rockyshepheard Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 (edited) I would like some feedback on obtaining work while I am learning CA. I currently have an architect friend who sends me a job or two every few months but that does not keep me busy. I usually complete a job in a week and charge $150-300. Is that too little? I currently only do the exterior, no interior. Just an image so buyers and builders can bett visualize the structure in 3D. I need to make a little money over and above these jobs as supplemental income. Taking it to an absurd extreme to better explain my question... someone says ‘i’ll give you $50 if you send me a nice rendering of a room with some antique furniture in it.” Or, “I’ll give you $100 to do a first floor 3D layout.” Attached are the three jobs I have done in CA so far. Thanks and Happy New Year. Edited January 1, 2019 by rockyshepheard add image Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidJames Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 44 minutes ago, rockyshepheard said: I would like some feedback on obtaining work while I am learning CA. I currently have an architect friend who sends me a job or two every few months but that does not keep me busy. I usually complete a job in a week and charge $150-300. Is that too little? It depends on where you live and what the going rate is, but you should be charging no less than $50 an hour. Anything less is just a waste of time. If I have a client that has contacted me for renovation or new construction drawings, I typically charge anywhere from $1.50 to $3.00 per square foot. Dont be afraid to quote what you feel your time is worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javatom Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 You will go broke at that rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Have a look at Jintu's Site as one example of pricing for Renders etc, (per view,not Drawing) but definitely not charging enough I'd say, but you are also learning Chief currently and depending on your market you may have to balance some of that against losing the work altogether, if they think you are charging too much. The Time log built into each drawing should give you an idea on how many hours it is taking which may help you work out a better Rate too. http://www.jintudesigns.com/3d-rendering-prices.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockyshepheard Posted January 1, 2019 Author Share Posted January 1, 2019 JavaTom...I am semi-retired. I invented the world’s first vegan egg yolk (www.thevegg.com) and sold the company. I am doing this for artistic satisfaction, keeping busy and supplementing my income, I only invested 5k in the software and a desktop computer so no danger of going broke. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gawdzira Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Vegan eggs? And you don't live in California? I am confused. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtldesigns Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Now that's funny Alan... Going to have to look this up.. I am confused also on the vegan egg thing. Your houses look nice, have you tried the Ray trace or Physical Based Renders yet? Make's it more realistic. I'm glad your keeping the artistic juices flowing, very important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javatom Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 So your previous experience to architectural cad work is inventor of vegan egg substitutes? What could possibly go wrong? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockyshepheard Posted January 1, 2019 Author Share Posted January 1, 2019 JavaTom Egg-axctly! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockyshepheard Posted January 1, 2019 Author Share Posted January 1, 2019 Mtldesigns Thanks...just a newbie but I love a good challenge. I have tried the CA renderer. I like the end result but some prefer the crispness of non-rendered. Plus you don’t have to wait all day for the end result.whatever the customer wants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javatom Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 I would make one minor suggestion. Since you are not doing any interiors. Set your 3D views to have opague windows. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gawdzira Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 I would suggest using Jintu's website as a rendering classroom. Study the camera angles and field of view of his shots. The angle of the sun can be a deal breaker too. You are pushing the distortion a little hard for my eye. One of the main elements that brings up the quality are textures. A great stucco or grass texture goes a long way. Once you start to build up your texture library it will be minor adjustments to get you to stronger presentations. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockyshepheard Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 Right, but my problem is getting any work. Should I advertise on Craigslist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 6 minutes ago, KervinHomeDesign said: Remember that not everyone has the skills to do what we do. ...and some of us don't even have the skills to do what we do : ) Seriously. This is one of the reasons I always cringe a little when I hear or read people make broad statements like "you should be charging more" when they have no idea whether or not the person is actually worth that. You know and I know that there are "professionals" here that could be charging $15.00 an hour and might be way overpriced and there are others who could be charging $100.00 an hour and might be the true bargain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockyshepheard Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 Emphasis on "small". I work so I don't eat through it in a few years paying bills. I'd at least like to get back the 5k I invested in the computer and CA software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvoyeDesign Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 7 minutes ago, Alaskan_Son said: ...and some of us don't have the skills to do what we do : ) Seriously. This is one of the reasons I always cringe a little when I hear or read people make broad statements like "you should be charging more" when they have no idea whether or not the person is actually worth that. You know and I know that there are "professionals" here that could be charging $15.00 an hour and might be way overpriced and there are others who could be charging $100.00 an hour and might be the true bargain. I deleted the post you quoted as I hadn't read further and saw more information I needed to consider, just for anyone looking for my post where this is quoted. I didn't realize this was a hot thread or I would have just edited my post. To respond to what you say here, a lot of people I've talked to didn't know what they were worth for a very long time. The ability to put together a quality rendering in chief is no small task. A lot of times people become competent and don't recognize that they are still charging bottom dollar, and it burns them out and they quit before their time. People are encouraging others to take a look at what they are worth and considering whether they could charge more. I don't see a problem with that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvoyeDesign Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 2 minutes ago, rockyshepheard said: Emphasis on "small". I work so I don't eat through it in a few years paying bills. I'd at least like to get back the 5k I invested in the computer and CA software. I deleted that comment because I misread your post on the sale of your idea. Sorry, if I had realized the thread was active right now I'd have edited it. I missed the part where you were trying to make supplimentary income and my comment reflected that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockyshepheard Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 My opinion is that anyone who has a CA license has an inherent value more so than one who does not. Therefore, even with minimal skills they should be able to find a niche to be of service to a customer who might find others out of their price range. It is just a matter of making the connection. I am willing to work twice as many hours as most on this forum, for half the price...free market principles, yes? I wouldn't do a ton of this, but just a few gigs to keep busy and further hone my skills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 18 minutes ago, KervinHomeDesign said: I deleted the post you quoted as I hadn't read further and saw more information I needed to consider, just for anyone looking for my post where this is quoted. I didn't realize this was a hot thread or I would have just edited my post. To respond to what you say here, a lot of people I've talked to doidn't know what they were worth for a very long time. The ability to put together a quality rendering in chief is no small task. A lot of times people become competent and don't recognize that they are still charging bottom dollar, and it burns them out and they quite before their time. People are encouraging others to take a look at what they are worth and considering whether they could charge more. I don't see a problem with that. Of course not. I wasn't actually disagreeing with anything YOU said. It's mostly statements like "...you should be charging no less than $50 an hour" that I was referring to. It really depends on how good you are at what you do. I've had several people over the years ask me what I charge so they can charge the same thing and its almost invariably someone who was just getting into the field. I've always taken a small measure of offense at their notion that they could/should immediately charge what I do even though they're half as fast, and not nearly as experienced. Bottom line is that you we can all obviously make a decision as to what we think we're worth and we can get an idea of what the "going rate" is, but the reality is that there is an exceedingly broad range when it comes to value and what we should be charging. If you charge $50 an hour and take 2 days to produce a medium quality rendering and Jintu produces an absolutely stunning rendering of the same project in 4 hours and charges $600 who is the better deal? And when a customer sees the price/quality difference who is going to get the next job? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcowscarnival Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Drumming up work is an age-old problem. What is the manufactured home market like in your area? Here it is a fairly significant market, a largely rural area. I know of a local dealer has elevations made up for each of their sales for the final plan to the client, a thing also required by building codes. The manufacturer does not provide the elevations, just the plan layout. The particular dealer pays a local draftsman to draw up elevations in a some cad program, as far as I can tell not a "smart" cad program for $150 a pop. I raced one day and was able to successfully create the elevation outputs in CA in about an hour. Now, mfg. homes dealers are notoriously cheap, and the $150 is probably the most those guys would go, and they might not want or need the 3D rendering stuff. However, the homes are also no longer the piddly sticks they used to be, they are a quality better than code item, and people are becoming more "demanding" of realistic drawings to help them visualize the final product. There might be a there there. And what if... Say you become a well-known name and lots of people want the renderings. Maybe climb that ladder and talk to some of the actual manufacturers. They have drafting departments, but their focus is on the building output, not visual. Maybe you offer them an added value of providing quick, effective (and customizable for down-stream clients) models at some bulk rate. You'd have access to a CAD file to quickly import, trace, drop in items and auto build a fairly basic roof. /ideas off EDIT: as a volume comparison, I believe that local dealer is running through 80-100 units a year. It is definitely a high time for them, and nothing to make a living off of, but certainly walking cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcowscarnival Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Kbird, that Jintu stuff is certainly amazing. Is that what CA is capable of in the hands of an advanced user, or are there a lot of custom blocks/items in their designs (if you know)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockyshepheard Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 Probably lots of Photoshop as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbird1 Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 15 minutes ago, madcowscarnival said: Kbird, that Jintu stuff is certainly amazing. Is that what CA is capable of in the hands of an advanced user, or are there a lot of custom blocks/items in their designs (if you know)? Chiefer (Jintu) has been doing it many years and is an Expert in Rendering and also uses other Rendering Programs such as Lumion and Thea Render, most of his current X10 Work is labelled with PBR if that is how he did it , like in his Chief Album/Gallery....... M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockyshepheard Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 Lumion is an impressive program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renerabbitt Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 1 hour ago, rockyshepheard said: Hats off to you for diving in... I offer rendering services, which can be really hard to sell. Create a LOD(level-of-detail) tier structure. This gives you the flexibility to better adjust prices to meet a clients need. Finding quality textures is a must-have Level 1 can be a simple model with simple terrain and simple textures: Level 2 can include additional landscaping and better textures: Level 3 can includes neighboring structure, additional landscaping and hardscaping and environment effects: Level 4 can be superimposing structure in an existing exterior. Level 5 is modelled in CA and rendered externally 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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