Paying asset makers

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NachtIntellect
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Paying asset makers

Post by NachtIntellect »

Hi everyone now it has been suggested to me to open up dialogue about this, all while Zdoom staff as I have talked to have no issues with people paying for assets in order to further their own project. One question comes up that I can't exactly get an answer from most people I have talked to regarding this unless put out public and that question is, how much is the right/fair amount to pay for someone to produce assets for your project? And the project I am of course talking about is a Zdoom project.

I am just going to say I am no expert in this field so I am going to ask upon to all of you who view this, I feel like it may vary from person to person and also depending on the person who is making those assets. All while I have no problem with people using resources from any project I create the asset creators may say "look you paid for this, I made it for your project, no-one else should be using it" it is understandable that Ion Maiden is protected from people using resources without permission as that is a product that is being sold.
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Matt
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Re: Paying asset makers

Post by Matt »

Based on what I've heard...

1. Take a guess how long it reasonably should take.
2. Multiply that number by 10, because Dunning-Kruger.
3. Convert that number to number of hours and multiply by 10 again.

That is a very rough guesstimate at how much you'd pay someone if they didn't know any better and accepted minimum wage. Multiply by how many times above minimum wage you think your artist deserves.
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eharper256
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Re: Paying asset makers

Post by eharper256 »

You can throw offers out to artists and makers in general in the hopes of gathering interest.

Basically, be upfront about what you want, and what you can afford, and most often, people will correct you with a reasonable price if its not acceptable.

But yes, think about how long your project would take in man-hours. Multiply that by HOW MUCH YOU would ask for in a hour if YOU were skilled in that field. Would you accept less than minimum wage? I'm sure you wouldn't without serious circumstances.

I recently hired an artist to the tune of $500 for a relatively intensive but not high-detail set of black and white lineart illustrations; I made this price acceptable by also waiving my right to the illustrations besides use in my work, and by offering an effectively unlimited timescale. Colour will always set you back more. Details even more. Harsh timescales far more. Very skilled or famous people cost premium whereas people looking to set out afresh will accept lower salaries so they can expand their portfolio. I don't know how this affects CAD and pixelart people, but I imagine similar things apply.

Whatever you do, write a contract with your expectations in Word. Give it basic legalise terminology (i.e. "Section 1.1- This document pertains to Person A, whom shall henceforce be known as the Artist, and Person B, who shall be known as the Contractor. Section 1.2- This document sets out the terms of the contract between the artist and the contractor") And so on and so forth. Most artists expect this.
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