How much money should i charge?

[iceburn91]

I guys!!

Im new in the game industry and i dont know o much should i charge for game assets...
background, characters, gui ....
Any idea?

[tsloper]

To get started, you might want to work for free on a project that doesn't have any money anyway.
Then once you've worked on at least one game, you should charge what you can get (what you can negotiate).
You won't get paid as much as a professional would. You can read about game salaries (not the same as freelance pay, but it gives you numbers to work from) at
http://www.gamecareerguide.com/featu...ry_survey_.php
Also read this:
http://www.gamedev.net/topic/616744-pricing-question/
and especially this:
http://www.gamedev.net/topic/615716-...e-for-artists/

[hotboy18]

I would do some research on how much other charge for the same service and maybe negotiate a price since you are just started out. Once you master you skills and get better then people will pay whatever you charge since the quality is high.

[nightblue]

If you are currently employed, freelance rates tend to be about 2x of your hourly rate at a full-time employment, because freelance works do not require benefits such as vacation or insurance. If the project is particularly interesting to you, you may find yourself happy with charging less money. Do be warned of start-up companies or personal projects that promise "publicity" as part of the benefit though. Many of these companies or projects do not end up getting any publicity at all. Do some background research and think about whether you'd put actual money behind the project when in doubt, because by being under-paid, that's practically what you are doing.

Once you determine your hourly rate, you need to figure out how long it takes you to do a job. This may seem daunting but all it takes is actually timing yourself when you are doing any kind of work. Exclude the time when you get sidetracked and start browsing online, etc, but include research time. Then it's simple mathematics to calculate a per-project or per-piece rate. Don't forget that if you are getting paid over paypal or similar online services, there is often a fee. It's good practice to mention who pays that fee up front to avoid bad surprises later.

Lastly - payment and delivery schedules. You need to agree on when the payments are made upfront, as well as figure out when the assets are expected. It's wise to limit the amount and scope of revisions as well, and state that any revision beyond agreed ones will be charged at your hourly rate. If a job is needed very urgently and require your full and immediate attention, it may be classified as a rush job, and you can charge more. I don't really know what the standard on rush jobs are, though.

If you've never worked with your employer before, you may want to do a 50% up-front and 50% before delivery of final, usable asset kind of payment schedule to protect yourself. If they are hesitant to pay the 50% before any work is done, you could schedule for a delivery of sketches or untextured models, or a similar small chunk of work that shows your commitment to actually do the job without risking doing too much stuff for free.

Hope this helps!

[iceburn91]

Really guys thx, Help me a lot!

[SkooterinEb]

Have any of you had this experience?

I was asked to do some character/monster sketches for a set of indie short films, and they asked for my price. I calculated it would be about 15-20 sketches, each taking approx. 10-12 hours, including meetings. They were also asking for a set price, with the option to continuously tweak or change as they saw fit (so if they decided to take it in another direction, I would have to start all over for the same price). I came up with a ballpark of about 1200. The man I was negotiating with flipped out, and wanted to pay me no more than 400, with half upfront and the other half upon completion.

As excited as I was to get the experience from people working in film before, my time is a commodity, and the value they placed on the work and the time needed for revisions was just too much.

Lesson(s) I learned: know the value of what you do, because sometimes non-artists do not understand what they are asking for, and because some people just want something for nothing

[tsloper]

Originally Posted by SkooterinEb

Have any of you had this experience?

Yes, I have been offered ridiculously low amounts to do a lot of work. It's a good thing that you did the math and know how much your time is worth, and that you knew what would be a good offer for this project.
But normally what you want is for the other guy to make you the offer first.

Bone to pick:
Why did you append this to an old thread instead of start a new one?
It may be on-topic sort of, but you basically hijacked and necroed at the same time.

[SkooterinEb]

I saw the thread and thought I had an anecdote and something to contribute. As for the necroing...I didn't look at the date.