Re: FLASH: OT: Rates . . "billable" hours

[David Gary]

Daniel Votino wrote:


> on billable hours:

>

> The work we have begun here in Flash is considered to be 70% billable.

>

> Will they bill for straight "time" or will they bill for how long it "should"

> take to complete it at a

> "billable hourly" rate?  Ok . . . im rambling . . time to go home and go to

> bed.

>


Alright now we're getting into some professional discussion.

Great info Daniel. The fact of the matter is in my first reply to this post was

not a discussion on "fixed rate"

even though, unfortunately, some people saw it that way, but more along the

lines of discussing "how to"

set your rates. First of all the "price per frame" range I quoted from GAG was

_not_ for the clients benefit,

but in order to help the developer "set" his rate. You think the guys who

produce South Park's chessy "Paper cut"

animation charge any less per frame than the company that produces "Beast Wars"

3D animation.

Thats why you charge what _your_ worth_. If you have good concepts and good

animation/illustration skills or

have a small team or partner that does, then it will show in your work and you

can charge more than the former shoe salesman turned Multi-media artist.


This is how I personally set my studio rates.


1.Get a budget and timeline quote from the client. It is a waste of your and

your client's time to start to devise a project

plan without knowing what budget to stay within and what time you have to get it

out. Make you client understands this.


2. Once you know the clients budget and timeline on the project and it meets

with _your_  rate AND with their expectations

send a contract to the client that states your proceedures, what it will cost

upfront(concept, storyboard, streamlining existing brand identity, etc). Include

all legal info, small details, and copyright(note:just because the client

renders your services does not mean they automatically own copyright., the

creator should always be entitled to copyright and It should be stated in your

contract,  that is another discussion however).


I give a narrow range of what the _WHOLE_ project will

cost the client and give them a range. I always try to stay under budget

however.

I will never price a project by the hour. Price per frame/sec/hour is used by me

personally

to help me determine a price for the whole project and how to stay within

budget.


This is a "green" industry and Flash's vector animation technology  is just to

powerful to overlook.

It is not your typical plug-in and is a fairly trustful gamble. Video streaming,

VRML, streaming audio, etc,

etc, are simply to much of a gamble for my resources personally and just arent

being used enough for

online advertising. However Flash is waking up alot of people, quickly. I cant

tell you how many times

Ive landed on a corporate site that was using  flash and I wasnt even loking for

it. Click that right button

and see a "about flash" bar.


I would love to hear how other individuals and production comps are setting

their rates.

Anyone?


-DG-



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