great opportunity for product design... need advice..

[EricCamper]

I had a potential client come to me with a product he wants modeled. I cant really talk bout the product, as I had to sign a NDA, but I would really like to break into the field. It may open up more potential work down the line.

He wants a 3d model of the device, then a little animation production with the device being taken apart to show the components. Perhaps a little voice over and then the device in action. It would involve the device "cleaning" a part of the body... snicker... It's PG I assure you.

We are light on work right now and I know he is gonna want this CHEAP... Like $500.00 cheap. I would have at least a week in it, but at the same time, I have nothing to do... But I hate doing something cheap and then getting MORE work and having to match the price I did before... Decisions.. Decisions..

Opinions? Comments are welcome... Just looking for a little forum talk...

OH... and a little help on the PRODUCT vray setup... Lighting. settings in general.. I usually do exteriors...

Thanx all... It's been a while... Been busy workin on my arcade which is complete... I will post some pics later.

Camper

[Neilg]

$500 for what he wants sounds ridiculously low.

Animation of it coming apart, internals, voice overs and an animation of it being used make it sound like even a couple of grand would be cheap.

edit: if you have nothing else on, you could either do the bare minimum, or work up some product design style shots of things which already exist. Fake marketing shots, text and all - not just a model and one render. Would probably be more useful for getting into the work.

[dlparisi]

We are light on work right now and I know he is gonna want this CHEAP... Like $500.00 cheap. I would have at least a week in it, but at the same time, I have nothing to do... But I hate doing something cheap and then getting MORE work and having to match the price I did before... Decisions.. Decisions..

If your intent is to demonstrate what what you can do and get your foot in the door I'd be up front with him and tell him you're doing this one at a huge discount and that future work will not be this cheap. At least he and you knows what to expect next time.

[pixelplume]

oof! $500! Don’t do it! I have been there and I currently have Sh%t for work as well and understand that it is a hard decision. If you already have the data, I would ask for an appropriate fee that values your time and expertise. If your client says no, then move ahead with producing it for your own portfolio/experience. Otherwise produce something “fake” as cubiclegangster suggested.

[simmsimaging]

If your intent is to demonstrate what what you can do and get your foot in the door I'd be up front with him and tell him you're doing this one at a huge discount and that future work will not be this cheap. At least he and you knows what to expect next time.

I agree. It's always a bit risky setting a low bar, but as long as you make it clear that you are doing so for a range of reasons, and that you won't next time I think it's fine. The risk is really minimal, since next time they will either pony up the cash or it's likely they were never going to be a good client anyway.

[EricCamper]

good replies... I am on the same wavelength then. The client has been going to China for all the Grafx, so I can not expect to even come close to the fee he is used to. I am gonna word it like this wold take me a 40 hours to complete... I will probably have more into it, as I have never done this sort of thing before. A weeks worth at my rate here would be about $3500, but I could do it for roughly $2300.00 and break even. But I dont think he would go for that... But that's his loss.

I did this before for a client...I mean ex client...

[EricCamper]

Well... I met with him again today and after my sales pitch, either I am that good of a salesman, or he had more money to begin with. I like to think a little bit of both. He accepted the offer of $2700.00. I have already modeled the device in about 3 hours, so all I have to do is get a good lighting setup and the shots setup and I should be good to go.

I could really use some help on the setup... The device is about 250mm long, so does anyone have a scene setup that they could share some settings with.. Do I render the device out in the open, or in a BOX of some sort? Thanx for any help you can offer.

[glorybound]

I remember seeing a script that will do a studio setup for you.

[jonahhawk]

In addition to lighting, reflections are pretty important.Years ago there was a guy who made a bunch of "Studio" HDRs. I don't know if this set is floating around.
http://forums.cgsociety.org/archive/.../t-207165.html

Also, this actually looks somewhat useful...

http://www.hdrlightstudio.com/overview.html

Edit: Spendy though!!!!

[Preisler]

... Do I render the device out in the open, or in a BOX of some sort?

You can do both depending on what you want to achieve. Try to imitate a real photo studio and you will be on the right track.

http://www.danscamera.com/getting-the-shot

... and here is an old tutorial from Aversis:
http://www.aversis.be/tutorials/vray...o_lighting.htm

...and another one:
http://cg-india.com/Tutorials/V-Ray/...ial_SL_01.html

Preisler

[arobbert]

If he's doing all his graphics in china and wants his design/idea to be kept confidential he may want to consider the protection available in China for intellectual property. Maybe he all ready has.

[voltron7]

Sounds cool, and it makes me think of Stilgarna's incredible watch animations.

[Neilg]

Get a book about product design/photography, it's going to be your bible if this kicks off.

And good work getting him to agree to the price

[joconnell]

I've done a fair bit of product stuff for advertising and I'd tend to look at the shape of the product first - place your lights to show off as much contouring as possible so that viewers understand the form of the object even though it's a 2d image. For example if you have a rounded bottle, having a nice edge reflection that gradually fades off towards the front of the bottle will tell the viewer that it's a rounded shape. You have to position your lights in such a way that they bring out the curvature of the object. If it's a more flat object, then often having gradient mapped cards can do a good object of illustrating a mirrored surface. My approach would generally be to light the gross shape of the object first and then gradually add small lights to place a reflection on a particular detail or curve. I'll try to dig out some recent bits to explain better!

[EricCamper]

that would be great.... I am using the cgindia link to setup my "studio". Very helpful...