How much are Computer Graphics freelancers getting paid for one image?
linvanchene
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Usually, as I do most of my work from home, I'll quote a fixed price for Illustrations.
I have a good idea how long stuff will take and can easily work out an estimate of time (sometimes it is constrained by set and tight deadlines). If I'm working in-house at an ad agency or clients office, I can more simply charge the hourly rate.
I charge between £25 and £50 per hour for design work so If an illustration is going to take me 8 hours, I'll quote for 10 hours x which ever hourly rate I'm charging that client, sometimes a job will take more time than expected and sometimes less it all works out about right overall, but experience will help to judge quite accurately how long stuff will take to do. I don't usually charge rendering time unless the render actually stops me from doing other work (in which case I charge the hourly rate for the work I can't do), but mostly I organise work so that it's rendering when I'm sleeping.
If I need to buy any content in order to do a particular job, I tell the client in advance and add that cost to the bill.
Which is nice because of course I get to keep the models for use in other works.
Long, long time ago when I used to freelance I would split up the cost of software over a few projects. So if I needed to buy a plugin or something, I wouldn't usually make the first client pay for all of it. If it's a 20 dollar plugin then sure the client can afford that much :)
From my experience with artists my companies have used artist rates can vary dramatically and we usually don't hire them for a single image. We typically need a few days or few weeks worth of work, and they get paid for the whole project. $50-$100 an hour is typical, but these are freelancers that work through agencies and the agency gets about half of that.
It's been safer for us to work with freelancers that work through agencies, so the extra $ tends to be worth it. We have had a lot of issues with artist Joe Blow off the street.
I work in-house and it's been years since we did any outsourcing but when we did, the freelancer was offered a flat rate, timeline and parameters. End of debate. The freelancer could accept the job or decline.
If you are doing work for a full service agency, then why not use their rate scale?
Many of the above questions are hard to answer as they often involve what the client will and will not pay for.
None of our clients will pay for software. If you require them to pay for the software then the software is registered to them and you have to remove it from your system and hand it over to the client. If you already own the software you cant really charge them for it. If you intend to purchase the software for present and future use, you must absorb the cost.
I don't know if we charge for render time or for use of the farm queue. Accounting handles all that.
One question, when you get done with image, who will hold the copyright? You, the agency you are creating it for or the client?
When we commission artwork we own the copyright, but of course the artist can put it in their portfolio. It's kinda against the law for us to say they can't take credit for creating the piece. But not sure how other folks handle that.
Have to agree that these are difficult questions to answer with any certainty since it can be a case by case basis. The reputation of the freelancer can be a factor, as well as the size of the agency and what they are willing to pay for. Freelancers within agencies are considered safer to hire, but also charge much higher since the agency takes a cut (sometimes even higher than the freelancers themselves). On the other hand, freelancers without agency backing can be more enthusiastic when working on a project, but there are some who are unreliable and procrastinate, thus clients are more wary when going with such.
I can say I've experienced both the middle to low end hourly rates (and I don't have an agency behind me), and I have asked clients to shell out for plugins and software I felt needed for the project. Personally, I consider it as part of the costs. I ask up front if they are willing to, but if they say they're keeping it, I decline as a matter of principle and there are plenty of freelancers willing to take up that job instead.
Bottomline is it will vary greatly depending on negotiations and other factors, so there is no hard and fast rule or real standard. Just one thing to remember as a freelancer is that don't charge for more than what the effort will be for the work, but don't sell yourself short either. I realize that's more abstract than anything concrete, but that's the life of a freelancer :coolsmile:
If I charged $50-$100 an hour, I could do two commissions and retire. You've got to be a pretty quick worker to justify those rates, which, as my dA watchers know, I am not. ;)
Well when you are talking art used for commercial purposes, it makes more sense. And yes, they have to work fast ... but those rates are for seasoned folks that don't play around.
For personal requests and commissions those rates would be really high. And thats why I don't do commissions! People think you can make great stuff for $10, and they don't realize the amount of effort it requires to put together the piece they want.
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Well when you are talking art used for commercial purposes, it makes more sense. And yes, they have to work fast ... but those rates are for seasoned folks that don't play around.
For personal requests and commissions those rates would be really high. And thats why I don't do commissions! People think you can make great stuff for $10, and they don't realize the amount of effort it requires to put together the piece they want.
I can so empathise with you there, and this is not only in this sort of work. I gave up trying to persuade people that I could not make them an individually designed, original, one off dress for the price they wanted to pay. I might add these were the same "friends" who had encouraged me to give up work and concentrate on making the dresses for our reenactment society and any others who wanted them.
Hi everybody,
I realise this is an old thread that I've dug up, but it's relevant to a topic I'm attempting to understand now, regarding the right of freelance artists to be paid for their work. "Exposure" or "future royalties" are two models that seem quite common in my field (I work in comics), and I was wondering whether they are prevalent in other avenues of art.
I have recently published a blog post analysing this issue, along with a survey. http://shanewsmith.com/2013/12/working-for-exposure/
I would greatly appreciate any feedback, either here or there, on how freelance artists could be paid on smaller-scale independent projects.
Thanks for your time.