Getting PAID: What to ask for?

[Digital Backlot]

I'm interested in doing digital mattes for film. What is the going rate. Obviously experience helps and track record can improve your rates but if you have no track record but can paint good mattes then what do you base your fee on.

Time?
Size of the image?
how complex the scene is to paint?
Is there a larger fee if you add in 3D models or camera moves?

I want #'s not just an opinion or generalities... otherwise how does this help anyone

preferably from someone who has actually made money doing mattes...

[alasdair-m]

I am also interested in doing matte painting for film. Last year I went for an interview, just after leaving uni (where I did 3D animation) and aimed for a matte painting position. Basically, with no experience they laughed at me. I eventually got to know my place and became a roto prep artist, kind of proving that I can paint a bit I am now building up the courage to go and speak to the head of the matte painters to see if he will give me some stuff to do. As far as pay is concerned much of the industry, well in London anyway, runs through freelance workers. So you decide your pay and they will either agree or disagree with it depending largley on how good they think you are. Hope this answers some questions. Cheers :shock:

[Muni]

you need to charge for

1)complexity of scene(includes pixel dimension)

2)any additional matchmove or camera projection or compositing

3)timeframe

it's really hard to give a price because everone has different skills and experience. But when I started and had no experience I did things for very cheap just to get it my resume. If you're really serious about matte painting, go to a matte painting company. DO NOT freelance if you're a complete beginner. You need to learn from different people.

[anthonyBloor]

just be cheeky, I have done very little, but i did one piece of dmp/3d, a high res landscape.

I put a really high price forward expecting to be knocked down to about 20% of what i asked for. When they offered me about 70%, i was pretty pleased, It was an extreamly well paid job because the company was a massive international buisness.

If i had opened my mough just a few seconds earlier, i could have lost thousands! Its rare that being quiet in this job is an advantage but in negotiation, letting the client speak can often be the most profitable option.

[Digital Backlot]

this is the thing, I appriciate the help and advice and with all due respect, it's really not telling me anything. I mean 70% of what?

for all I know it could be 70% of $1,000 or 70% of $15,000

you don't want to say just any number to a potential client just to get a laugh. I have no bar to measure it by. what is the wide range?

is a film resolution matte worth 2K or 20K or more?

I know it's up to the person, and experience, and what a production company is willing to pay but seriously... we're not talking beanie babies here, it production work, surely there are some standard pricing markers out there.

anyone? numbers please.

[anthonyBloor]

I see your point, and I had exactly the same problem, (I however i'm sure you will understand i can't discuss indevidual prices, because there is (as far as i know) no set price and I would charge wildly different prices, even for similar work, so if i ever said what I charged one company a fraction of the cost of anouther i would be in trouble :D . but Its really a guessing game as to what your client can afford.

[Digital Backlot]

I understand this of course, so I'm contacting Matteworld to see what they have to say about it.

[Andz]

I usualy try to charge my work by the hour. I calculate how much time I`ll take to complete the task.

And depending on the client, I`ll put in extra hours just to be on the safe side... some clients are harder to work with.

(sorry for my english)

[Muni]

I understand this of course, so I'm contacting Matteworld to see what they have to say about it.

Forget about how much to charge. In my experience, nobody will even talk to you about freelancing if you're new to the industry(no matter how awesome your reel). Therefore knowing how much to charge is irrelevent. What you might want to do is find an entry level matte painter at a company. It will probably not pay much but will get your foot through the door.Hope this helps.

M