Welcome to my pricing guide for animation work!
further explanations follow below...



1. Let me follow up on the above calculator with a few explanations.
  • I configured the above calculator to express rising costs within the 1-3 minute mark as complexity and workload increases but diminishing costs for long term projects / long duration projects as they might entail reusing relevant content and assets (meaning, non-linear pricing).
  • The current hourly rate is 64$/h covering living expenses, program and hardware costs (including hardware failure [at 3D stress levels = increased risk]), music & soundeffect costs, website hosting, donations for freeware (used on projects), electricity, healtcare and so fourth.
  • The complexity level is a subjectively weighted input derived from experience which might or might not work out as estimated in the “Initial Estimate”, meaning the final costs could be lower or higher depending on many variables. It does provide a very good first idea though.
  • FYI: I built the calculator via the fantastic site: www.calconic.com (not sponsored)

2. Services Requested
Professional animation goes far beyond simply animating your video out of the box. Here are a few examples to consider which can factor into the overall pricing:

  • Concepting & Strategy. Do you have a firm idea for your project, or would you like the studio to produce the concept and strategy for your project?
  • Scripting & Storyboarding. Do you have a sound script in place? Both scripting & storyboarding can be a challenging task usually requiring the involvement of a creative director, concept artist, and an illustrator. Most of the times these only factor in for very large projects and whilst storyboarding can help in a smaller 3D animation projects, it isn’t a requirement.
  • Voice Over. Professional voice talent and recording will add to your video cost. Of course, you always want to ensure your videos will feature high quality audio.
  • Animation, Compositing and Editing
  • Music & Sound Effects. Creating custom soundtracks or purchasing rights to music can be costly. Usually I take care of music and SFX (soundeffects) via stock music and sound effects libraries such as “Soundly” or “Freesounds”.
  • Deadline. Another factor that can impact the overall cost is your expected deadline. The tighter your requested turnaround, the more expensive your video can become—especially if you need the studio to rush the project faster than their typical turnaround time.
  • Revisions. While most studios will have some revisions priced into the project, change requests beyond key stages in your project will likely add to your cost:
  • Currency Conversion Fees, Money transfer rates and platform fees also factor into the overall pricing. 

Naturally the more services requested from the animation studio, the greater the final cost of your video will be.

3. You’re ready to work with me? Here are some details which might be important to you
  • First of all: Great!
  • I’m using Blender (ww.blender.org) for most of my projects.
  • Please specify your desired framerate and resolution! Recommended: 1080p (1920x1080 Pixels), 24fps. Higher resolutions and framerates can prove to be more challenging and add to the overall costs, though both might be mitigated by AI tools that I’m using.
  • I’m able to import files from external sources such as: .stp/.step + .obj + .fbx + .stl and more as described here: https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/files/import_export.html
  • Do you have a preferred communications platform ? (Whatsapp, MS Teams, Slack, etc.)!

I hope this animation cost guide has helped you define your budget for your project!