[leoA4D]

This is an unlikely location for this extremely important discussion. Congratulations. More.

[Peter Shupe]

Have to agree with bubbaloo. You get what you pay for, generally.

Having said that I have done renders for very little money to "break" into a client but they always expect the same price and seem to demand more and more all the time. You're better off just to say no thanks, unless you are really keen on just making it a learning experience. If you are good at what you do, the money will come. In my experience anyway.

As far as the images posted, value is difficult. A project that size probably would pay for those type of renders. But I would put a value of at least $1000 for those images.

I do mostly exteriors for large institutional projects that are tied a lot to design development. If I added up my time for some of the renders I have done it would be in the range of $20K - $40 k for some of our larger projects that are between $40M - $50M projects.

The extra renders or sidework, that I used to do, would range from about $1000 - $4000 range for exterior renders, extra views would be very little more as the model is fairly complete and textures are there. Interiors about the same, again multiple views become cheaper as the modeling time is less and materials are worked out.

I am quoting in US$ but live in Canada. The Can$ is pretty close at the moment.

Cheers Peter.

[w i l l]

I charged a shit load of money to someone the other day expecting them to say no. Except they said yes. I feel pretty bad about it and considering giving half back.

[Maximus3D]

Wow, some of you guys earn piles of cash ..looks like i'm in the wrong business, archviz seems to pay very well!

I been happy when i earned 150 euro on jobs i done, thought that was real nice cash. But now i see it's nothing.. anyhow, interesting thread, learnt lots from reading what you all commented here. Now it's time to adjust my rates upwards!

/ Max

[Bubbaloo]

...

[caryjames]

I am glad that this thread was started because it gave great insight into this new field.

I for one still do not know how Maxwell fits into my area but I am excited by the possibilities. Maybe I need to start with some ArchViz on the side !

I think that we have to make sure that we are paid appropriately, that way we can keep on learning and purchasing more computing power to generate models and images faster.

Cary

[w i l l]

Well i'm sticking to product design. In my opinion pretty much anyone who's artistically inclined can learn to visualise from their bedroom in Poland (or wherever) and undercut you. Design takes a certain intuition and soul that takes years of experience to develop. Not that i'm any good at product design > still on the incline of the life experience/learning curve.

[caryjames]

I have to agree with you, I am sticking to jewellery design and manufacturing.

Rendering will help clients visualize the final product but that final product still needs to be manufactured. I have been using Rhino to directly manufacture from my files and it has been nice to be able to render the file and show the client what the final piece will look like before it is produced...... Now I have to figure out how I can get $$$RICH$$$$$ from rendering LOL!!!
Cary

[w i l l]

I have to agree with you, I am sticking to jewellery design and manufacturing.

Rendering will help clients visualize the final product but that final product still needs to be manufactured. I have been using Rhino to directly manufacture from my files and it has been nice to be able to render the file and show the client what the final piece will look like before it is produced...... Now I have to figure out how I can get $$$RICH$$$$$ from rendering LOL!!!
Cary

You are more likely to get $$$RICH$$$$$ from Jewellery design. Rendering pretty much comes down to an hourly rate, therefore to get super rich you do 24 hours per day, 7 days a week > have no life and never really become super rich. But design some nice piece of jewellery and market it and you could sell (or someone else sells) 1000 pieces a day for maybe less work than the rendering. Anything that relates to an hourly rate is a no go for millionaire wannabes.

I really wish I designed those fluorescent yellow triangles that go on lorry wheel nuts. About 1 hour of design and modelling time, 0.0001 pence per item production cost and retail cost of £29.99. Now as standard.

[Mauro]

If you are a professional firm and work for corporations, for something similar you can definetly charge $2,000 to $3,000 dollars. If you are the one designing the space the price would go up considerably.

We work in the States.

[flycast]

General advice.

1) Track your time. Get to know how long it takes.
2) Set an hourly wage. It if common to underbid from lack of confidence. Look around in your market. Markets vary quite a bit from one side of the US to the other - let alone from US to EU.
3) Underbid at first. This is the price of tuition - on the job training.

Remember one last adage -
"People value what they pay for"

It takes a lot of different skills to create a Maxwell Render:
3D modeling
Art talent
Eye for light, color
Technical abilities (geekiness)

This is a very narrow skill set - something you don't find on any corner.

[w i l l]

.... also another random example. A couple of months ago (when I was more desperate for work) I was contacted by a branding company (who all seem to have bags of money) and asked to render a scene of some boxes on a shelf. It was pretty simple so I quoted £300. They were unsure of the price saying that it appeared low and would rather pay around £1000 and due to my price didn't think I would do a good enough job. Subsequently they went elsewhere and got a not very good render for £1000.

I find the pricing thing to be a bit of a mind game. Even if you're super good dont drop your rates to super low. Usually it just puts people off. Its just consumer psychology.

[Hervé]

maybe the best is to set a price high like if you did not want to do it.. I know I will do like that now.. very high... thanks guys, I really did not know there was so much money to make....

H.

[mverta]

Do your own webcam porn. Then you can afford to render for fun. That's my idea.

_Mike

[Hervé]