Delivery times.............

[lunarbluestudio 0]

So is it really out of the question to tell a client that you need at least 2 weeks to complete a 4 minute animation video??

[dan_hin 0]

No.

[the_Monkey 8]

I've worked on a :60 sec spot for 2 months.

It's all relative to the final quality.

 

-m

[anothername 0]

Um...it really depends on what's in the video. I've spent anywhere from four hours to four months to complete four minutes of finished work.

[Fred Camino 0]

No. But your timeline should be based on factors that you can easily explain to the client

[daveglanz 0]

Fred's right - you need to be able to break down the project to explain why it'll take that long. Your potential client may have had someone pump something out that fast for them before. That studio might have had more people, more resources, etc.

 

 

I would ask to see an example of what they expect to see within a certain timeline, and be realistic with what you can provide for their budget.

[Nick Campbell 0]

It's up to you as the designer to know how long this will take and explain it to the client. Most clients have no idea. Maybe two weeks is fine for this job, maybe it's ridiculous. But, only you know the factors involved. Things like your skill level, the scope of the animation, the clients ability to give prompt feedback and things mentioned by others above all come in to consideration. It's not an easy thing to do, but in the end, it's only up to you to decide what you can deliver and how long it takes.

 

Under Promise. Over Deliver.

[Aaron Scott 0]

Under Promise. Over Deliver.

 

These are words to live by.

[lunarbluestudio 0]

Great advice guys, thanks!

[kitkats 0]

I've been using a time-tracking app for the last 12 months or so with the idea of getting a clearer picture of the work hours (and billing) per second of content produced on different types of job. Idea being I end up with a go-to scale in my mind for when I'm discussing initial ballparks with clients. But it should also be a useful enough business analytics tool whenever I find time to take a look at that side of things.

[florio 0]

I've worked on a :60 sec spot for 2 months.

It's all relative to the final quality.

 

Yeah I've worked on 30 second spots for 6+ weeks ... Depending on what your doing (3d or 2d) it can vary the amount of time you'll need. If you need x amount of time to do something, make sure you get x amount of time or make sure the client knows the project will suffer.

 

Hope this helps

~Florio

[lunarbluestudio 0]

Thanks for the input Kitkats and florio!

[son.of.simon 0]

Don't forget to give yourself a contingency on time as well, you could always run into problems along the way. And don't forget about time for notes. It may take you 3 1/2 weeks to complete, don't be afraid to tell the client that it takes as long as it does. Don't set expectations that put you in a bind or are unachievable.

[mintyfresh 0]

what simon said. beat me to it. factor in a buffer for that typically slow last 5% of the way

 

the trick is how to distribute that buffer. its hard to write into a budget - so in a way every hours rate should have that in there or you should estimate an extra .3 of hours or so...

 

but its all about trust and communicating well with the client from the beginning

[jon 0]

... the clients ability to give prompt feedback...

 

 

THIS diamond will be a major player in blowing your timeline estimations out of the water.