What percentage for artist?
by Dean Ware · in General Discussion · 01/28/2007 (4:48 pm) · 9 replies
Hi there,
I am in the final stages of developing a word based 2D video game.
I am thinking about "hiring" an artist to clean up the artwork and come up with menus and backgrounds and such like. Maybe also designing a few simple levels.
I cannot afford to pay anything up front so am offering a percentage. Thing is I was wondering what sort of percentage.
I estimate that I have put around 3 to 4 thousand hours of time into this game. I expect the art and other duties to take maybe between 40 and 100 hours (its mostly 2D backgrounds and static characters)
This works out at around 1% to 2.5% of the hours I have put in.
I appreciate that I wont be getting someone to work for 1% of profits.
My question is, what sort of percentage should I offer?
The game is sure to complete (about a month left of programing work) and i have a good demo with programmer art.
Thanks for any replies
I am in the final stages of developing a word based 2D video game.
I am thinking about "hiring" an artist to clean up the artwork and come up with menus and backgrounds and such like. Maybe also designing a few simple levels.
I cannot afford to pay anything up front so am offering a percentage. Thing is I was wondering what sort of percentage.
I estimate that I have put around 3 to 4 thousand hours of time into this game. I expect the art and other duties to take maybe between 40 and 100 hours (its mostly 2D backgrounds and static characters)
This works out at around 1% to 2.5% of the hours I have put in.
I appreciate that I wont be getting someone to work for 1% of profits.
My question is, what sort of percentage should I offer?
The game is sure to complete (about a month left of programing work) and i have a good demo with programmer art.
Thanks for any replies
About the author
#2
01/28/2007 (6:01 pm)
In my experience... 15% to 25%
#3
01/28/2007 (6:06 pm)
Wow, 4000 hours? That's 40 hours per week for nearly 2 years. That's a lot of work!
#4
I have spent the last year working on it full time, some days nothing, some days 10 hours.
Honestly I reckon its around 2000 hours at the computer (I include research and learning in this time). The rest of the 3-4000 figure comes from all the time spent thinking about it.
01/28/2007 (6:21 pm)
Well, i have been "working on it" for about 4 years. Some weeks I haven't done anything on it. Some weeks I put in 40 hours. (Bear in mind that when i started there werent any "engines" I was dealing with DirectX. )I have spent the last year working on it full time, some days nothing, some days 10 hours.
Honestly I reckon its around 2000 hours at the computer (I include research and learning in this time). The rest of the 3-4000 figure comes from all the time spent thinking about it.
#5
Generally taking a job from someone who can't pay for work is extremely risky. That risk would have to be mitigated with a large royalty share.
If it's a word based game, this sounds like a special case, where art won't play much of a part. But being word based, it likely won't make a whole lot of money, so an artist will want more of the back end.
-Weston
01/28/2007 (6:59 pm)
I'd say it depends quite a bit on how much experience the artist has. If a contractor can go out and get a paying gig, then the percentage of the back end will have to be pretty high. Especially if you haven't ever shipped a game.Generally taking a job from someone who can't pay for work is extremely risky. That risk would have to be mitigated with a large royalty share.
If it's a word based game, this sounds like a special case, where art won't play much of a part. But being word based, it likely won't make a whole lot of money, so an artist will want more of the back end.
-Weston
#6
I have spent the last year working on it full time, some days nothing, some days 10 hours.
Honestly I reckon its around 2000 hours at the computer (I include research and learning in this time). The rest of the 3-4000 figure comes from all the time spent thinking about it.
01/28/2007 (7:22 pm)
Well, i have been "working on it" for about 4 years. Some weeks I haven't done anything on it. Some weeks I put in 40 hours. (Bear in mind that when i started there werent any "engines" I was dealing with DirectX. )I have spent the last year working on it full time, some days nothing, some days 10 hours.
Honestly I reckon its around 2000 hours at the computer (I include research and learning in this time). The rest of the 3-4000 figure comes from all the time spent thinking about it.
#8
01/28/2007 (8:19 pm)
Half!
#9
Your best bet is probably to save all the pennies and dimes you find around town, and maybe a portion of your profits from work, and offer your potential artists money up front. Talk with a few artists and ask them for quotes for what you want done. Then average out the quotes and approach one or two artists, money in hand, and ask for help.
If you really want to go the percentage route, you may have a little more success seeing as how you have something to show the potential artist, and from there, he can assess whether its worth his time or now. It had better be promising though.
Thats my 2 cents.
-Griff
01/28/2007 (8:37 pm)
Generally, from what I've seen, projects which are only offering a percentage of profits to a potential worker never get workers. Go ahead and look at the "Classified Ads" on the Garagegame page. You'll see tons of projects offering percentages, and very few requests fulfilled. Your best bet is probably to save all the pennies and dimes you find around town, and maybe a portion of your profits from work, and offer your potential artists money up front. Talk with a few artists and ask them for quotes for what you want done. Then average out the quotes and approach one or two artists, money in hand, and ask for help.
If you really want to go the percentage route, you may have a little more success seeing as how you have something to show the potential artist, and from there, he can assess whether its worth his time or now. It had better be promising though.
Thats my 2 cents.
-Griff
Torque 3D Owner James Bond