Anyone have capacity for 3d modelling work?

[tricky]

We are waiting a decision on a couple of jobs - if they happen, we will likely outsource the 3D modelling side of things. If anyone is interested, PM me. It will be architectural modelling. Will need to be Max 2009 compatable (and if you can create the model as a solid model in AutoCAD (2009), even better!)

Once I know more, I will let you know.

[pailhead]

Are you replying to everyone now?

[tricky]

I've tried to reply to everyone who has contacted me. Some may have slipped through - apologies. I hate this messageboard email/message system. We are still waiting on the projects decisions at the moment.

I'm afraid the job was a non-starter. 3 bids went in and ours was the highest. The cheapest was 1/3 our cost, and the middle was 1/2 our cost. The archvis industry needs to learn to value what it does a lot more.

[Morne]

I've done a couple of "sales" courses and read tons of books. The "experts" all say cost isnt a factor and if you are good, then cost doesnt matter and is last on the list. I'm starting to think those people talk crap for a living

[chrisjacks21]

I've tried to reply to everyone who has contacted me. Some may have slipped through - apologies. I hate this messageboard email/message system. We are still waiting on the projects decisions at the moment.

I'm afraid the job was a non-starter. 3 bids went in and ours was the highest. The cheapest was 1/3 our cost, and the middle was 1/2 our cost. The archvis industry needs to learn to value what it does a lot more.

'here here' better luck next time

[dlparisi]

I've tried to reply to everyone who has contacted me. Some may have slipped through - apologies. I hate this messageboard email/message system. We are still waiting on the projects decisions at the moment.

I'm afraid the job was a non-starter. 3 bids went in and ours was the highest. The cheapest was 1/3 our cost, and the middle was 1/2 our cost. The archvis industry needs to learn to value what it does a lot more.

Any idea if the competitors were local (to the UK at least)?

[tricky]

Any idea if the competitors were local (to the UK at least)?

Can't be certain, but reasonably sure. It happens quite regularly these days though. Some people are just plain stupid with the fees they quote. We ain't cad-monkeys. Charging such low fees undermines the entire industry.

[flino2004]

studios have overhead, rent, equipment, etc...and probably they are charging freelancer fee, working in their homes with illegal copies of everything!!

[rivoli]

We ain't cad-monkeys.

nope, just 3d monkeys..

[tricky]

nope, just 3d monkeys..

Abso-bloody-lutely!

[pailhead]

I think it also helps to have some sort of a guideline/standard as to how the rates go. On a Serbian forum, we had a guy a few years back who worked for… you wont believe it, the secret police. I’m not sure if he was a genuine agent, or some sort of an IT guy but he had access to a lot of computers there. He used something, I think it was called Iron CAD to model, and it was either cheap or free. Then he rendered stuff in max, using final render. This was most likely warez because he has it on a dozen machines.

He used to do pretty decent renderings back in the day when people had trouble setting up basic GI. Not a lot of postwork so it was pretty much arranging everything in 3d and then click ‘n render 20 images. He used to charge something like 20 euros per image or something ridiculous. When he mentioned that, the whole board went crazy and told him to charge more.

I’ve done work myself where I belive that it was expected to take much more time than it actually did. In the end it could seem that I’ve done a model dirt cheap, but it would also be wrong imho to earn 200 bucks an hour modeling. It could simply be that someone devised a way to actually do things more efficiently and at a better rate. But then again there are so many illegal factors to consider, that I doubt that’s the case.

[tricky]

Much of the pricing debate comes down to the fact that one company does not produce the exact same finished product as the next company. Our clients (or potential clients) rarely see past the price, so don't make a detailed comparison of Company A's work and Company B's work. They see sample images from Company A and Company B at a small size on their websites perhaps, and they look adequate. Our clients (or potential clients) are therefore, in a sense, comparing apples and oranges.

The second big factor comes from the methods and workflow of Company A and Company B. Company A may go along an 80% click render, 20% post production. Company B might go for 20% render and 80% post production. Additionally, Company B might allow lots of feedback and changes in their image production process within their price, whereas Company A may only allow very minimal change before extra charges apply to the client. Company A might also use the supplied Sketchup model, whereas Company B might see that model as only a massing model without enough detail to achieve the high quality results that they are pricing for, and therefore the building would be re-modelled from scratch.

I'm not sure if the 'dodgy software' is actually a strong enough reason by itself for one company charging a tiny fraction of another. We only use legit software, but we aren't buying new software on a regular basis which has a major impact on the cost of running our company.

The fact is you can run an archvis company very cheaply from one room in your house on a computer that cost £1000 to build. To charge the higher prices we want necessitates coming up with a compelling reason to make our clients see more than just the dollar sign! A proven track record, a high quality of service, testimonials, professionalism, methodology, a statement of what is included (number of drafts etc before extra fees are charged)...

[lukx]

I wanted to apply but you require max09 ... the lowest you can save in new max2012 is 010.

[flino2004]

Lukx has a going point too, I haven't seen many people or companies working with very old version of Max....I have subscription so I always have the latest but now I don't have time to update all my system, even Vray(i'm still in 1.5 and I already paid for 2)
but this factor can turn down some artists like Lukx.

Fernando

[flino2004]

Every company uses different workflow, I use sketchup a lot and I have very detailed models, I expend a lot money in libraries, plugins, etc per year to reduce my time in post. in post pretty much what I do is color correction, DOF, AO pass for more detail and few people for closeups...... one of the main reasons is the clients ask for several extra views of the same area, so I don't want to put 2d stuffs everywhere in photoshop per view