# Considering offering animation commissions



## kuroseishin (Jun 7, 2011)

Thought I'd post on the forums too. 

Hello all. 

I'm currently  looking for work but to help build my reel I was thinking of figuring  out how to take 2D animation commissions. 

My demo reel is here: http://sashamorrissey.com/demoreel.html

So my question to you guys is what you would be interested in getting?  Run cycles? Short films? Icons? Sketch, color, or ink? Lip syncing?  Fight sequences? You guys tell me. (I do not take adult commissions) I'd prefer not to do cookie-cutter icons as I can't really put those in my reel. 

I prefer to  animate at 24 fps for ultimate smoothness of motion, so that's  twenty-four drawings for every second. This is time consuming. Time is  money. These will not be cheap. 

Also, do you guys know other artists who take animation commissions so I can scope out the competition/prices?                                                     

If you're interested right away feel free to comment/note me. 

Thanks!

-K


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## dinosaurdammit (Jun 7, 2011)

Really awesome work. If I knew your prices I would give it some heavy consideration.


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## kuroseishin (Jun 7, 2011)

I'm still trying to work out prices, and more over how to price. Do I charge by the second? It might be something I just have to work out case by case. If you had an imaginary budget, what would you think of commissioning?


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## dinosaurdammit (Jun 7, 2011)

Hmmm, a hundred dollars is about all I can expend on a single commission at one time.


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## Jw (Jun 7, 2011)

I think you'd do well to sell these. I wish I could help you more on the pricing, but this is clearly enough to get by on minimum wage ($8+ an hour minimum), so don't undercut yourself.

As animations are complicated, you might want to charge a base rate and additional charges for rough period of time it will take to create the animation. say, $20 base for 1-2 characters then implement a rate that's slightly cheaper per hour. You'll still be making as much, but the hourly rate might stand out as a discount in the commissioner's mind.

Like this:
$25 (base fee) + $8x(3 hours of work)= $49

Of course, you could rig this up any way you need it. Higher base price, higher hourly rate. Just make it worth your while. you're offering solid skills here, so I think you could do quite well for yourself. And I say this to NO ONE hardly at all on this forum.


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## Monster. (Jun 7, 2011)

Incredible work; very clean, too, compared to what I usually see in a demo reel.

If it were me offering these commissions, I'd go with offering icons and charge by layer and by how long it would have taken me to make said icon. Animated icons are pretty popular on the site anyway.


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## Deo (Jun 7, 2011)

dinosaurdammit said:


> Hmmm, a hundred dollars is about all I can expend on a single commission at one time.


 Fifty is my generally maximum. 






But I really love your work. Maybe a 2 second loop animation icon? Oh god it's so animated, it's goddamn aliiiive.


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## dinosaurdammit (Jun 7, 2011)

Deo said:


> Fifty is my generally maximum.


 
Yea a hundred is a lot but right now I have that and while I would like to split it up among many artist to spread jobs around I would be willing to pay for something that she is offering. Is is really awesome work and I honestly haven't seen anything like it yet here on FAF.


Op how much would you charge for a icon of a bird staring blankly then laughing. I guess it would be about a 10 second loop. Blank stare with a blink or two for 6 seconds then 4 seconds of laughing.


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## kuroseishin (Jun 7, 2011)

Thanks everyone. I might try timing myself to give myself an idea of exactly how long I take to produce a second or a cycle etc. The base price + hourly sounds like a good place to start!




dinosaurdammit said:


> Yea a hundred is a lot but right now I have that and while I would like to split it up among many artist to spread jobs around I would be willing to pay for something that she is offering. Is is really awesome work and I honestly haven't seen anything like it yet here on FAF.
> 
> 
> Op how much would you charge for a icon of a bird staring blankly then laughing. I guess it would be about a 10 second loop. Blank stare with a blink or two for 6 seconds then 4 seconds of laughing.


 

How complicated would the bird's markings be? Like, how many different colors (when I color I do a pass for each color, so more passes take more time)


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## dinosaurdammit (Jun 7, 2011)

Just a shoulders up of this http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/xnakiteiruxgeijutsukax/paigelenoregivensFullSize.png


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## kuroseishin (Jun 7, 2011)

dinosaurdammit said:


> Just a shoulders up of this http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c181/xnakiteiruxgeijutsukax/paigelenoregivensFullSize.png



That's not bad. I'd probably simplify the flecks if that'd be okay. I'd take it on for $50 at this point, and use it as an experiment to figure out how long it actually takes me.


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## Deo (Jun 7, 2011)

Could you do a white background/no background of my tasmanian devil snarling? Something of comparable length to 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 ?


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## FireFeathers (Jun 7, 2011)

Nice! Yeah, start the icon route. There are people on this site willing to pay you a reasonable amount for an awesome animation, more then a hundred or what have you.  I like your work, I love animation, but I suck on having patience for it.


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## kuroseishin (Jun 8, 2011)

Deo said:


> Could you do a white background/no background of my tasmanian devil snarling? Something of comparable length to
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
I'd give it a shot for the experimental rate of $25.

Also that is an amazing gif.


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## Taralack (Jun 8, 2011)

Ouisch does comparable work for much more. There's also that guy who does the tail wag/kiss icons (can't remember his name) but the quality is much lower.


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## kuroseishin (Jun 8, 2011)

Toraneko said:


> Ouisch does comparable work for much more. There's also that guy who does the tail wag/kiss icons (can't remember his name) but the quality is much lower.


 
Thank you. I'll definitely bump the prices after a few trial commissions. 

Probably heading off soon. Those were interested best to contact me by FA note so I see your messages right away.


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## kuroseishin (Jun 8, 2011)

Well I thought I'd time myself a bit today






This is about half a second of uncolored animation (still with some issues to work out) and took about three hours to do. :/ I guess I have to retract my previous quotes, at least dinosaur's. 

Maybe these would just be too expensive for anyone to afford. ): I could always reduce quality, but that would defeat the purpose of completing portfolio work so I can hopefully get a job soon.


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## Deo (Jun 8, 2011)

kuroseishin said:


> Well I thought I'd time myself a bit today
> 
> 
> 
> ...



As an atist myself I hate to say this, but perhaps some monetary compensation is better than none? If you need these for your reel it seems you have three options:
*1.* Do them for youself, on any subject matter you choose, from any angle, any color, any level of finish, and at your own timely pace. You may be more inclined to finish your works as they are things that you want to do. And since they are of your choosing they may be more appropriate than furry things for a proffessional reel/portfolio. But you make no money at all.
*2.* Do them without proper monetary compensation for your skill and time. You do get paid, but not as much as it should be for your time involvement. However you will get a larger amount of people who can afford cheaper commissions, and thus a larger group of potential buyers. This generates some income for you, more than if you did them for yourself. But you do not get to animate what you want. 
*3.* Do them at a price that fully compensates you for your skill and time. This will deplete the number of people who can potentially buy art from you as it raises your prices beyond what the "average furry" can generally pay for. However, you are a proffessional and you deserve to be paid like one. You may still be stuck doing things that do not fit your proffesional reel/portfolio and or a subject matter/character that you dislike.


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## VonRedwing (Jun 8, 2011)

Who were your animation teachers?? One of the things you did looks like what I did for my animation class.


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## kuroseishin (Jun 8, 2011)

Hm. I might try charging a flat rate of like $100 and then only take clients I'm really interested in. 

I went to Maryland Institute College of Art. If you're referring to the flour sack exercise, it's a classic animation learning tool going way back. Anyone who studies animation in school will probably end up doing a couple along the way.


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## dinosaurdammit (Jun 8, 2011)

kuroseishin said:


> Hm. I might try charging a flat rate of like $100 and then only take clients I'm really interested in.
> 
> I went to Maryland Institute College of Art. If you're referring to the flour sack exercise, it's a classic animation learning tool going way back. Anyone who studies animation in school will probably end up doing a couple along the way.


 
What would be your baseline for 100 dollars? As in what is the most you would do for 100?


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## kuroseishin (Jun 8, 2011)

dinosaurdammit said:


> What would be your baseline for 100 dollars? As in what is the most you would do for 100?


 
I guess about 2-3 seconds straight animation (48-72 drawings, may run longer time-wise if there are holds or loops) or a run cycle with flat color/simple bg. It would depend on the specifics, but since I'm not going to be making minimum wage anyway and am doing it for portfolio purposes, if the idea's cool enough there would be some leeway.

Haha, when you're working for school you don't realize how much time you're putting into it (other than, you know, not sleeping for weeks on end). You just have to get it done so if you're working for 48 hours straight, you're working for 48 hours straight. xD And you can make a lot of seconds in 48 hours. Man, if only I had gotten paid to go to school instead of paying them!


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## kuroseishin (Jun 9, 2011)

Total time: 7 hours 
Unique frames: 24
Running time: 1.5 seconds

Ends kinda abruptly but it's going to cut on action to another shot. :B


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## Ouisch (Jul 4, 2011)

I see FA has gained another traditional animator, that's great! I'm glad you're here! 

I also see that you've discovered the dilemma of pricing for animation commissions, lol. I know it seems like you'd need to charge a lot of money to get by, and it's true-- so, if you do work here, you'll be doing it at discount. People don't realize that while $200 for 4-5 cleaned up and colored animation is actually a steal--professionally, the price would be $2,000!

Offer what you think is reasonable, and find a good balance between workload and compensation. Just remember that FA is amazing BECAUSE you can get really good art for a low price, so professional animation prices don't fly here. You're working on FA because YOU LOVE IT-- not really for the money. A minimum wage job will pay better than doing animation here, to be honest. 

Additionally, the first batch of commissions you do will be really hard, because you'll discover your limitations, come up with customer service guidelines, and struggle against time constraints, and you may even have to adjust your prices several times.... but eventually you will find a good balance. 

Good luck! You can do it, and it'll be great to see you around!


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## kuroseishin (Jul 5, 2011)

Haha, thanks Ouisch. I am currently looking for a real animation job so hopefully that will pan out soon. I need to move out of my dad's place. xD I know animation commissions can't do that for me. I've been undercharging for my work for the last six years because I know that's just how this online market works, but as I'm officially no longer a student and officially unemployed, it's becoming harder to do it.


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