What's the Median Annual Income for a DAZ PA? [ANSWERED]
Nyghtfall3D
Posts: 764
I'm 46 and have worked for a call center for over 20 years now. Suffice it to say, I want something different. Unfortunately, there's nothing in my area that offers any kind of long-term growth outside of minimum wage positions for people without a College degree, and there aren't any positions within my company that can guarantee the schedule I currently enjoy which is most compatible with me and my wife's needs.
Before answering my question, please keep in mind I'll be starting from the ground floor. I don't currently know anything about how to create 3D content. I'm just exploring whatever options may be available that can guarantee an income that's comparable with what I already earn.
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Basically, how long is a piece of string. There's a few of us that do this full-time, but everyones needs are different.
It's probably the same as any industry, you really need to enjoy it..it's not a walk in the park like most jobs, but if you have the motivation to stick with it, you'll be fine.
Best bet, is to at least try making something, and see if you at least like it enough to learn. Rinse and repeat for a year or so, and then see how you stack up with whats in the store.
Good advice. I'll take it to heart. Thanks.
The nice thing is, that it is something you can teach yourself when you have free time.. you might pick stuff up quicker, or it might take longer. There is the addition of creating content specifically for Daz (or your designated app of choice) which is another process altogether. It's not just about 'creating 3D items'.
Re-reading your post too, there isn't a guaranteed income doing this. Some months are better than others, and if you don't produce, you don't really earn. That is mitigated as your catalogue grows, but still, nothing is guaranteed. It's one of the broader issues with anyone being self-employed. You are empowered to do whatever you want, but then it's all on you if you're ill, make an error.. lose work.. etc.
That's my primary concern. I need and enjoy a steady income. I just really wish I could spend the rest of my life earning a living by something other than taking calls all day.
If you need a steady income, I would not suggest freelance stuff in general.
I don't know for sure, but I think for most PAs it's a bit of a rollercoaster; you can't predict what products will do well, and there are larger trends you can't do anything about.
Right. Excellent point.
I add https://www.deviantart.com/sickleyield/journal/Making-A-Living-at-DAZ3D-407828896 and https://www.deviantart.com/sickleyield/journal/Making-a-Living-At-DAZ3D-Part-2-The-First-Product-565231074 from Sickleyield... The first and second paragrah should be of note.
Nyghtfall, I absolutely sympathise with you not wanting to work at a call center anymore. I did that for 13 years myself. I spent two years working my full day time, then coming home and working my full time PA job in order to build up a catalog that would on a monthly basis, with no new release, provide roughly half of the call center job, with no benefits.
If you are looking for steady hours you can forget it right there. Most of us work 10-12 hours a day.
I offer up this thread which includes many other stories from PAs. https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/29040/make-a-living-as-a-creator-on-daz3d/p1
Best of luck in finding a new situation.
As with most creative endeavors, earnings will depend on output. The PAs that do it full time, release products regularly. like 1-2 a month, 24 or more a year is some cases. That's a challenge from a creativity standpoint, of coming up with a marketable idea over and over again, and an execution standpoint of putting in the hours necessary to technically deliver a product at the quality standard Daz3D expects to make it through Q&A and make it into the store. It is not a salaried position, it is an independent contractor arms length arrangement, with no employment benefits. .
HEH A little bird whispered in my ear that 12 hours is a short day.
Good question, Nyghtfall. I thought of doing this myself in future, but only in my spare time. I once was a vendor at Renderosity more than 10 years ago under a different name. Products really sold very differently. One product took me 2 days work and earned $500 during the next months.
Maybe you should start it in your spare time as well and if the sales are good, you can shift from part-time to full-time.
I was pretty much in the same boat as yourself, I was I guess about 45 working at customer support for a software company, and like your self I'd been doing that for many years. I looked at my skill set, looked at what i liked doing and decided a good fit for me would be wedding photography. From my time with Daz and Poser, i became pretty good at posing people, framing scenes, lighting, etc.... You'd be surprised at how many good photography skills you can pick up playing with Daz. So I bought my self a camera, offered my services for the first year super cheap at $600 per wedding, watched a lot of YouTube videos, and explained to couples that I was starting out. It worked out for me.
I originally had 12-15 hours a day on there, but I didn't want to scare anyone away. Heh. I suppose instead of making general assumptions about what "most" of any group does, when I only have personal information from a few of them is to say, "Many full time PAs work 10-15 hours a day."
In my case, I don't have the time to be a 'full time PA'; I have twins that I homeschool, so. (First day of fourth grade today, gulp)
But the really nice thing about work like this is that it's IDEAL as a second or side job; there are no deadlines, and if you aren't reliant on the money, you aren't quite as knocked around by the vagaries of how well stuff sells or when you have the energy to get products out.
Herewith a boring wall of text about my schedule, because it's Sunday afternoon.
I tend to alternate very light and very heavy days instead of a steady 8 hours because it's just easier to work in a longer session (for me, anyway). On a Monday or Wednesday it's very typical for me to get up from 7-8 (or 4 if my brain hates me, as it sometimes does), work until 3, take a nap, get up at 5, and work until 9 or 10 (generally an 11-12 hour day). There will be breaks in between there for meals, using the bathroom, and feeding the cats, but it's generally going to be like that.
Tuesday is a light day, I get up and run with my sister, nap, work 2-4 hours, go out to dinner with sis (we often talk shop, but this is not a time when I'm at the computer working directly). I often do lighter work on Tuesday, such as gathering reference images or researching something where I want to try for some kind of accuracy.
Thursday I also run with Fuseling, but I also am often trying to get a product submitted Thursdays so that I can hear back from the committee and not worry about it all weekend. If that is the case I'm at it until it's done, and that might take a solid 12-14 hours. If a product gets accepted, Friday is a day off, leaving me with about a 36 hour week. If the committee wants changes, I will put in 1-4 hours usually getting those changes done and resubmitting (if the changes are more comprehensive it might take all day), bringing my week to 40-48 hours. I'm only going to go over 50 if the committee asked for enough changes that I need to take time from Saturday and Sunday. If it's not a submit week I put in usually a lighter day Friday anyway, 6 hours or so.
I don't routinely work the weekend other than necessary tech support or talking with a collaborator with a different schedule, because I need a couple sanity days when I can get them. Sometimes I do free tutorials on weekends to maintain visibility between product releases, like I'm trying to work up the energy to do right now. I used to do paid tutorials on Sat-Sun, but I had to quit for the sake of my stress and endorphin levels (I'm a big introvert and talking to people is hard).
I also don't make a lot of clothes, skins or any kind of hair or architecture, of course - the products that AFAIK take the longest to create. It would not at all surprise me to learn that full-timers in those categories put in more hours than I do. For me clothing has to be fitted in between other projects that are faster to complete, so I do far less of it (three sets for G8 so far; all did fine over time, but all had a high time cost compared to intro sales).
After giving this topic considerably more thought, I've decided to pursue content creation as a side job. I'm going to keep my day job and most likely remain with my company until I retire, but I need to give my life meaning outside of my cubicle.
Thanks to everyone for your input and advice. I appreciate it.
Good luck!
Agreed. Best of luck to you and I look forward to seeing your products! :) Any idea what you are interested in making? :)
Thanks. I imagine I'll dabble in all sorts of things but I want to specialize in high-heel footwear. I think the market is sorely lacking real-world-inspired pumps and sandals for work and special events, and I want to fill it.
I typically work anywhere from 14-20 hours a day on projects depending on how quick we need it done by. 12 hours is a light day and that's usually on the weekends. We don't take any days off in a week. We only take off for holidays (usually). Ann0314 has been known for working 23-38 Hours sleep for 4-6 then get up and start over. She can do that, but I think it's to much and need to clear my head after a 20 hour day.
What's important to understand first is that there is no mean annual income.
You are completely dependant on the market that buys you're products and there is no regularity to that.
To compensate you either depend on a small number buying large ticket items or a large number buying small ticket items and that means you either spend a lot of time on one model or a short time on many models.
And again, you have to rely on the market for interested buyers.
Also important to remember here I that whether it's 2 hours or 20 hours a day it's in your home at your desk and subject to the distraction of every day Life.
If you love this kind of work you'll do well but if you get easily distracted you'll starve.
The time it takes to earn enough to change job horses is the time it takes to develope one or 100 or 1000 models that sell often enough to make you a living.
If you need $500 a week to change, you need $1000 in sales (after commission splits) to get there.
That means sales of 10 models at $100 ea. or 100 models at $10 ea. minimum (or 200 models at $5 ea)and even if you satisfy that figure, those models have to sell EVERY WEEK at that price unless you're supplementing with new material weekly or monthly.
It's all about numbers.
Can you cut that demand?
Best way (IMO) to do this is to ease into it by staying in your regular job and then devoting what ever additional time you have to this until you are selling enough work to drop your regular job.
I personally spend 5 to 12 hours every day after I've had dinner and showerd after coming home from my carrier job and after 4 months of this I have only 1 model for sale and 3 more that I'm almost ready to list but that includes the incredibly frustrating learning curve too.
To do well you need to understand how to use hexagon, Daz and some type of PSP program minimum.
Do you?
Good luck with your decision.
First and foremost I'd like to thank all of the PAs for their hard work and dedication. I've no doubt it's a tough road for all, but there's a great deal of satisfaction in following one's heart and working creatively on your own time. I retired 8 years ago and have a small pension to get by on, but I still work the same long hours as I did when I was self-employed, that ending after the 2008 crash as I lost virtually all of my clients. I've always been multi-form creative (musician, songwriter, actor, writer, editor, graphic designer and more), but since retiring I got into self-publishing and although it's certainly less financially rewarding than PA work as there are now over a million self-publishers and way over 20 million titles on Amazon alone I'm unlikely to stop working creatively until I drop. Creative writing is very different to designing as when I'm in the flow zone I don't want to leave it for anything, so I'll often do all-nighters - I mean 24+ hour stints - and then have to sleep 12 hours to recuperate! It's a shame that there's virtually no dosh in it, but even in the 1980s it was only the top selling 5% of authors who could make a living out if it, less than 1% becoming millionaires. Using DS I now also design wall art, printing on HD acrylic, but due to changed 'logistics' (long and irksome story) I haven't yet set up a website and sell via friends and word of mouth, but I'm also in the wrong location for physical selling. I once lived in London for 27 years and living there again would make all the difference. But as it is I can make more money selling 2 small (24" wide) prints (100% mark up on costs) than I can make in book royalties in a year. Suffice to say that whatever creative pursuit one follows, only a tiny % of people are going to be very successful. So hats off to the Daz PAs: follow your hearts and keep on trucking!
Never mind