What is the general consensus on commissioned 3D art price..?
Upirium
Posts: 711
I am trying to do commissions for people but I can't figure out how to price things.
I had it set at base price for $40 and $5 per extra char, $10 per difficulty with the commission (like if there's a lot of detail and I know it's going to be trouble)
But I have people telling me I need to charge more.
So what should the price be?
I thought maybe the 3D art world might be more knowledgable on the amount.
Here's an example on my skill level.
I am not the best but I am okay.
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Comments
Like most art, the price is what you can get. I personally dislike fixxed prices, as what's really important in the long run is end-usuage and copyright. $40 for a simple image that's only for private use may not sound bad, but if that same image is used on a book cover and then re-used for merchandizing, etc., then you've sold yourself way short.
I'm not selling for books or anything
I'm basically selling to people on Tumblr who just want private art of their OCs or AUs or something.
If that's what your contract says, then if you want to charge that much for your time, that's up to you. Just make sure that the people you're selling to actually understand the terms of the contract. I have a friend who's a very well known manga creator who did a illustration for a well known musician a few years ago and the artist ultimately ended up having to sue when he discovered that the musician was selling prints of the work... and if anyone should understand the concept of intellectual property, it should be someone in the music business.
In my estimation, most people aren't willing to pay for the real time and effort of making art. So you pretty much hope for the best for what you can get out of people. :/
Art value is highly subjective. And few non-artists can understand how much time and effort can go into making (what looks to them to be) even a simple piece.
Ask an advertiser 'how much?' for a poster design....
Ask a graphic designer 'how much?' for a poster design....
Ask an artist 'how much?' for a poster design....
You'll get three VERY different answers. The two basic questions each has to answer is "how much of my time will this take?" and "how much is my time on this worth?"
Never sell below Minimum Wage. If it takes you 8 hours to make something, you should earn at least $50 for it. More if it includes sales rights.
Have you been published anywhere? If so, price goes up accordingly. Is the client a personal friend you owe a favor to, or is trading you for it? Price adjusts accordingly.
If you look on DA there are a number of other artists that do commissions that do publish their price list, so that can give you an idea of what others are asking for (although they may not get that). I have never asked for a commission, but I have glanced at the price lists out of interest, and from I recall the prices you have mentioned do not sound that much different to what others are expecting.
As hphoenix states, this is highly dependent on the particular work. For example, I do scientific illustrations for books and online materials using various 3D apps as a side job (including DS on occasion, even though most of what I do with DS is just for hobby purposes). I charge by the hour (the time I need to to complete the project, estimated in an advance quote). depending on the type of project I charge $40 to $80 per hour. On top of that the client has to pay for any materials/assets that I have to buy (not for stuff that's already in my library). On average that results in a total of $200 to $400 per illustration. So it obviously depends on the market you work in, but I wouldn't take any commision for less. If it is a new client, half of the quoted price is due up front. For established clients I bill after completion.
Edit to add: These prices of course include a transfer of copyright to the client.
Ciao
TD
Most of the time Art is based on the hour. What kind of stuff are trying to do? Depending on what you are doing is a big part of what you should charge.
I agree with Havos that your prices seem in line with the market at deviantArt. I'm assuming that your market at Tumblr is similar in that it is made up of "fan-based" individuals who are not going to pay the sort of price you might command for corporate work. I was just looking at the prices for a very talented digital artist (painting, not 3D) that I follow and her prices were quite similar. I'm not sure on what the people you mentioned are basing their opinions about your prices—to be fair they may have unrealistic views about the market. I think it's a very tough market to make money in, unless, possibly, you are catering to specialized fetishes, which I'm guessing you are not.
Listen to Mr Timmons. You know people can buy remarkably good caricatures of the people they know and themselves for something like $35 per person.
Picasso, Andy Warhol, and such people are not the norm, but if you are running around in high society cliques then ask for tens of thousands and more. On the internet with complete strangers I'm surprised anyone would give much of any money for something so generic. If you are producing art for indie comic book producers and these fandoms that write continuing episodes of shows like Star Trek then and enjoy it, take what you can get and maybe you will develop a fan base. That's about the best you can hope for, outside of gainful employment as an artist for a regular salary.
You could try auctioning your work on eBay and see it it fetches any interest.
I'm not an expert though, I am a computer programmer that 'used' to be good at art in primary & secondary school.
I'm gotten about $100 for about four hours of work IIRC. That was this (SFW, but account contains NSFW images):
http://xyshurondor.deviantart.com/art/Bad-Advice-Before-Commission-for-Distortion2-483883357
Those are 3Delight renders. I was able to reuse the setup because it was a sequence, so doing that many images did not take super long. I was able to charge this because 1. I was offering a higher quality than the people who had given him estimate before (and yes, the examples he showed me were pretty terrible, I know my own image quality is meh there), and 2. he wanted something really specific (a sequence, a closeup on her kissing the dart, and this specific type of building suspense).
It's rare that I accept image commissions because a lot of people want things I won't do, or don't want to pay my $25 to $50 an hour depending on difficulty. If you are offering better than the lowest common denominator, and can do special effects, nonhumans, etc., you will command higher prices.