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Let's talk about commissioning animation...
15 years ago
You may of noticed, I'm currently available for fursuit commissions, which are ticking over (You can expect to see more of my suits appearing around cons as their owners début them.) However, I often get asked: If I can be commissioned to make fursuits, why cant I be comissioned to make an animation?
Its a good point – Fursuit builders are easy enough to find in the furry community, animators, not so much. So why not play to that gap in the market? Well, the problem is precisely down to that rarity. There's an existing market for fursuits, - People can look at what I offer and compare it against other builders out there.
Nobody seems to have a clear idea of how much an animation is worth, and likewise I'm not sure how much to charge. I mean, I know how long an animation takes me, and I know how much I need to charge so I don't have to buy food on credit. It would mean a price of several hundred dollars, and I just don't know if people would pay it.
Now, I could discuss endlessly the differing prices and work involved for differing styles of animation – discuss the cost of getting a computer model, the cost of having it animated, and maybe that should be addressed in another journal entry – But for now I thought I'd get peoples opinion.
What if, as an experiment, I auctioned off a commission, just to see how things go?
Its a good point – Fursuit builders are easy enough to find in the furry community, animators, not so much. So why not play to that gap in the market? Well, the problem is precisely down to that rarity. There's an existing market for fursuits, - People can look at what I offer and compare it against other builders out there.
Nobody seems to have a clear idea of how much an animation is worth, and likewise I'm not sure how much to charge. I mean, I know how long an animation takes me, and I know how much I need to charge so I don't have to buy food on credit. It would mean a price of several hundred dollars, and I just don't know if people would pay it.
Now, I could discuss endlessly the differing prices and work involved for differing styles of animation – discuss the cost of getting a computer model, the cost of having it animated, and maybe that should be addressed in another journal entry – But for now I thought I'd get peoples opinion.
What if, as an experiment, I auctioned off a commission, just to see how things go?
Another suggestion might be to create a generic model that can be tweaked slightly to fit the commissioner's wishes without having to create a new model from scratch. I think h0rs3 does this, or at least charges less money when a whole new model isn't needed.
Just my humble thoughts...
There's the complexity of the character and the complexity of what their doing. 15 seconds of kung fu is going to take way longer to plan and animate than a minute of standing around.
I reckon an auction would go through the roof, particularly if publicised well enough n..n.
And of course it's not. So I think the best way I could offer would be per-hour you spent on the commission. I'd have to know ahead of time roughly how long it takes you to do certain things, such as model the character, etc, but if you give that info out I think a per-hourly basis would be your best shot.
I certainly dont think people begrudge paying for my time, they may not be prepared for how much time it takes.
That said, animation does offer a unique level of exposure, the ferret dance has getting on for quarter of a million youtube hits...
How long did... say... Kurrel is Smart take you? Or just modelling an average character (Not animating), how long does that take?
Wow. I have simultaneously gained even more respect for you and lost any hopes of commissioning you XD
With that in mind, I'd probably say auctioning is the way to go, even though it'll stop people like myself having much of a chance. As you've said, set prices for things such as animation length would be very hard, so you might just want to try doing something like "30 second animation, original single 3D modelled character, bid starts at $50" or something, and go from there.
Maybe, my real talent is to have the patience and motivation to sit at a computer for over 200 hours making ferrets bounce up and down. =OP
Patience must be a great thing to have, you'll have to tell me about it sometime ;)
I tend to try and finish projects in one sitting, or at least finish one aspect of it (Like recording it all in one sitting, then editing it all in one, or drawing in one and colouring in one) It's a really bad way of going about it, but it's how I 'work'
Also, I may have spent 200 hours watching your Ferret Dance, so does that make up for it? :p
If you're serious and wanna chat sometime, note me and I'll give you my contact info. :)
So someone wants you to do a 10 second animation, which would be... 100 hours. Maybe you charge $8 an hour, so $800 for a 10 sec animation. This is just a ballpark thing, and if some of you are just amazed, realize: a lot of work goes into a short animation!
I'd base it off the time you need to put into it and go from there.
Though a thought had occurred to me today on simply offering a rigged character. As software is constantly changing, a rig might be in danger of being made redundant if person uses X suite. Though if the commissioner is well aware of this risk and knows the work involved may be required. This may also come in handy as an additional service, as you are no doubt farmilliar to making fursuit adjustments ;D
As far as rigged 3D models, I think there's probably a market for those. I know I'd consider buying one to use as a character in a Unity game.
Don't be afraid to charge appropriately.
If you start the bidding at a price lower than you're willing to work, and it sells for that much, then you've commissioned yourself to work at a loss.
If you start the bidding at an appropriate price, I can't imagine the bidding would go up too much from there, and there might not be any takers.
Still, it doesn't cost anything to post to FurBid, so good luck!
You might try this out.
I go for a fee up front.
$25.00
Then, an hourly rate.
$5.00 an hour
1st, hour, guaranteed.
So, $30.00, no matter what, right off the bat.
~~~
You could go $100.00, then $10.00 an hour.
You gotta figure, what is this person going to use this animation for.
If it was me hiring you, I'd have you making walking or loop sequences for characters.
I would not ask you to do any animation along the lines of concept art.
You'd have to set them down, and say, ok, this character has to be developed, from toe to ear tips, and provide me (you) with lots of ref material, and this is going to be done this way, exact, no guesswork by me (you).
~~~
Anyone who wants quality will come knocking.
But anyone who wants cheap, will have to do A LOT of work ahead of time, for you, so you can get it done in the least amount of time, so it will remain somewhere in their low price range.
~~~
So..
No matter who, tell them to give you a finished product, FIRST, then talk about the exacting details.
Then,..
I would use some payment schedule, so no matter what, you come out ahead, and you MAKE money, not LOSE money, doing random bits for whoever.
~Kiyote!
aka
A.B.O.G. Studios©