Brian Smith

My business partner and I were recently attending an annual developers meeting in our area and had the opportunity to speak to several dozen potential clients about what we do. We found a corner of the room to setup a laptop with a long looping animation playing and for over an hour were swarmed with about 20 developers inquiring about our services. One of the first questions each wanted answered was "How much does something like that cost?". Pricing a 3D project is an enormously challenging task, arguably the most difficult and most critical to any business. Throwing out quotes and prices during a closed door meeting with a few people is difficult enough, but even more so in the kind of situation we were in where many people are listening in. The sticker shock of large animations can scare anyone away before you have the opportunity to explain why it can cost so much or how the cost can be reduced by offering a different scope of services. My partner and I have always tried avoiding throwing out numbers until we have a chance to truly get the client's attention in a private meeting where they can't up and walk away. But this opportunity is not always possible, such as in the meeting we were in.

So we were thinking of a different way to give potential clients an estimate of what we do and we came up with the idea of simply saying "The 1st exterior rendering is usually about __% of the cost of a complete set of architectural drawings and each additional rendering is 10% of the total cost of the first. The 1st minute of an exterior animation is usually about __% of the cost of a complete set of architectural drawings and each additional minute is 30% of the total cost of the 1st. The same applies to interior renderings and animations."

There are numerous benefits of using this approach as I see it.
First, you are not actually committing to a price in any way and it's a tactful way to provide pricing without the sticker shock, especially in a public gathering.
Making it a fraction of the cost of architectural plans puts it in a nice perspective that is easier for the client to swallow. Whether your client is a developer, an architect, or whoever, they will most likely have an idea of what it costs to create a set of architectural drawings and be able to formulate an idea themselves.
The more complex the building or development, the more expensive the drawings and hence the more expensive the 3D visualization.

Bottom line is that I think it's important to come up with a way to avoid having to provide pricing at inopportune times, yet it's equally important to not make the client wonder why your avoiding giving them a price. Anyone care to weigh in?

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Brian Smith
www.3dats.com
3D Architectural Training Solutions

wda

Did it feel like a feeding frenzy? Like you where being eating by Pirana's?

Just curious
WDA

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mahorela

I think you are spot on Brian, this is a much better way of providing the dreaded 'ball park figure'. Thanks for sharing.

Ernest Burden

My old mentor said he could just as easily price a rendering by the square inch (it takes a certain amount of time and effort to draw/paint any given surface area of an illustration board) though I don't think he actually did costing that way.

When my father was a young renderer, he had printed up a sheet with a price list. It was that simple.

But no matter wgat, it's never been easy.

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Ernest Burden III
AcmeDigital
architectural rendering

crazy homeless guy

i have never liked it when people try to price an animation by minute of animation.

we typically price an animation by adding on an additional percentage to will take to produce still images. our proposal sets that at 20% of the cost of a still image right now. we are starting to do more post-production work as part of the process of animation, so that number will need to come up.

setting up pricing this way is interesting. some people would formulate an idea immediately, others would suddenly feel like they were in over their head because they have no idea how much a set of drawings cost to produce. ...but that is not a bad thing. it may actually make them more willing to pay for it because they begin to understand the complexity, even if they can't understand the process of either.

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travis schmiesing

thinice

I normally find it easier to throw the large number straightaway. Just do it with a big smile on your face, as if it is you are offering unbelievably great bargain.

That would scare away those with the "isn't it nice if we can have this for our next review.." mentality- which is precisely the point.

For serious developers, their marketing budget at a minimum is 2% of selling price of development. Just do your maths. If your "big number" scares them, there is something wrong somewhere.

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www.shadesofterengganu.com

Brian Smith

Sukardi,
I have to strongly disagree with your approach. I've tried it on numerous occassions and it has rarely worked well, smile or no smile. I've found that no matter how much money developers have, they can be just as thrifty about their money as anyone else, and in some cases is why they have money.
There's a reason why good sales people don't spout off a big number before they build the trust of the potential buyer and explain enough about the product before the person has a chance to faint from the price. Whether it's a car salesman or someone trying to sell a time share, holding off on pricing until the right moment is critical to not losing a potential buyer - especially in a room full of interested people who know nothing about the services and why it costs so much.

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Brian Smith
www.3dats.com
3D Architectural Training Solutions

ktm07

Brian,

This pricing strategy seems pretty convoluted to me! I am not sure what the amount spent on a set on contract documents has to do with the time and effort spent on a rendering project - they are entirely different things.

We have found that the most straight forward way to address the issue of pricing is to break it down in three ways: the price to build the model, the price to set up and render each of the static views and then the cost of the animation. Typically we prefer the animation to be priced by the minutes because this is how our clients prefer to handle it. This is also the pricing strategy that I prefer the viz firms that work with us use. We are not afraid of the big numbers and neither are our clients; better to know upfront than be surprised in the end.

Tom

crazy homeless guy

i don't think the pricing strategy is bad. a comlpex set of drawings for a complex building will take awhile to produce, and cost more than a set of drawings for a simple building. the same can be said for visualization and animation.

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travis schmiesing

Dibbers

If you can show a typical small job and a typical large job with their respective prices, your potential clients go away without any uncertanty.

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