I have plenty of paid work coming in, because of how few people there is who cannot only create these characters from scratch, but also do them in a timely fashion, that would make building them for other people a feasible thing, I often end up with clients, waiting in queue 3,4,6 months before I can get to them. And I have had some very understanding and patient clients, that's a good thing but I really feel bad because its not something they deserve, and the reason they are purchasing these things is because they need them ASAP, and not in 6 months etc.
It's one thing for people to learn to make these characters, those people who do. They who do pretty much just do it for themselves because they need them for their own work. They don't attempt to do them for others as a service because of the perceived notion that its so difficult. BUT it really isn't, its actually VERY easy. I have developed tools and techniques that allow me to create highly advanced character in less than a week. A normal, simple character like Saul, in less than a day.
Anyhee, I doesn't really help me to have all this paid work to offer if your abilities are not up to par for doing the work that's being requested. On average I charge $650 per character, (Im actually gonna go cheaper now that the work is getting even easier).
But think about this, if a character takes a person 100 hours to produce (10 hours per angle) that's basically about $6.50 per hour...you mind as well be working at McDonalds flipping burgers where it actually pays better and the work is less demanding.
So what I'm looking to do is personally train a few people with my tools and techniques so they can produce these characters quickly and efficiently. So that the amount of time it takes them to produce quality work is reasonable. If you can built a character in 24 work hours, which is very feasible then at my current rate your basically earning the equivalent of about $27/ hr.
So the thing is for a person who can learn to do it my way, it a really good thing, the paying work is there. It world certainly help me get rid of my queue and provide my clients a speedier turn around. Cause for me it's not so much the amount of time a character takes, the reason they are taking so long is simple because they are waiting in queue for me to get to them.
But I'm not gonna pay someone to let me teach them how to do it, because that really doesn't benefit me in any way.
So its one of those things where my offer is out there, if someone is really interested in learning and hopefully help me unload some of this work as soon as they are ready, then that's what I want to do. We all win. My clients, the apprentice(s), and me.
Ibis Fernandez | (available for hire)
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Professional Animator, Filmmaker | Creator of the highest quality (modular) G2 rigs for cartoon animator and developer of Toon Titan and Puppet Producer
Author of Flash Animation and Cartooning: A Creative Guide
>>> be sure to check out http://toontitan.com for professional grade assets, templates, and custom tools for Cartoon Animator and more.
Edited
8 Years Ago by
Ibis Fernandez