How much for an animation commission?

ADP

I am relatively new to animation/3D rendering. I was asked to do an animation of a 4 story building being "built" in a time-lapse manner with a moving camera that would "fade" into a real photo of the finished building once the framing is complete.

What I should charge for a job like this?

aesir

write out all the steps you need to do, then estimate how long it should take you. From there just assign an hourly rate somewhere between 15-25 bucks an hour depending on what you feel you deserve when taking into account your own experience, and the ability of the client to pay.

Ponge

I work as a 3D Architectural Visualisor for an Architecture firm, and I can just say... Don't take on this work if you think it's beyond your scope of experience. It's actually quite an incredibly difficult thing to get looking good.

If you think you can manage it however... Bear in mind that you will need:

To get a good photo-match for the end 'fade-in' to a photograph. If you've never done this before it can be quite tricky.
An editing/composition programme such as Premier Pro or Comustion. (For titles and the actual fades).
To agree on a visual style with the client before hand. Find out what he has in his mind, is the construction part photorealistic? Or cartoony in style?
Find out what quality of movie file he needs as an end product. If he's looking for DVD quality to send out to prospective clients... Well that will increase your rendering/composition time dramatically.
With that in mind, your rendering time for an animation such as this will be dependant on the qaulity of the realism, your software and computer specs. If the budget is high enough you could use a render farm, but these cost upwards of a few hundred dollars. Realistically, with a medium-high spec dual core PC, running 24/7, a good DVD quality few minute long animation could take upwards of a few days, and more likely a few weeks.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from approaching this, but I see so many people trying to jump about 10 levels of experience here and go for commisions that will ultimately lead to both you and your client dissatisfied with the product. Of course I have no idea of your 3D experience, you could be a whizz at this stuff.

Quote-wise... Totally dependant on what he's looking for r.e. points above. Pro's can charge upwards of thouands of dollars per minute of animation. But as this sounds like a learning experience for you I don't think you can realistically expect that much.