How long does it take to create a 3D model for a video?

After modeling and animating for 2 years, I'm ready to share with you how to assess a 3D project. Let's start with your task:

You need a 3D model of a building or a factory. It's easy. Seriously, a standard office building (its exterior) of 6 floors can be modeled by a professional in 30-45 minutes from scratch. A factory with pipes and various technical rooms will take 5-8 hours. But here's the secret - everything has been modeled before us! There are stock 3D models for every taste. We choose something similar to your building and tweak it a bit, and in 1-2 hours, everything is ready.

Interior of the building. If you don't have super designer interiors, all furniture elements are also taken from stock - then we just arrange the furniture according to your photos. Setting up one room and painting it will take 1.5 - 2 hours.

Modeling complex equipment. Let's take a coffee machine, not your home Nespresso, but something more complicated like from Starbucks. Such a thing can be modeled in 4-7 hours. There are many small details, hence more time for implementation.

Now, what's more complex? A human? That's already more complicated :) Although again, everything is ready in stocks. But if from scratch, then modeling (or sculpting) will take about 5-7 hours. Without considering clothing.

What about an iPhone? 1 hour. A coffee cup? 20 minutes. A palm tree? About 40 minutes. Ray-Ban glasses? Also about 40 minutes. A showcase with croissants and donuts? About 50 minutes.

I calculated all these timings with the assumption that a senior-level specialist is doing it. The rate for such a person in our team is $250 per hour. Then we do some math and understand how much modeling for your task might cost. Additionally, you need to consider the costs for textures (coloring), creating the environment (where we place the model), setting up lighting, and camera animation. I'll talk about this in another post sometime :)