Suggestion needed with how much to charge for a video?

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

Hello,

I’ve been reading a lot of posts here on how to charge for App Trailer Video work but I still haven’t figured out what my rates are. I am not sure if I should charge per hour, per project, half a day rate or a whole day rate. I am working for a company for almost a year now and I do their in-house stuff like ads, videos, highlights, commercials, motion graphics etc… Now my question again is, how much should I charge potential clients if I want to do freelancing?

Any help will be appreciated.

Thank you.

#2

hi, not sure if this is the right forum for this kind of question but for what its worth, i used to do the same, only composing and recording music for ads, etc.

i got paid per project and it was often negotiated on a per project basis, since the conditions could be very different, hence the amount of work required.

dont think so much about time spent but focus on what your end result is worth to the customer. he shouldnt pay you for your time but for your skills.

best of luck

#3

While I agree in substance with what @anaqim said in the last statement, you must protect yourself from clients that waste your time or ask for late changes.  

For general game/app  contracting, I always charge clients by the hour, and I approach projects as follows:

  • I review the project requirements and write up a detailed hour and cost estimate.  The estimate includes all of the following:
    • Client input requirements.  Often the client must deliver me something first before I can work.  This may include specs, materials, art, etc.
    • Clear list of deliverables (the work product)
    • Clear list of milestones tied to hours.
    • Clear list of sign-off criteria (i.e. user must sign off on work as acceptable)
    • Testing time.  It is easy to forget that testing takes a long time and clients often assume you will do a lot of testing. 
    • Over-schedule clause - An acknowledgement that this is an estimate and may go over initial budget.  This clause includes details about how I will notify the client if we are going over schedule and what we will do if I do.
  • I review it with the client and get signed and counter signed buy in.
  • Then I charge up to 50% up-front.  (_Before I started this I  was burned many times by clients who quit the project or disappeared.  This also helps weed out non-serious clients.  If they dont’ have a budget I can’t work with them. _)
  • Once the pre-payment is received work commences.
  • Once I reach the point where the pre-payment is consumed I go to a once-every-two-week billing schedule. (Any delinquency on payment stops work.)
  • I typically keep all of the work product on my own private Git to which the client has access, but I control it.  Again, I’ve been burned by clients who ‘ran away with the product’.

Finally, there are services out there that help you will all of this for a slice of the pie.  Consider those if handling all this on your own is too scary or too much work.

#4

roamminggamer, in the case of creative works like anaqim said,  i agree 100% with him. creative work can worth lots of money with few hours of work…but if you are not creative enought…you can work 10000 hours and your work will never be as good as the one made from a more creative person with a few hours.

in programming same thing could and should be applied, but  99% of the programmers go ONLY hours/work route. first because almost all are very bad in creative stuff…so most will do what they are told to do nothing more…second because they dont value the years of knowledge they aquire…so they only charge for the present time spented not for the quality of the product they will present…for example…after 4 years in corona, i can make any business app in less than 1 month, if i give to an internal the same project…they will build it in 7-9 months…i saw that already so this is not teory…if i would charge only for my work/hours spent…my app would be cheaper than my internal…and i know my app would be much more refined, faster and with less bugs. the accumulate knowledge and know out should be in the equation of any work. if not…you undervalue your work and the client will never pay the correct value. ofc the client could not have the money for what they should pay…in that case i prefer to lose the client than making the project only for the time spent…usually i suggest the client to employe a programmer them selfs…if they think the price is to high…the ones that go that route…they allways end paying more than what they would pay with me…and at the end…they always go back to me asking me to complete or remake the project…or doing new projects…i’m talking of personalize work ofc.

#5

@carloscosta,

WOT? - I’ll assume you typed that all in on your phone, but man what a wall of text.  Super hard to read. 

In short, I don’t really agree with you.  I do value knowledge acquired, but I don’t acquire knowledge by doing free work for clients.

I do agree, programmers are generally not artists and artists are generally not programmers… expand that to the 101 other skills a game/app developer needs (sound, UI/UX design, back-end servers, …) . 

I also don’t agree, because in the indie space you will find many “renaissance men and women” who have to gain these skills and more to stay in business.  i.e. They wear most if not all the hats.

After the programmer’s are no good at anything but walking a line part you kinda lost me.  I think you’re saying one should want to learn and take pride in producing better products in less time.  As well, one should ever strive to improve.  That all sounds good and I agree with the sentiment.

PS - I have done plenty of free and additional work for good clients, but clients that try to game the contract I drop like a hot rock when the project is done.  I care a lot about the good clients and will pour in hours, days, and weeks to make them successful. 

Good clients are those who communicate well, are honest & reliable, and (most important of all) value my time because they realize I’m doing this for a living too.

PPS - The funny thing about this conversation is I’m pretty much getting out of contracting anyways. :)  

#6

hi, not sure if this is the right forum for this kind of question but for what its worth, i used to do the same, only composing and recording music for ads, etc.

i got paid per project and it was often negotiated on a per project basis, since the conditions could be very different, hence the amount of work required.

dont think so much about time spent but focus on what your end result is worth to the customer. he shouldnt pay you for your time but for your skills.

best of luck

#7

While I agree in substance with what @anaqim said in the last statement, you must protect yourself from clients that waste your time or ask for late changes.  

For general game/app  contracting, I always charge clients by the hour, and I approach projects as follows:

  • I review the project requirements and write up a detailed hour and cost estimate.  The estimate includes all of the following:
    • Client input requirements.  Often the client must deliver me something first before I can work.  This may include specs, materials, art, etc.
    • Clear list of deliverables (the work product)
    • Clear list of milestones tied to hours.
    • Clear list of sign-off criteria (i.e. user must sign off on work as acceptable)
    • Testing time.  It is easy to forget that testing takes a long time and clients often assume you will do a lot of testing. 
    • Over-schedule clause - An acknowledgement that this is an estimate and may go over initial budget.  This clause includes details about how I will notify the client if we are going over schedule and what we will do if I do.
  • I review it with the client and get signed and counter signed buy in.
  • Then I charge up to 50% up-front.  (_Before I started this I  was burned many times by clients who quit the project or disappeared.  This also helps weed out non-serious clients.  If they dont’ have a budget I can’t work with them. _)
  • Once the pre-payment is received work commences.
  • Once I reach the point where the pre-payment is consumed I go to a once-every-two-week billing schedule. (Any delinquency on payment stops work.)
  • I typically keep all of the work product on my own private Git to which the client has access, but I control it.  Again, I’ve been burned by clients who ‘ran away with the product’.

Finally, there are services out there that help you will all of this for a slice of the pie.  Consider those if handling all this on your own is too scary or too much work.

#8

roamminggamer, in the case of creative works like anaqim said,  i agree 100% with him. creative work can worth lots of money with few hours of work…but if you are not creative enought…you can work 10000 hours and your work will never be as good as the one made from a more creative person with a few hours.

in programming same thing could and should be applied, but  99% of the programmers go ONLY hours/work route. first because almost all are very bad in creative stuff…so most will do what they are told to do nothing more…second because they dont value the years of knowledge they aquire…so they only charge for the present time spented not for the quality of the product they will present…for example…after 4 years in corona, i can make any business app in less than 1 month, if i give to an internal the same project…they will build it in 7-9 months…i saw that already so this is not teory…if i would charge only for my work/hours spent…my app would be cheaper than my internal…and i know my app would be much more refined, faster and with less bugs. the accumulate knowledge and know out should be in the equation of any work. if not…you undervalue your work and the client will never pay the correct value. ofc the client could not have the money for what they should pay…in that case i prefer to lose the client than making the project only for the time spent…usually i suggest the client to employe a programmer them selfs…if they think the price is to high…the ones that go that route…they allways end paying more than what they would pay with me…and at the end…they always go back to me asking me to complete or remake the project…or doing new projects…i’m talking of personalize work ofc.

#9

@carloscosta,

WOT? - I’ll assume you typed that all in on your phone, but man what a wall of text.  Super hard to read. 

In short, I don’t really agree with you.  I do value knowledge acquired, but I don’t acquire knowledge by doing free work for clients.

I do agree, programmers are generally not artists and artists are generally not programmers… expand that to the 101 other skills a game/app developer needs (sound, UI/UX design, back-end servers, …) . 

I also don’t agree, because in the indie space you will find many “renaissance men and women” who have to gain these skills and more to stay in business.  i.e. They wear most if not all the hats.

After the programmer’s are no good at anything but walking a line part you kinda lost me.  I think you’re saying one should want to learn and take pride in producing better products in less time.  As well, one should ever strive to improve.  That all sounds good and I agree with the sentiment.

PS - I have done plenty of free and additional work for good clients, but clients that try to game the contract I drop like a hot rock when the project is done.  I care a lot about the good clients and will pour in hours, days, and weeks to make them successful. 

Good clients are those who communicate well, are honest & reliable, and (most important of all) value my time because they realize I’m doing this for a living too.

PPS - The funny thing about this conversation is I’m pretty much getting out of contracting anyways. :)