Does anyone have tips for hiring an artist to do concept art and 3D models? I recently came across some extra money that I want to use to hire an artist, but I’ve never hired one.
What’s a typical pay for concept art and for 3D models?
What about a combination of royalties and pay?
How do I ensure I get what I paid for and its satisfactory?
And what should I have prepared for the artist?
Thanks for any tips!
-Spoken
Almost impossible to give a general range. It will depend on scope of project, requirements,area skill level of the artist. Your best bet would be to put together all the specs and requirements and get several some quotes. Concept art in particular has a wide range depending on needs/use. Since often the goal of concept art is a back and forth to determine direction, just commissioning concepts can be tricky, since ultimately you are actually paying for ideas and not really finished pieces. Also concept ranges from very rough exploratory ideas to nearly finalized direction.
Working with a concept artist(s) works best when you have good relationship and know what each other expects. Best to small very small with someone new, and determine if it will work out. It is a different working relationship than with commissioning final art.
Knowing what you want in the end will help the artist give you an accurate estimate.
Will depend on the artist. Typically professionals won’t, but you may find someone that will. Often artists in school/new/hobbiests will be more willing to do something like that, but even then it will probably depend on whether or not they believe in your idea/project. Best bet, just ask.
First make sure that you are providing them with as much detail as they need to execute what you want. Part of what an artist does (concept or production) is fill in details. If you give them enough details, there shouldn’t be too many surprises.
Check their portfolio, ensure that have expereince in providing you what you are asking them to do.
And most importantly, start small. At first just one task at a time. That way if for any reason it isn’t working out, you haven’t committed too much time or expense. This also benefits the artist, sometimes people just don’t work together well, regardless of skill/knowledge.
As much as possible. More detail is better than less (at least at first). The details of the game and how the assets will be used (for final assets). For concepting, anything you feel is relevant to what you want to see in the end. Existing art/designs that show the direction you are going for.
To add to zombiegorilla’s post, you should always have a written contract when dealing with money to save your back.
Speak to a lawyer, because if you want to do it professionally and protect both parties you’ll need a balanced and thorough contract that deals with topics including but not limited to rights assignment ( specifically copyright and moral rights ), legal jurisdiction, indemnity, payment terms ( including who pays currency conversion charges in each country if applicable ), and termination ( say in the event of non performance ). You’ll also want to include a clause whereby the freelancer warrants the work they submit is their own, and what happens in the event there is a third party claim arising because of their work. Finally, include a statement of work as an addendum to the contract.
Without a proper contract, you open yourself up to commercial risk. Things do occasionally go wrong, and having a robust but fair contract in place saves a lot of headaches.
You’ll also want to check with your local Revenue Service. In the UK for example freelancers can be classed as employees and give rise to a tax liability on the business.
@Zombie’s answer was pretty comprehensive however his last point is more what you’d expect as a artist but not what you actually get.
To elaborate, on the occasion when I do preproduction for a studio (not always game developers) they send me about three sentences, a .pdf containing the orientation packet and thats about it. If i’m lucky ill get a Skype call from the preproduction lead but its rare, especially with a large team of multiple departments. The bureaucracy is unbelievable but I suppose thats understandable when creative licences are involved in commercial projects. We usually find ourselves part of a herd of prepro, eating, painting and defecating where we stand. At least we’re with our own kind.
In your case @OutSpoken, please send on as much info as possible, face-to-face Skype chats are also useful and greatly appreciated. Just remember that this isn’t the normal way its done so if you find your hired artist trying to kiss you you know why.
@Games Foundry, if your clear and concise with your terms of employment then theres absolutely no need for a lawyer. While in certain circumstances (such as hiring an entire new department from another studio) this is advisable, its certainly not so if you’re hiring one or two artists. Too expensive and too tome-consuming. If you’re concerned about contracts then there are plenty of so called “contract advisors” that have a flat hourly rate which isn’t excessive.
All this said, I can only speak from personal experience. Also the only two departments I’ve (officially) worked in are preproduction and level design.
If you’re hiring a level designer its WHOLE different story.
Absolutely. Should be the number one point. And making sure that what is expected is clearly outlined in the contract.
Sadly, very often true. Hopefully since he is the one doing the contracting, he will take it to heart.
A challenge that comes up when trying to communicate cross disciplines, is language. Art/visual communication is a perfect example of this. For example, you are looking for a specific style and have a pretty clear picture in your head and tell your artist “it needs to look gothic”. You may not get what you expected. Usually a visual artist will have some background in art/architecture/design and Gothic has a specific meaning. Though commonly people use the term “gothic” when they mean “macabre”. That is just one example, there are many others (steampunk has wide spectrum as well). Providing images/reference/links will help reduce any differences in vision.
Meltdown’s tips for successful commercial collaboration…
1.) Look at any portfolios and contact any references. A gmail or yahoo address for a reference is not good enough. Make sure the reference is from a valid company with a domain and decent looking website. Ask a little about the project the company is working on etc.
2.) Get a quote for the complete job, and a seperate quote for a ‘sample’ to ascertain the quality of the work and how well you work and communicate with the artist/developer.
3.) If references check out and they have delivered a sample in a reasonable amount of time and made any neccessary changes until you are happy, start off with SMALL - CLEARLY DEFINED milestones with agreed DELIVERABLE DATES and COSTINGS. I would suggest no more than a week’s worth of work at a time to limit risk to both parties.
4.) As the business relationship increases and you begin to trust the other party, you can increase the length of the milestones. But always make sure to keep them CLEARLY DEFINED and with agreed DELIVERABLE DATES and COSTINGS.
Agree, for hiring an artist to do a bit of work, hiring a lawyer is overkill. Just get what you need in writing (email is good enough) so you know where you stand.
Typical pay varies a lot. You might find people willing to work for free, or really cheap (maybe like 20 bucks a model), and you’ll find people who want more than that per hour. Usually the more experienced/skilled the artist is…the more you will pay.
As for combinations of royalty and pay…some people might go for royalty…a lot of people wont. If you find a person who does a lot of freelance…they will get turned off if you offer royalty…because lets face it…a loooooot of games don’t get finished and the artist will never see any royalties.
A lot of the time freelancers want a portion of pay up front, then the rest when they are finished. Don’t give them all your money up front. Also, again…to get what you pay for and get satisfactory results…that usually falls into the “you get what you pay for” category…and you also gotta look at people’s portfolios, and their experience…this is where getting more experienced people is worth the higher cost.
You should have as much stuff as possible for the artist…reference, a description of what the asset does, technical specs, concepts, reference images. The more you give, the closer they will be to giving you what you want. A good, experienced freelancer will know to ask you for these things if you don’t provide them.
Hope this helps!
Thank you everyone for your advice!