Source
r/3Dmodeling•
downcore

I'm unsure what to charge a client for 3D model and rendering of a home for real estate use.

Hello there. I have a question regarding what to charge a client.

They want one still image 3D colour rendering of a home. They provided the 2D blueprints for the home and asked for just a front exterior view they can use on a real estate listing site.

These are examples of what the quality they'd like:

Example 1

Example 2

The client doesn't have a model for me, I would have to create that myself from scratch.

This client is a regular, but this is the first time I will have created anything 3D for them. I'm relatively new to 3D modeling/rendering.

I'm not sure how or what to charge. I don't want to overcharge them but I also would like to avoid undercharging. They haven't stated a budget.

I've looked it up online, and everything I am seeing is $500 for unrealistic renderings to $5000+ for photolike quality. I've also seen some people on freelancing websites charging as low as $70 per image. This feels a little too low, but I am not sure.

Would charging by the hour be best? Or a flat fee? Would anyone be able to give me a ballpark figure of what would be fair to charge?

I'm quite confused! Any help at all is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Posted May 16, 2015, 7:37 PM UTC

213
Lowmondo•

Do you have a day rate?

2
downcoreOP•

Sorry about the late reply. No I currently don't use a day rate. Is this more common with in the rendering world? What would be a normal rate?

1
HyenaGunk•

You'd be surprised at what the industry charges, make sure you have a defined contract written out or it can come back and mess you up. We normally charge £1000 for a day of work.

2
downcoreOP•

Thank you very much. A contract is definitely a good idea.

1
CaptainPain•

I would probably charge 3-400 for a rendering like that. that's if I have an architectural modeler like chief architect or Revit. If you don't have one of those you are going to have a bad time.

1
HyenaGunk•

I disagree you won't need anything like revit for this, if the client only wants a visual revit is definitely a bad idea. 3DS or even sketchup will be perfect for this and only model what you will show in the visual. Do not over model it, I would base render and use Photoshop to postprocess to speed up the process. I would charge a flat out fee if I knew what I was going to put into the project.

Source: I'm a modelling tech specialising in architecture.

2
CaptainPain•

just to clarify, are you saying you can model a house faster in 3DS than you can in revit or some other architectural modeler such as chief architect?

2
monkeydatum•

You don't need revit for something like this. I'd charge 400-600 per render. Way more if they want to purchase the actual model and have someone else render.

2
CaptainPain•

no you don't need it. but its a better tool for the job than a polygon modeler.

2
monkeydatum•

A better tool for visualization renders is a high end 3D package. A BIM system is a bit of overkill for a simple model, plus most big boy 3D packages have excellent and precise modeling tools and have fantastic built in rendering capabilities.

BIM is primarily used for documentation that includes infrastructure/systems and is geared towards developing DD's and CD's, usually among a group of people. That being said, yes, you could model it in BIM, but it's a bit like bringing a bazooka to a knife-fight. Most arch viz firms use 3DS Max because it plays nice with imported data, but also is very precise should you need to build it from scratch.

2
CaptainPain•

meh that may be so, but i would still build it in an architectural modeler, export to max and render it there. its probably due to the fact that every time i try to build an architectural project from scratch in max i want to punch babies. lol I'm also partial to Bazookas.

i'd prefer to leverage the speed of revit with the rendering of max. i guess that's just my preference.

2
downcoreOP•

This is really helpful for me! Thanks for responding.

1