How Much Should I Charge?

[the pidge]

i do alot of architectual visuals for different clients, ranging from residentual throught to commerical developments and depending on the complexity of the job/house etc, i will always set a quoted price,only because if you agree to work hourly, sometimes the client second guesses weather or not you will be over chargeing and time wasting just to make a buck (which isn't the case).but if you have to work hourly, i try to work it out at about $60-100 an hour.also when quoting a set price,and you get a reaction from the client like " that's a bit high,i don't know if i can afford that much", never explain why it is at that price eg:"well it will take so many hours etc.....,be confident that their getting what they pay for, and not some half asred product.because people will always pay for something more when it's regarded as a specialised field of work. hopes this helps....................

[redfuzz]

Times are a changin' brother.

I see you are canadian...so am I so I'll speak in canadian dollars.
I've usually worked on an hourly basis with benifits and overtime after 40 hours/week. Make sure you know how many hours a week you are expected to work and if overtime will be paid, it's the law in BC, not sure about you crazy Albertans. ;)

My first real job in 1995 paid $20/hour at a medium sized company in Vancouver working on TV series and MOW. Now a days I've heard of people out of school working for minimum wage, albeit on shitty low budget shows, but still. For 3D these days in Canada I'd say anywhere from $15-50/hour.

For freelence work, ie. no benifits, no overtime, flat rate per week, the rough rule is to add 50-100% of what you'd expect hourly. Or you could think of it as working 50 hours/week. So ($20*40 regular hours) + ($30 * 8 overtime hours) + ($40 * 2 double time hours) = $1120/week freelancing. Check your labour laws where you work. In BC it's overtime after 40 hours/week, time and a half for the first 8 hours then double time. Or double time on stat holidays pluss a day in leu.

Recently for two different clients I worked for $2000/week and $3750/week. This was at home with my own gear. A vfx company may charge their clients upwards of $5000/week for your time, so keep that in mind when you tell them a rate, and remember all the risk and overhead is their responcibility and that costs a lot.

People seem reluctant to talk about money in this industry, but I think it is for our own benifit that artists start talking about rates a bit more.

Though of course few of us got into this for the stacks of cash and remember how valuable new experience can be when you are just starting out. A credit and good shots on your reel from a good show can be worth a lot more than bling bling in the long run.

Oh, and my favorite negotiating trick, if you can't get more money, ask for more vacation time. You'll almost always get it, I think it feels to them (the employer) like they are not really paying you more, but a week off with pay is sweeter than a week working with pay if you ask me.

good luck...

:beer:

g

PS if you will be leading other people, that is always worth more...

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