Crucial aspects that affect the price of any 3D project

“What makes the price in the quote like that?” Whenever you have a project, you start to plan your budget for it, estimate the costs, do research on the companies and collect the quotes. In the 3D industry, prices may vary sharply, and they depend on many internal and external factors. However, some of them are very common and have a key game-changer character in terms of pricing. In our opinion, there are three of them: time, delivered project materials, and complexity. What we would like to exhibit in this article, is to explain how and why particular factors may change the price for any 3D project. Time

Time was always one of the most important factors. Especially in case of tight deadlines, when there is a very high chance the team will work overtime or during the weekends, which of course should be paid additionally. In case the project deadline allows us to work longer, we build the workflow in our regular way, but when we have a strict deadline, the workflow has to be significantly changed (for example, more people should work on the project simultaneously). This may cause a price increase, especially, when the price is calculated by the estimated hours predicted and if the result should be highly-realistic. It requires twice of effort.

Project documentation

Many studios do not have a stable price list and prepare the quotes individually for every project. Project documentation is the foundation, as based on that the price is calculated. The more detailed information about the project we have, the easier it is for us to determine the best price for it. If we don’t have enough project details, we are able to give only price estimations “from-to”. Project materials are the core for pricing establishment. Having the whole scope also allows counting the amount of time needed for the project, and its complexity. One of the good examples is when the client has a 3D model ready. When the model is good, it can definitely influence the price level, as our team doesn’t have to model it from the scratch, so one of the stages is partially excluded. That is why we always recommend having a full project brief with a detailed and coherent description of what is needed.Project Complexity

In terms of complexity, we would suggest going deeper into the topic, as here it is important to mention all possible project types and show the differences among them. What are possible factors of the interior, that might influence the price?

To make the long story short, let’s list them at the beginning:

– The modelling of additional custom furniture;

– Additional complex details, like frescoes or arches, ledges with detailed volumetric ornamentation;

– Visible exterior view from windows;

First, it is specifically customized furniture, which is part of the interior. If so, the additional time for the modelling process should be considered. Creating the furniture from scratch may increase the price of the interior. Sometimes, it is crucial to show what is visible through windows, or terrace/ balcony view. At that stage, the photorealistic exterior should be made. This type of project is mixed, and it is important to mention that the creation of the exterior model usually takes more time than the interior. Some other elements also require more time for the modelling process.For the Exterior project, we have to take into consideration the next factors:

– the territory to model around the buildings;

– the bird’s eye view;

– the 3D model availability.

When the project requires a bird’s-eye view, which often includes a huge plot of land with other houses, lakes, streets, or high-ways around it – it automatically tells us that the scale of the area is much bigger in comparison with the human-eye level visualization. More details, nature around, size of the territory nearby require more work than for the usual render. The situation when we have a 3D model provided by the client, (or, it is important to say the model has a good quality to work with, with the correct geometry) on the contrary, may improve the workflow because there is no need to model from scratch. Anyway, getting the 3D model can be a great essential before the start of the project.3D animation is the next type of project, that frequently goes hand in hand with interior and exterior projects, to make a fly-over of the investments and create the walkthrough feeling inside the rooms. If animation is part of an existing project, the price will depend on the number of seconds.

For product visualizations, we would highlight 2 factors:

– complexity of the product itself;

– the environment;

When this is only the product packshot, it is usually about the white or one-colored background and proper shadows. For that type of project, the product’s volume and detailing would be vital in terms of the price. To give an example – let’s imagine the sofa. This sofa has a high-quality velvet fabric, volumetric carving on the side legs, and a non-standard shape. All those details will increase the time and amount of work, compared to the standard sofa. And now, imagine you want to place this sofa into a super fancy interior style. As you might guess, such a change in the environment will also be a factor.

We think it will be very helpful to keep in mind those factors while preparing the project and waiting for the pricing. With that, you can always assess what may affect the price rise in your particular project. As always, we hope this article will be helpful and warmly invite you to read other articles in our blog, which are full of useful 3D industry knowledge.

The images featured in this post are all the Viscato’s projects and you can see all of them in our Portfolio section. If any of the projects are inspirational for you, feel free to contact us at contact@viscato.com