or expert, whats your connection?
Regards…………..Rick – Technical Animations
Rick, Craig again. The 3 to 3.5 minutes would be for just one view! The video
background would not have anything moving between the camera and camera target,
its just to capture the visual context of the incident. The planes are
commercial airliners, and I just sent you another message asking about cockpit
view methods. Other people have also said bidding on these jobs is
difficult,and I can relate as I do a fair amount of programming work, and I
know that I try my hardest to not have to give a bid, as you never can account
for all the possible time delays in projects of this complexity and precision.
Having said that, what then is the difference between $10,000 and $20,000 bids
on a project like mine. What hourly rates are these generally computed on?
Thanks much for your time and help
Craig Fries
Craig,
>>The video background would not have anything moving between the camera and
camera target, its just to capture the visual context of the incident.<<
Then why do you need a 3 minute animation, I'm not sure what you are after now.
Please explain what the animation will show and what you anticipate being a
computer model.
>>Having said that, what then is the difference between $10,000 and $20,000
bids on a project like mine.<<
The difference is not because I would put more of something in the $20,000
animation, but because I just can't tell how long it will take to complete. But
like I said above, I'm not sure what you are after now so the numbers may not
apply.
>>What hourly rates are these generally computed on?<<
It could range from $50/hr to $200/hr. If you are asking about my rates, then
we need to talk over the telephone. If you just want to ask some questions that
would be fine to, let me know I will send my number private email or you can
download the forensic list from the library.
Regards……….Rick – Technical Animations
Rick, guess I was a little unclear there. What I meant was that there wouldnt
be anything moving between the camera taking the video of the background and
the background itself – this is only for the video of the background. The
animation will of course have the other plane being viewed from the cockpit of
the subject plane, with the video of the background lighting, in the
background, behind boh the subject and target planes.
My connection in this case is as a visibility expert witness. The issue I will
tackle is whether or not the figure/ground combination of the target aircraft
against the brightly lit L.A. night skyline will give enough contrast to see
the target airplane from the cockpit of the subject airplane.
Craig,
It sounds like you would NOT be able to use a still photo then. You need moving
video to show the ground that was covered during the sequence.
Could you do this with a stationary camera looking in the right direction, this
would greatly simplify the animation and reduce the cost considerably? Again
this may or may not be possible with a panning camera.
Can you do the video from inside an examplar plane? If so then you will only
need one computer model, viewable from the outside only(no cockpit view). Since
you need a commercial plane, it's a good chance that one has already been
built, if so then the cost would be about $300-$500 for the computer model.
If what I just described in the above paragraph with a stationary comera is
possible and the two planes don't go thru some wild gyrations, then the cost
could be considerably less. I'm still not confident that I know for sure what
is involved, thats why I hesitate to give more numbers, just some generic terms
like "less"<BG>.
I worked on a night time accident where a big truck was parked on the
right-of-way on a highway and a car runs into the back of the truck. Part of
the case was that the truck lights were mixed with the city lights on the
horizon. Your case sounds some what similiar.
Regards…………..Rick – Technical Animations