I was just thinking about freelance rates and what do people charge. I charge £20 per hour and it would be interesting to see what others charge. And how do you justify your hourly rate?

Is it what your time is worth.
Your expirence.
Is it an averge rate?

Cheers

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It is by my will alone I set my mind in motion

What type of work are you doing?

Jay

Hi Jay.
I do 3d animation modelling 2d illustration and associated fields of work. A jack of all trades and a master of none!

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It is by my will alone I set my mind in motion

Hey Jay, have you heard of an American band called the Outlaws?
Relly good country rock!

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It is by my will alone I set my mind in motion

Well 20 quid an hour for animation is a no no!! You have to bear in mind your time that you cant do what you want when freelancing so make it work for you.

Freelance wage should be fairly reasonable, as its one of those cases where you may be without it and therefore need the money. Perhaps you should up it to 35-40quid especially if you are modelling and texturing as well. Also theres the render time where you cant use the computer to do work so are therefore wasting time you could be using it on another job.

I have a couple of clients at the moment and its not easy balancing the work, Im just knackered, but it pays off in the end, so again make it work for you, but dont charge stupid rates as you may piss the client off and they wont return. Do your absolute best and reap the rewards, they go hand in hand.

Jay

yeah think of it as if you were working full time for a studio or something. If you need to make $50 grand a year, divide it up and find out what that means per hour. Of course, you've also got to factor in that you won't necessarily always have work so you may need to bump it up a bit to take care of the period between jobs.

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-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

Some interesting points of view coming out. My philosophy is slightly different, you mention charge enough for when there's quiet times. I don't think it's fair for the client to pay extra for that. My clients come back to me because they know they are getting a good rate and because they get first class product, which means they keep coming back so no need to stash the cash for those quiet moments. Most clients have a budget anyway and dictate how much they want to spend on a project and it's up to you to either except that or not. £20 per hour=£160 a day (only 8 hours a day)is £3200 a month x 12 =£38,400 a year it pays the bills. Though I am thinking of putting up my prices at the end of my tax year. Maybe a fiver extra per hour.

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It is by my will alone I set my mind in motion

I only do this stuff for fun, but I have been running my own Software Development business for 6 years now so I know a little about running my own business.

When you work out your Hourly rate you need to remember that you need to factor in more than just the time you spend Modelling, Texturing etc, because you also need to Invoice them, Quote on Jobs, liaise with the client for final concept buy-off etc, which all take up your time. So just remember you do a lot more than just design.

Your hourly rate needs to reflect every thing you do.

Good Luck
Paul

Stephen

All clients have a budget, period. But you need to be ruthless sometimes, think of yourself. The client always thinks of their purse, so you must think of yours.

What Paul says is true too, you do more than just design.

Dont cut your nose off to spite your face either. Remember as a freelancer there'll be time when equipment will need to be upgraded, ram, pc software, all add up too. But the cool thing is you can claim this all back on tax and pay a cheaper tax bill.


A fiver extra isnt enough, I could spend that on 3d world magazine, regardless and not think anything of it. Im telling you 35-40 quid is justified in this industry, and thats cheap. I charge alot more when the job calls for it (characters, from design to final rig etc) you'd be wise to do the same at a point.

Best
Jay

ok so not to sound lame, but how much is that in usd?

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Accept no substitutions.

£40 is $73.52USD

Nowadays i would be on the ruthless side... i tried the "fair" last year... the dark side is faster, and you wont live 800 years like yoda

Good thread - its interesting to know the freelance rate for 3D artists (for the future).
I think (from occasionally doing web freelance work) you can get stuck in the original position of charging the same low rate as when you start out. It can almost be a barrier to up your prices as you think you'll scare people and business away.

Maybe a graded price increase could be a way forward. For all new work then set the fee at £35-£40 but for your current close clientbase (the few you work well with) you could up it by £5-£10 every year till it matches your new rate. In a way, if it ever comes into question that you're charging different rates then you can use it favourably with your close clients (you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours). Also as the other guys have said, if questions come up then say its to upgrade systems which will ultimately benefit the client (faster rendering, more tools for effects they want etc).
If you give people enough warning about charge increases then they will generally accept it and factor it in to any future work (or forget about it till payday, argue a little, realise they had already been informed and then pay).

Si

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Hi there.
I think you hit a good point and a fair way to increase your rate while keeping your regular customers. As you say you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours relationship does work for me. It's swings and roundabouts also, I have a clients who pays £800 per double page spread flat rate. And because it's 3D landscapes of battle fields, I just love doing the work, and I can get it done in 3 days but I could easily spend a week doing it. And for me also it's not about making the money I truly love my job and sometimes it doesn't seem like work. As long as my mortgage is paid and I can have a holiday when I want and having totally flexible working hours; as you are your own boss, just having that little bit of freedom and not having to account to anyone else is what it's all about for me.

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It is by my will alone I set my mind in motion