Hello, I've been trying to figure out what kind of pay would be reasonable for artists I'd bring on, I'm not sure as some artists have asked for some very expensive payment (up to 10% of the gross profits of the game.) but also some mid to pricey pay rates, so trying to figure out things like, should I bring on someone wanting to be paid say, $20 a frame. But also would like to figure out other rates, and how high I could go as far as paying a artist on that budget.

For some further information, the game is a 2D isometric game, with a few animations for the protagonist sprites, the budget, right now, is about $25k or so.

Edit: forgot to mention,$25k is the grand total budget, so I have to use some of that to pay programmers, the composer, the engine licence, and have some set away for emergencies.

25k, for how man hours of work? Or how many complete assets?

25k, for how man hours of work? Or how many complete assets?

Hmm, A single dragon asset, 2-4 human assets, around 3 animals, a ground tileset, and some common background assets, like trees and rocks.

Those are some crazy numbers. I did some pricing and for the assets you said, textured and not animated, the most you should pay is 8700. Animations will cost you alot more depending. I'll give you the full breakdown later, on mobile right now.

Textured? Wouldn't they be textured just by virtue of being made? This is a 2D game after all.

Alternatively, if you've found someone who will work for equity/ownership instead of wages, you can decide if the short-term cost savings are worth the long term business partnership. If you work well together, it may well be worth parnering up, and then you can spend your budget in other areas of development (or marketing).

I would love to find a artist that likes that sort of deal, but I think it's too risky for most artists, even if most indie titles tend to be risky by nature.

Those are some crazy numbers. I did some pricing and for the assets you said, textured and not animated, the most you should pay is 8700.

You can't really make absolutes like that

You could tell a Chinese outsourcing house that you need it all done in a week at $20/hr and pay them $800.
Or you could tell a AAA veteran than they can spend a month on each asset at $80/hr and pay them $150000.

Depends who you want to hire and how much of a rush you're in. Some people might do worse quality when given a short deadline, and others might ask to charge you overtime rates.

You have to get to know your artists, their portfolio/capabilities, an idea of how fast they work, and then decide if their price seems fair to you. In the individual contractor and outsourcing world, there's an infinite spectrum of choices.

Alternatively, if you've found someone who will work for equity/ownership instead of wages, you can decide if the short-term cost savings are worth the long term business partnership. If you work well together, it may well be worth parnering up, and then you can spend your budget in other areas of development (or marketing).

Sure sure, but the going rate for most freelance stuff (specially at 2d) isn't going to be that high or that low. I averaged stuff out. "Crazy" could mean a few things depending on your point of view. That said, 2d characters that are averaged at 300 each (which I put in there) is a lot of money. You better have some of the best art out there for that price point.

Pay per hour: $50 - $75

Price Points:

$1.5k for the Dragon (assuming it is a beast of a model) | -1,500

$600 for each of the Human characters (did 5) | -3,500

$300 for the Animals (did 3) | -900

-$7,400 for the models (3d) at the going rate per hour.

That means at $50 an hour you would pay for 158 hours worth of work

That means at $75 an hour you would pay for 99 hours worth of work

NOTE: These are estimates and are for 3d models. Your numbers can vary but this should be a marker for you to guide your info from.

The art isn't that great, I either think she wants AAA studio prices, she's pricing it on hourly, which means she might not be that fast and still cost me a lot, or her inexperienced(fresh collage grad) is making her ask for the price, I'd probably note that my estimations with her price at $20 a frame would likely leave me with the price of $8000 for one sprite, making a few assumptions on the design of the sprites and what she told me.

I got to that price based on, $20 per frame x 10 frames for a animation x 8 for the isometric directions x 5 animations(the max I feel the dragon could possibly need), this of course does not include unforeseen circumstances such as having to backtrack for some reason.

Are you saying, freelance, a decent artist should cost around 9000 for all the assets?

(I'm still noting that I'm looking for what to pay a 2d sprite artist, possibly doing it frame by frame, though wondering if I should switch to the 3d model to 2d sprite method, I'm told that's cheaper then frame by frame)