Humanoid 3d models and animations price doubt

Hi.

I am not sure if this thread should be in this part of the forum, if this is the wrong one, please move it.

I am searching for a person to make an humanoid 3d model for my asset Game Kit Controller: https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/40995

My idea is to use a new character for the asset and add new animations to improve its general appareance. But since I am more programmer than artist, I have searched for a person to take care of this.

The style for this model would be something similar to Adam Jensen in Deus ex Go, not low poly, but not too much detail:



I found a person and after talking, the price would be around 250 dollars in about 7-10 days to create it.

I wanted to ask what do you think about this price (it is the first time that I hire another person), so I don't know if this is the standard price for this kind of models. I know that models needs a lot of work which of course, needs to be paid. I only want to know about other people who also has hired artist for similar jobs.

Also, I want to ask about animations.

After get a new model, I will search another person to take care of this (the current artist doesn't make animations). I want the typical third person animations, like walk strafe, run strafe, walk crouch, run crouch, dodge, so maybe around 20-30 animations.

What should be the price for this group of animations?


Thanks in advance.

Regards.

 

http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Freelance

Scroll down for typical price ranges.

My two cents : that's really cheap. ***edit : maybe it's not so cheap, assuming they aren't working 8 hours each day for 7-10 days. Maybe they just need that much time to be safe but expect to finish hthe model in something like 30 hours. Just speculation*** Look at this persons portfolio and make sure they are capable of the quality you need.

Animations... all of the typical animations already exist. Check the asset store out. Lots of high quality stuff for fair prices.

 

Thanks for the response.

Yes, I have seen some of his models and he seems capable of it.

About animations, I can't use animations from the asset store to include them into another asset.

Regards.

 

Yes you can as long as the model you get is Mecanim ready you should be able to re-use animations that are humanoid based from the asset store.

Of course the animations on the asset store have to be what you want to have on the character.

 

Also ask the person your hiring about the rights, you want both of you to understand what's the deal.

 

$250 sounds really cheap to me. If I could get someone to create that quality of character, to my specs, that cheaply... Wow. That'd be really awesome.

I'd be worried that they don't produce it at all or have other priorities and don't produce it in a timely manner.

 

He's selling his own asset, that's why he can't.

 

I'd say 250 is on the low end so expect to receive the lowest expected quality level - that is acceptable.
I'd estimate at least 20-30 hours to create that model (I'm a 3D artist/animator), so a quote of around $450-850 seems about right, conservatively.
If the artist is not US/Europe that price might reflect an accurate estimate @ $8.30 - $12.50/hour.

Estimate at least 1-2 hours for each animation, more (3) for more complex animations, multiplied by the amount per hour (roughly between 20-45) and that will give you a rough window where the price should fall.
Lower the estimated hourly rate for non US/European artists, but always be aware of lower prices resulting in lower quality.

 

Normal for some countries. Insanely cheap in others.

Check his work history and portfolio.

 

You can only get the model two out of three ways. Quality, fast, or cheap. If its a quality model done fast, its expensive. If its quality done slow, its cheaper. If its fast and cheap, it can't be quality.

 

Assuming they are charging a rate that roughly equates to their skill level. Then a good rule of thumb is look at what salaries are at a profession level. In this case that pricing is around 10X under the market rate. Draw your own conclusions from that.

 

Always smart to be cautious.

But if they have a decent body of work that reassures you they can meet the level of quality you need, and they are still charging very cheap... maybe they just don't have enough experience to know their own worth yet. Maybe they haven't done enough freelance work to understand how much they really ought to be asking.

OP might just be lucky and found a young tiger that doesn't know he/she's the king of the jungle yet. Get 'em while you can!

 

Exactly, only content of unity itself can be added into a paid asset (or content of another publisher if both have some kind of agreement).

Of course, it is very important to have that completly clear.

So animations could be minimum 1200 dollars. Well, my idea is to get them in little groups, so once they have added to the asset, get new ones and repeat, sharing the spending in different months.

Mmmm I see.

Yeah, I did it and it looks good, also, I am waiting to see a new model that he is working right now, that will help to make my final step.

Thanks to all of you for the answers. They help me a lot. It is the first time that I hire another person and I didn't have a certain idea of the price for model stuff (also, my budget is moderated too, though I want to improve the look of my asset, so the quality of the content is supported by its aspect too).


Regards.

 

Without knowing the market we can't draw accurate conclusions. According to Payscale the median salary for a 3d artist in the United States is about $53,000 but the same job only makes about $4,600 (Rs 299,971) in India.

One job per week at $250 is $13,000. If he were in the US it'd be below salary but in India it would be triple salary!

https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=3d_Artist/Salary
https://www.payscale.com/research/IN/Job=3d_Artist/Salary

 

That could be possible haha, I can't really wait to see the model, really curious about it.

Also, about animations, do you recommend me any place where to look for people for it?

Like I said, I have planned to search in the web upwork. Do you know better alternatives?

Regards.

 

Yeah, there is a huge gap between countries.

 

There is but it's misleading if applied to the context of selling in a global market.

The main point was look at what the market charges for good quality. Salaries is one way, looking at what established companies charge is another, although more difficult to do in this scenario as most artistic outsourcing at a professional level is done under the radar in this industry. Ie they don't really advertise.

 

I didn't get into the details but this is what I was implying but I obviously did not clarify, my bad.

The animations on say the Ethan in Unity Technologies standard assets for the third person controller could be reused, just not sure how they would look on other humanoid mecanim ready models.

May look like garbage though, I just don't know; I could also still be wrong about this but I thought someone months ago (or was it years?) had asked about re-using Unity Technologies assets in a asset project for sale on the asset store and they replied yes.

Does anyone else remember this?

TWO CUBES uses Ethan in their Game Kit Controller asset package for example.

 

OMG. that character looks exactly like Voltaire...
Goth singer, did some Star Trek songs

 

Theres some pretty simple ways to improve any errors you have when retargeting a mecanim rig. Just google "unity retarget rig" or something along those lines and I think there is three or four youtube tutorials that will show the basic method and also some techniques to make the animations look right if the retargeted model has very different proportions.

 

Could be less if using humanoid setup mirror function.

 

Of course, I am not searching new animations due to get a new model. I am searching new animations to give a more solid aspect to the asset and to be able to add new systems which require new animations (like climb, swim, etc...) or improve movements like a run strafe (the current strafe that I have now is only walking, so my controller can't run while aims for example or aim while he crouches).

Of course, the current animations tha I are included in the asset belongs to the standard unity asset. All the content in that standard project can be included in any kind of asset (paid/free).

Maybe they took inspiration from him.

Yeah, I though about that too (thank god for mirrored animations haha).

I have started to search an animator artist in upwork. Lets see how that goes.

Regards.

 

Top level artists regardless where they are from will eventually end up earning the same. Top artists from India will work for top clients remotely for good money (good money by western standards), or they will move to the west eventually. Everyone will realize their value if they are good. No one who see how much he/she could make for same work will do it much cheaper cause of their location. If that would be a lot of money in their country, even better for them.

But, there is one window of opportunity to find good artist at low price. And that is if you get lucky to find emerging talent. Someone with great potential without him/her realizing their potential yet. In that case you could get top quality and get it extremely cheap (like this price of 250$ for exclusive character commission). One thing you could have in mind perhaps. How will that artist if he/she is top talent look back on you in 5, 10 years from now. If they really do good job for you, perhaps you could reward them with extra money. It would mean a lot to them if they are beginners psychologically, and they will have you in good memory later.

 

You are very right, it is a very appreciated behaviour in both directions.

If what you said happens and the model is nice and what I am looking for (and also, if these improvements work properly new model and animations for the asset, allowing to create new systems), I have the intention of ask the same person to make more models to make more and more improvements.

So it would be a long contract (since I have no intention to stop working in my asset, it is probably that I need new elements from time to time).

Also, more profits, could mean to paid better to the people who works with me (unfortunately, my budget is not as much as I would like for this).

Regards.

 

I think you need to consider two dimension here. One is the 3d modeling. Do they have a portfolio? Have you reviewed it to see if they are capable of the style and quality you are looking for?

If you can check that box, then there is the question of rigging and animation. Here you should again ask for some samples to review at least. Ultimately you want it to fully rigged with a humanoid bipedal model so that you can later apply other animations to the model. Poor rigging could make this very hard to do. If you commission only simple animations to start, your may not realize that the rigging was poorly done until it was too late. So, I suggest you commission one or two simple animations and then a couple of complex ones to start.

Lastly, I suggest you be really clear about the poly count your are seeking. You don't want to be expecting something in say the 8k range and end up with something in the 80k range. I think this is where great modelers really shine...making something that looks fantastic without breaking the poly bank.