We often get asked "How much does it cost to make a 3D company logo animation?" or indeed "How much does a custom virtual set?" or "How much does a graphic/animation/website cost?"

Of course many factors play into the price such as what you need, what the content involves, how much content there is and even how quick it's needed. As with any creative process it really is impossible to initially give a cold hard figure without knowing some of the criteria involved.

So with that said, as we pride ourselves on being the least expensive yet most comprehensive supplier of media and felt it would be worthwhile to highlight the process that we utilize to fulfill a client production. We're going to use a real-world example... In this case we're using the customer "Numzees Tavern and Grille" - a respected local bar and restaurant who wanted to not only to revamp their website but also required high-quality graphics for a variety of future needs including on-air commercials and merchandise.

So where do we start?

Firstly we have several lengthy conversations on the phone with the client to establish desires, goals and ultimate needs. It's important to discover if there are future plans for the graphics that we supply. For example, in this case it became clear that the customer wanted high resolution print-ready images for merchandise. Creating textured 3D graphics for high resolution initially increases the cost somewhat - but it's worth doing from outset as it's much more time consuming and costlier to have to re-create a graphic at a later date that looks good at 300dpi. Preparation is king!

What happens next?

At this point both parties should have a clear idea of the total amount of work to be done. We therefore come up with a price (no money has been committed to or spent by the client at this stage) and we send a proposal to the customer. Sometimes there'll be a couple of amounts based on the desired input and control the client needs throughout the production. The reason for this is when we've dealt with large corporations such as Fox or ABC there's usually several approval processes to go through which can involve multiple changes and so we factor in such possibilities. Ultimately, the more control over the final output that a customer desires then the more it costs.

In Numzees' case we had direct contact with the owners and therefore were able to offer a lower figure. Throughout the process we sent Numzees test images and pre-renders like the ones below so they were kept in the loop as to what was going on and where we were.

Numzees content :

Numzees wanted a series of graphics that would be used for on-air commercials, print media, merchandise and also needed a new website that incorporated the 3D logo. In terms of content they already had an amazing point-of-reference; their great custom sign outside of the property. So Numzees supplied us with several useful photos of the sign and some measurements. The more detailed the data you give us the easier it is!

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE FOR LARGER

The process:

So we began by creating the real-world sign in three dimensions. This would allow us to render all sorts of media including animations and stills from various angles. We started with the difficult and unique Numzees lettering which we felt was the most striking part of the logo and the most important part to get exactly right. This wasn't just a case of finding a similar font in our 3D program (we generally don't do that instead choosing to recreate the lettering by hand) but in this case we also had to accurately form the 3D depth and the bevel of the letters to match the real sign.

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE FOR LARGER

The process:

After modeling the name we applied the gold materials and reflections to test the look and feel and to ensure we're getting the level of believability we need. We even recreated the imperfections on the sign which has seen multiple seasons of weather. After some stock lights were thrown on the sign we had the following render for Numzees to look at.

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE FOR LARGER

The process:

From there we needed to create the rest of the logo including the lamps, the framework, the ironwork and the upper part of the sign.

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE FOR LARGER

The process:

After that we applied the finished textures and full lighting which would easily allow us to render the sign from any angle. Plus since we're in 3D, our versatile materials and lighting software allows us to render it under different lighting conditions.

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE FOR LARGER

The process:

From there we rendered many stills in different situations which showcased the sign so that different versions could be animated for seasonal times such as Christmas, summer etc.

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE FOR LARGER

The process:

Many different lighting conditions could be emulated such as sunsets or mornings.

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE FOR LARGER

The sign off:

Once Numzees approved the image and taking into account that we modeled the sign with very intricate detail, even including tiny screws, we were easily able to create a transparent 300DPI image for their merchandise. In this case we made a fancy "Wish you were here!" postcard. The image to the right doesn't do the real 300DPI full-sized image justice - it's HUGE!

PLEASE CLICK THE IMAGE FOR LARGER

Merchandise store :

So as planned we created a simple free Cafepress merchandise store using the postcard image that we made. This would not only promote the restaurant but also actually generate revenue for Numzees too.

Website :

We also produced a brand new Numzees website with the sign prominently showcased on the splash page to firmly brand the new graphic.

The animations :

Finally we rendered the logo into several animations - the link to the right is one of the tests we made. Since the logo was produced to print standards the animation could be made into High Definition television resolution with ease.

Ultimately the logo animations will be used on promo DVDs, commercials and website media.

PLEASE CLICK THE YOU TUBE LOGO FOR LARGER VIDEO

To finish...

So we made

* A fully functioning website

* Merchandise store

* Print ready graphics for letterheads etc

* Animations for commercials, DVDs etc

And how much did it cost? Well it took just under two weeks and the cost was $2,500

In conclusion

Every project is different - we all know that. Your project may indeed cost more or less, but above is a real-world example with timelines, a small amount of the samples that we sent to the customer and full costings. Does any other graphic house publicly offer that information? If not then you should question if you want to do business with them. Seriously.

We do it all - graphics, audio... multimedia. And we do it for all companies large AND small. And once settled on a price our fees are firm and do not change. We know how long things take and how much they cost and thus we deliver on time and on budget. That's our promise.

Give us a call 610 932 0895 on drop me an email vynny@zkad.com to discuss your new graphics. Check out our other satisfied clients. Thanks for considering us for your multimedia needs.

Sincerely,

The ZKad Team

ZKad Productions.