Hi, I am new into the ArchViz area and I really have a lot of questions so I hope many of you can answer them.
1.- Do I need to be an architect to do ArchViz projects? I am not an architect but an animator, and I actually like to create scenarios and I actually have made very cool stuff on Mental Ray, V-Ray and now UE4, Not being an architect is a limitation?
2.- How do you Price your projects? You can answer with US dollars or euro, even pounds. I know the price depends upon the complexity of the scene, if it’s a still or a movie, or even a real time project. I want to know the average price for a still, movie and real-time project and of course including exterior and interior shots of a nice house, I know making big stuff like plazas, buildings, etc are expensive… but let’s talk about houses, very good looking houses.
3.- Do you price by working hours? Or render time? Or by the number of still images you produce?
4.- Do you charge for upgrades or changes? For example, if your client wants a pool and not a fountain in his garden.
5.- ¿Does de the client have some access to your content? Idk like the 3d files or something else?
I think I have more questions but I don’t remember them exactly. Thanks for your time.
1- No you don’t need to be an architect but It’s a bonus, of course. You need to be able to read some plans at least and be able to visualize a 2d plan into a 3d space.
2-
3- Usually people charge per amount of stills, movies or executable. You may charge per hour when a client ask for changes. Extra work paid by the hour. For example, a video could be sold 100$/sec of animation. You can charge x amount for the modelling, X amount per rendering, X amount for a complete .exe, etc.
4- Some people will offer 1 or 2 revisions for free, other will charge per hour for it.
5- Usually the client will not have the source file unless he is willing to pay. It’s a better idea to keep the source files for yourself tho. That way they cannot turn around and give the next rendering job to someone else because they got all the assets!!!
6- Top studios like MIR charge around 4000 euros per image. (source : chaosgroup lab podcast)
7- Don’t go on freelance website it’s depressing and people are offering renderings for 20$ and they are destroying this industry! Aim to be the best and offer an outstanding customer service and you will get clients.
I’ll give you the no BS answer as I have 40 years in the Architecture field.
If you want to move past the lower ranks $500.00 to $1000.00 per still image you will need to be able to compete with Architects, designers, photographers and exceptional talent. Having a good knowledge of Architecture, Interior Architecture, good design, photography will help you immensely. Every Architecture student coming out of school knows 3D now, the competition is fierce especially from the 3rd world where prices are rock bottom. Can you get 4K for a rendering, sure IF you are at the level of the best in the field.
If it’s something you are passionate about then go for it just don’t expect a lot of money. An Architecture firm can get an Architect that has great 3D skills for under 50K a year.
20$??? Wow that’s miserable. The point is I have no plans to work with or for a company, im trying to get into how this industry works, so by freelancing I mean to work by myself and of course not offering services for 20$ because I know how bad this hurts the industry.
There, that is very important to me because I live in a 3rd World country, So I guess I can’t price to much like if I were in the US or Europe. I think I should start reading some Architecture Books to learn more about design.
It wouldn’t hurt to study as much as you can about image composition and photography techniques. More importantly, try to find a way that you can stand out in the industry. Is there a sector or customer base that you could focus on? Some sort of specialty? What appeals to you the most?
You can get US and EU prices no matter where you live but you have to produce comparable renderings, animations etc.
Do a search on top rendering companies in China and you’ll see what you’re up against. They deliver renderings for half if not less than a lot of the US companies. I know of major US Architecture firms that only use Chinese and other 3rd world vendors.
It’s always important to have your work quality as per with US/Europe Standards (Composition, Color grading, Rendering quality and so on), because they will only outsource if they get almost same quality work as in US/Europe but with descent amount of margin on price. Again it’s really important to keep the industry standards and price ratio, otherwise you will end up frustrating about how a client wants everything in single price. Keep your work ethics and quality as per with US/Europe (Billing for changes and everything outside of contract, don’t do anything for free) and offer them a decent price to look forward to.
Agreed. Here’s the thing about the Architecture profession. It has traditionally been a profession of apprentices and interns so owners, presidents, and management of Architecture firms see renderings as overhead and look for ways to get them cheap! That is why you need to offer more than what a student out of Architecture school can offer and some of them are quite capable of doing good renderings etc.
Here where I live I’ve seen lots of student projects a lot of them are weak, cheap renders (in terms of quality) and with bad or lazy design, so I guess I have some advantage there, thanks for the answers they really helped me.
It all depends on where you live and how good you are. I’m an architect myself but you don’t need to be one to work in the industry.
I’ve worked in the US and Australia and I’ve charged around $2000 per still and $7000-10000 per minute of animation.
I’ve heard big guys like MIR charge $8000 to $10000 per image! not 4000 euros I know because my office tried to hire them…but anyway, you gotta be awesome to charge that much.
The thing is the market is very competitive and many people from the third world (like me) usually charge less than the minimum in other countries. But if you’re good clients will come.
I usually ask for 50% upfront, and the other 50% at “completion”. There will be A LOT of changes, I include 2 or 3 rounds and after that it will be charged.
Finally, no. The client will never have the rights under your source files. You provide a jpg and or an avi and thats it. They can always buy it from you but it would be costly.
Build a very strong portfolio and you’ll be in
Good luck!
I’ve heard big guys like MIR charge $8000 to $10000 per image! not 4000 euros I know because my office tried to hire them…but anyway, you gotta be awesome to charge that much.
^ Depends on the project, commercial projects like high rises etc. command big fees - it’s a lot of work.
