How does one go about "rendering for hire?"

PJ Jovita

How would someone (Me) go about rendering for hire/taking commissions? I have a small portfolio in the works already and a patreon for blogging purposes but dont know where to go from there as far as where to post to let people know where to find me! What are some good practices to keep as a render artist? Are there any restrictions or guidelines to follow I'm not aware of? (Beyond things like copyright and such) Is this even the right forum to post this in??

 

What I want to be able to do is create renders during the weekdays as my day job's only schedule is on weekends. I am comfortable with doing pieces that are sfw as I don't have enough experience doing nsfw (and am afraid I'l get triggered being asked to do the problematic stuff). I also don't have any experience in animation. I like to experiment with different skins, body types, and facial features. I enjoy creating my own stories as well and love creating in general. So offering to create someone else's idea or rendering an already existing 2D piece in 3D sounds to be the best idea for me.

I am compiling a list now to help me remember what steps to take.

Edit: I haven't been on forums in years so back to my old middle school habits it is. I'm going to add my research to the first post. (This one.)

Make sure you are fully prepared for what's ahead; while it's difficult to plan for every possibility and challenge but consider these:

• What are your goals? Long Term: 2 years+ and Short Term: 1 to 6 months. Goals help reduce your stress going into any venture!
• Understand your motivation for doing it
• Are there any laws or regulations according to where you live as far as where you'll be doing your work?
  • Think taxes in your state or country, reporting extra income, becoming an actual business or being a side job freelance artist. Do you need a license or permit (ties into becoming a business)? Are there rules as far as being commisioned and whether you can take action against someone who doesnt pay you? What kind of material can you legally create without violating copyright, etc.)
• Can I financially afford to take the time to do this? Or is this something I need to do to pay the bills? Do I need a part- or full-time job?
• What is my support network?
  • "Your support network may include family, friends, colleagues, a mentor, a coach, and anyone else who can help you navigate roadblocks. When you have an effective support system in place, you will find that you have a cheerleader, consultant, moral support and even a devil's advocate when necessary.
• Am I willing to learn how to take on different skills in order to be successful?
  • Often having some small business skills or resources, like customer service experience, can help immensely

Once you've figured out whether this is a good fit for you, take on the steps to get where you need to be!

1. You

   • What is it that you do well and want to showcase?

   • Gather examples of your work into a cohesive, coherent portfolio

     • Anyone know your work and speaks well of it? (Customer testimonials)

2. Research

   • Who is the audience you are catering to?

   • What sets you apart from the rest? (Dinosaurs in bikinis.)

   • Are there any artists doing something similar? If so, what sets you apart from them?

     • What is your competition like?

3. Plan

   • Finances: Do you have what you need to start? What steps do you need to take to get there?

     • Create and manage your budget, set your rates and prices, what can you afford as far as assets and outsourcing, and TAXES

   • Scheduling: Coming Soon

   • If starting a business I highly recommend researching the topic for accurate information in accordance with where you plan to do so.

4. Setup

   • Have a specified place to do your work, keep it tidy and organized and prepared.
     • Mini fridge under the desk for snacks, office supplies for taking notes, etc.

5. Promote Yourself

   • Once you're up and running, you need to start attracting clients.
   • Social Media: Coming Soon
     • Where can people go to find you/commision you
   • Marketing
     • The unique selling position (USP) or pitch covers who you are and what you do, how ppl can get in contact with you (and, if applicable, a disclaimer)
     • :
     • "Sometimes all it takes it just a simple introduction.  " -Ivy

Other Things to Consider:

I've advertised that I take commissions on social media and gotten some work. I also met someone here who is now a regular client because he came looking for someone to do a piece for him, and I messaged him with examples. But most of my experience is in fandom-heavy places like Twitter, Tumblr, and DeviantArt where folks are very accustomed to buying and selling commissions, and they skew younger. Less book covers/promo illustrations, more designs for roleplay characters. If you're interested in that audience, it can be helpful to search commission tags on social media sites to see how artists on individual platforms promote themselves.

Some stuff I've learned!

• 3D art of the type done in DAZ is relatively unfamiliar to lots of people, making its value unclear. I got questions about whether my early Batman fanart (not particularly good stuff) was cosplay or a painting or what. People may be curious and think it's neat but aren't sure whether it'd be cool and unique to have a 3D render of their character on their profile, or whether it would be considered cheap and dorky. If you don't know how it's made, it's hard to know what's reasonable to ask for from the artist (which can make people too anxious to approach you). 
  • Corollary: Some people don't know what 2D renders of 3D models look like because they think they know what they look like. When they're aware of it, their touchpoints are often adult art of varying quality/realism, video game models, and animated family movies. This was where I was before I stumbled on DAZ. 
• Because it's unfamiliar, few potential clients are specifically looking for 3D art. I think 3D is on the verge of blowing up so this might change quickly, but when people look for art of their characters they almost always have a sketch or painting in mind. MMO players who want art of their characters might not have even considered having a "high res" version as opposed to a drawing. Exposure probably helps with this--pixel art portraits weren't a big thing until suddenly they were trendy--but there aren't a lot of render artists publicly open to clients in that sphere. 
  • I've advertised on a forum exclusively for buying and selling commissions and gotten a few tentative "oh that's really cool, I've never seen that before" comments but no actual takers. I think it would have actually helped for me to be less open-ended with something like a YCH (Your Character Here) offer--a limited selection of backgrounds, poses, and clothes to select from.
• It really helps to know what you want to do about material costs, both in money and your time/skill. I have a pretty big library at this point and lots of flexibility in customizing assets, but if a client asks for a specific detail it can change the entire scope of the work. Drawing an intricate amulet of power to fit a detailed description in a character profile might be challenging in a drawn piece and merit an extra fee, but in DAZ you're looking at kitbashing, modeling the entire thing yourself, or asking the client to compromise on something important. Do they want a particular pattern on a dress? You may have to texture it yourself, and figure out where to get the texture resources and how to pay for them. What kind of postwork are you willing to do, and is it included in the commission price?
  • I've kept my base prices for character commissions very low because more often than not I'd end up with clients wanting something I didn't have assets for, and when I'd show them an example of how I could approximate it vs. buying an existing asset they'd want to pay for the asset. It happened so often that I agonized over how to price my work fairly because it's not like a tube of paint that I'll get some extra uses out of; it's sometimes a really cool item I couldn't justify buying otherwise and it stays in my runtime. So I'm always very up front about how that works and do a lot of research to ensure people aren't overpaying, especially since I know veeeery well how a simple character design can always be improved by buying one more thing. I've ended up explaining DAZ sales and PC+ a lot. Sometimes folks will go looking for assets in the store themselves (which I totally get the appeal of), and it's helpful to be prepared to give a high level explanation of figure generations, autofit limitations, shaders, etc. 
• About 60% of the people who've commissioned me have decided to try DAZ themselves, which as far as I'm concerned is a best-case scenario because I'm often yelling excitedly about 3D stuff and it's nice to have company :'D The more folks who do it, the more it's normalized! But there's also the thing where it's a free program with relatively accessible functionality...that will eat your life and your wallet if you let it. I try to be up front about that if someone seems interested in learning--and about how many free resources and assets there are--so people don't get into it after watching me do it and then get blindsided by how much it would cost to replicate a character design. 
  • this quote brought to you by plasma_ring

Keep in mind that success doesn't happen overnight. But use the plan you've created to consistently work on your business, and you will increase your chances of success.

LenioTG

Some people send me a note on DeviantArt (then I refuse everything because I just want to monetize with Patreon).

Once I bought a logo from Fiverr, and it was a decent experience, so I guess you could try to use it: https://www.fiverr.com/

I'm curious too to hear about this from who actually renders as a job! ^^

Cybersox

If you want it to be a casual thing and you're just starting out, start a page on DeviantArt and some other online galleries, make it known that you do commissions, then wait for people to contact you. If you're more serious about it but can't commit to art full time, you could produce a bunch of art that you think is worthy of being used and use an online stock service.  Serious artists book tables at conventions and sell prints, t-shirts etc. There are also quite a few artists who have produced their own artbooks as print on demands at Amazon and the quality of the art at the top of the scale was seriously impressive.  Just keep in mind that there are literally millions of others out there competing with you, so it's best to have a niche that you specialize in so that people remember you as "that's the dinosaurs in binkinis" guy.         

ArtAngel

I have spent thousands and thousands more on Daz. But for my 2d character, needing a 3d esperience, I found a 3D custom artist via his website. True authentic 3D artist have websites and offer portfolios and testimonials. You, starting out, may not have testimonials but you could imagine your ideal client, make someting for her/him/them and use that in your portfolio. No offence but I would never search deviant to hire someone, versus an artist who has a website supporting their talent.

Ivy

Hi , My name is Ivy.

I am a free lance  Graphic artist and I work with Daz Studio software.  I create 2d art for print and web and I also create  2/3d animation for any type media including VR in 4k I have a huge library of Daz content to pick assets from

 I charge according to each agreed amount per/work order.  Payment through paypal for each print finished  I am set up with createspace.com for publishing book covers  for books published on Amazon.   And yes I have a web site :)  http://www.ivysdomain.com/

I work with daz studio software,   but I am not a employee of daz3d.com just very good at using their software. 

If interest please contact me through Daz Message board SMS   and we can work out the details

FSMCDesigns

ArtAngel said:

I have spent thousands and thousands more on Daz. But for my 2d character, needing a 3d esperience, I found a 3D custom artist via his website. True authentic 3D artist have websites and offer portfolios and testimonials. You, starting out, may not have testimonials but you could imagine your ideal client, make someting for her/him/them and use that in your portfolio. No offence but I would never search deviant to hire someone, versus an artist who has a website supporting their talent.

depends on how serious you are and your skills. there are plenty that do commissions from DA/Patreon and other places for a lot less than what pro artists with their own sites and portfolios charge

To the OP, got any examples of your work?

glossedsfm

PJ Jovita said:

How would someone (Me) go about rendering for hire/taking commissions? I have a small portfolio in the works already and a patreon for blogging purposes but dont know where to go from there as far as where to post to let people know where to find me! What are some good practices to keep as a render artist? Are there any restrictions or guidelines to follow I'm not aware of? (Beyond things like copyright and such) Is this even the right forum to post this in??

 

I think it might help to know the scale of what you are trying to go for.  Do you just want to do amateur level stuff like for people making personal Daz pictures, machinimas or rule 34 smut? or are you at like Pixar/Disney/Hollywood CGI poster/animation skill levels? also are you just offering up your PC to render others peoples work which they've created themselves? or do you want to take commissions and basically turn a customers idea or concept and do all the 3d work yourself.

 

 

plasma_ring

I've advertised that I take commissions on social media and gotten some work. I also met someone here who is now a regular client because he came looking for someone to do a piece for him, and I messaged him with examples. But most of my experience is in fandom-heavy places like Twitter, Tumblr, and DeviantArt where folks are very accustomed to buying and selling commissions, and they skew younger. Less book covers/promo illustrations, more designs for roleplay characters. If you're interested in that audience, it can be helpful to search commission tags on social media sites to see how artists on individual platforms promote themselves.

Some stuff I've learned!

• 3D art of the type done in DAZ is relatively unfamiliar to lots of people, making its value unclear. I got questions about whether my early Batman fanart (not particularly good stuff) was cosplay or a painting or what. People may be curious and think it's neat but aren't sure whether it'd be cool and unique to have a 3D render of their character on their profile, or whether it would be considered cheap and dorky. If you don't know how it's made, it's hard to know what's reasonable to ask for from the artist (which can make people too anxious to approach you). 
  • Corollary: Some people don't know what 2D renders of 3D models look like because they think they know what they look like. When they're aware of it, their touchpoints are often adult art of varying quality/realism, video game models, and animated family movies. This was where I was before I stumbled on DAZ. 
• Because it's unfamiliar, few potential clients are specifically looking for 3D art. I think 3D is on the verge of blowing up so this might change quickly, but when people look for art of their characters they almost always have a sketch or painting in mind. MMO players who want art of their characters might not have even considered having a "high res" version as opposed to a drawing. Exposure probably helps with this--pixel art portraits weren't a big thing until suddenly they were trendy--but there aren't a lot of render artists publicly open to clients in that sphere. 
  • I've advertised on a forum exclusively for buying and selling commissions and gotten a few tentative "oh that's really cool, I've never seen that before" comments but no actual takers. I think it would have actually helped for me to be less open-ended with something like a YCH (Your Character Here) offer--a limited selection of backgrounds, poses, and clothes to select from.
• It really helps to know what you want to do about material costs, both in money and your time/skill. I have a pretty big library at this point and lots of flexibility in customizing assets, but if a client asks for a specific detail it can change the entire scope of the work. Drawing an intricate amulet of power to fit a detailed description in a character profile might be challenging in a drawn piece and merit an extra fee, but in DAZ you're looking at kitbashing, modeling the entire thing yourself, or asking the client to compromise on something important. Do they want a particular pattern on a dress? You may have to texture it yourself, and figure out where to get the texture resources and how to pay for them. What kind of postwork are you willing to do, and is it included in the commission price?
  • I've kept my base prices for character commissions very low because more often than not I'd end up with clients wanting something I didn't have assets for, and when I'd show them an example of how I could approximate it vs. buying an existing asset they'd want to pay for the asset. It happened so often that I agonized over how to price my work fairly because it's not like a tube of paint that I'll get some extra uses out of; it's sometimes a really cool item I couldn't justify buying otherwise and it stays in my runtime. So I'm always very up front about how that works and do a lot of research to ensure people aren't overpaying, especially since I know veeeery well how a simple character design can always be improved by buying one more thing. I've ended up explaining DAZ sales and PC+ a lot. Sometimes folks will go looking for assets in the store themselves (which I totally get the appeal of), and it's helpful to be prepared to give a high level explanation of figure generations, autofit limitations, shaders, etc. 
• About 60% of the people who've commissioned me have decided to try DAZ themselves, which as far as I'm concerned is a best-case scenario because I'm often yelling excitedly about 3D stuff and it's nice to have company :'D The more folks who do it, the more it's normalized! But there's also the thing where it's a free program with relatively accessible functionality...that will eat your life and your wallet if you let it. I try to be up front about that if someone seems interested in learning--and about how many free resources and assets there are--so people don't get into it after watching me do it and then get blindsided by how much it would cost to replicate a character design. 

PJ Jovita

LenioTG said:

Once I bought a logo from Fiverr, and it was a decent experience, so I guess you could try to use it: https://www.fiverr.com/

I'm curious too to hear about this from who actually renders as a job! ^^

I do want to look into doing icon sized pieces (like 500 by 500 px) so a site like fiverr where the rules are basic and the type of things you can do are restricted would work in streamlining the process.

Cybersox said:

Just keep in mind that there are literally millions of others out there competing with you, so it's best to have a niche that you specialize in so that people remember you as "that's the dinosaurs in binkinis" guy.         

I do want to focus on my strengths, I can navigate fandoms and popular series and I love playing with diverse body types and skin tones. These by themselves aren't niche but once I delve deeper into what I will and wont do (skimpy clothing vs. nsfw) I can get a clear picture of what kind of artist I am!

PJ Jovita

ArtAngel said:

You, starting out, may not have testimonials but you could imagine your ideal client, make someting for them and use that in your portfolio.

This is a great idea to beef up my portfolio and showcase/explore what skills I do and dont have. Especially since Daz has so many moving parts! Having my own website can come later since I have so many free social media options available to me but if I do well I could DEFINITELY do the upgrade. (I know the online portfolio life well as a recent graduate of Theatre/Costume Design so knowing how to build a website wouldn't be TOO too much for me to know as well)

Ivy said:

Hi , My name is Ivy.

I am a free lance  Graphic artist and I work with Daz Studio software.  I create 2d art for print and web and I also create  2/3d animation for any type media including VR in 4k I have a huge library of Daz content to pick assets from

 I charge according to each agreed amount per/work order.  Payment through paypal for each print finished  I am set up with createspace.com for publishing book covers  for books published on Amazon.   And yes I have a web site :)  http://www.ivysdomain.com/

I work with daz studio software,   but I am not a employee of daz3d.com just very good at using their software. 

If interest please contact me through Daz Message board SMS   and we can work out the details

You've got a great a pitch! Introducing yourself and what you do and how you do it, I'm taking notes.

PJ Jovita

As far as the scale of what I'm going for and examples, I'll be able to post those later today, I have work Friday to Sunday and it takes all my time :( Thank you all so much, I'll be back!

Ivy

PJ Jovita said:

 

Ivy said:

Hi , My name is Ivy.

I am a free lance  Graphic artist and I work with Daz Studio software.  I create 2d art for print and web and I also create  2/3d animation for any type media including VR in 4k I have a huge library of Daz content to pick assets from

 I charge according to each agreed amount per/work order.  Payment through paypal for each print finished  I am set up with createspace.com for publishing book covers  for books published on Amazon.   And yes I have a web site :)  http://www.ivysdomain.com/

I work with daz studio software,   but I am not a employee of daz3d.com just very good at using their software. 

If interest please contact me through Daz Message board SMS   and we can work out the details

 

You've got a great a pitch! Introducing yourself and what you do and how you do it, I'm taking notes.

Sometimes all it takes it just a simple introduction.  

Personally though as a free lance Graphic artist since 2006 I stay fairly busy, thanks mostly to being at it a long time & learning how to do animation.  It really helps to diversify your art talents to be able sell yourself  so you can commission graphics for web site design, Book cover art & other print media ,plus the fast growing need for media in animation you'll want to try to be part of that as well..    It also really helped me when I became a certified artist for createspace.com & getting my foot in the door with creative printing Inc, A national  printer service company that has a local office that I work with as a free lancer ,  which has been very helpful as well because they throw a lot of illustration work my way for print. giving me a inlet to potential clients nationwide.  

Selling your renders is great, nothing feels better seeing your work being used & being paid for it . . So learn how to use incorporate those renders into Illustrator and Photoshop or a film editor  so you can manipulate those great renders into images that sell your talents that people want to buy, which is key.  It also helps to not be afraid and take chances on projects that others won't.  even if you might not make much on it.

The term starving artist also applies to digital artist as well.  So my best advice is to diversify your art talents so you'll to be able sell yourself to a wider market.. when the rest of the artist you competing with are limited to one specialty . you will be able to cover it all.

Good Luck

PJ Jovita

So here's the draft pitch:

Hello, my name is PJ and I want to create something for you! I work in Daz Studio creating 3D art for personal use, and have a growing library of assets to choose from.

I charge according to my commision sheet and accept Paypal for payment. You can find me on Patreon{insert social media}. Send me a message and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

 

akmerlow

plasma_ring said:

• 3D art of the type done in DAZ is relatively unfamiliar to lots of people, making its value unclear.

Yeah it's like people learn about those who do 100% custom models in Zbrush etc. before they see DAZ render artists and confuse

Visuimag

I'm always happy to do render commissions with Studio characters. Just need the idea, timeframe, etc,etc... and I have no problems getting to work!

PJ Jovita

What I want to be able to do is create renders during the weekdays as my day job's only schedule is on weekends. I am comfortable with doing pieces that are sfw as I don't have enough experience doing nsfw (and am afraid I'l get triggered being asked to do the problematic stuff). I also don't have any experience in animation. I like to experiment with different skins, body types, and facial features. I enjoy creating my own stories as well and love creating in general. So offering to create someone else's idea or rendering an already existing 2D piece in 3D sounds to be the best idea for me. Does anyone have any examples of their own portfolio or commission sheet so I have an idea about formatting?

Ivy

PJ Jovita said:

So here's the draft pitch:

Hello, my name is PJ and I want to create something for you! I work in Daz Studio creating 3D art for personal use, and have a growing library of assets to choose from.

I charge according to my commision sheet and accept Paypal for payment. You can find me on Patreon{insert social media}. Send me a message and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

 

That's a great start , Simple to the point, now all you need is to find a home where you can place all your works of art or whatever it is your trying to sell for your talent.  to show what you have done for a portfolio.  places Facebook . YouTube, word press, or deviantart and even Patreon though keep in mind Patreon is more for gamers & film makers so you might have some stiff compition 

plasma_ring

What I want to be able to do is create renders during the weekdays as my day job's only schedule is on weekends. I am comfortable with doing pieces that are sfw as I don't have enough experience doing nsfw (and am afraid I'l get triggered being asked to do the problematic stuff). I also don't have any experience in animation. I like to experiment with different skins, body types, and facial features. I enjoy creating my own stories as well and love creating in general. So offering to create someone else's idea or rendering an already existing 2D piece in 3D sounds to be the best idea for me. Does anyone have any examples of their own portfolio or commission sheet so I have an idea about formatting?

Here's a shortened version of my original commission sheet (I need to redo it). The rest of it had some nsfw stuff on it, and included guidelines for requesting it ("You must be 18+ to purchase any render; all characters rendered nude or in a sexual context must be adults" etc.). If you'd ever like to know how I've handled that stuff or want info on how I've seen other artists warn people up front about what they will or won't do, feel free to DM me. 

What I was offering was specifically a single character on a simple color background with up to 3 poses, but I also had info on how I charged for additional characters and poses. Fee was per character, not per image and I charged a bit extra for poses where two characters were interacting.

Best of luck! 

Mistara

i will render for a 20.97 gc!!

what do you want me to render?

I do a lovely hairy tomato.  hairy cucumber.

PJ Jovita

Thanks again, I was thinking I'd try out Twitter and Instagram since that's where I'm comfortable but DA is probably the best place to start! As for commission sheets I've been looking at as far as format I've found a bunch I like, I just haven't decided what all I'm going to do yet. I think I want to do avatars like for social media and full pieces (1028x1028 i think?) here are a few works in progress and renders I'm least embarrassed of. I need to work on my lighting looking at theses now...

PJ Jovita

And bigger version here bc im still getting used to these forums.

 

 

PJ Jovita

Mystarra said:

i will render for a 20.97 gc!!

what do you want me to render?

I do a lovely hairy tomato.  hairy cucumber.

I love vegetables but hairy ones? Fascinating!

plasma_ring

PJ Jovita said:

Thanks again, I was thinking I'd try out Twitter and Instagram since that's where I'm comfortable but DA is probably the best place to start! As for commission sheets I've been looking at as far as format I've found a bunch I like, I just haven't decided what all I'm going to do yet. I think I want to do avatars like for social media and full pieces (1028x1028 i think?) here are a few works in progress and renders I'm least embarrassed of. I need to work on my lighting looking at theses now...

Your work's looking great and I really like the composition! :D If you want some lighting recommendations, I mostly use valzheimer's Fast Production Lights and DimensionTheory's iRadiance line to do this type of render. They're great for adding an interesting color background if you're just rendering the character design.

PJ Jovita

plasma_ring said:

PJ Jovita said:

Thanks again, I was thinking I'd try out Twitter and Instagram since that's where I'm comfortable but DA is probably the best place to start! As for commission sheets I've been looking at as far as format I've found a bunch I like, I just haven't decided what all I'm going to do yet. I think I want to do avatars like for social media and full pieces (1028x1028 i think?) here are a few works in progress and renders I'm least embarrassed of. I need to work on my lighting looking at theses now...

Your work's looking great and I really like the composition! :D If you want some lighting recommendations, I mostly use valzheimer's Fast Production Lights and DimensionTheory's iRadiance line to do this type of render. They're great for adding an interesting color background if you're just rendering the character design.

Thank you so much, these will help IMMENSELY.

AVPPublishing

Butting in here a bit, but I'd be interested in PMs from anyone doing scifi-fantasy commissions or simply willing to sell back catalog pieces.  I'm a Kindle eBook publisher that wants to move beyond stock photography for cover images.  Willing to pay in the ballpark of $100-200 per image for commercial use with credit for the right stuff!

 

 

FirstBastion

The key would have to be an exceptional portfolio of select pieces of rendered art. 

 

PJ Jovita

Thanks again everyone! I'm compiling an FAQ page for family and friends, what are some good topics to include? So far I have: What is an art commission? What is 3D art? What is 3D art used for? How do you make 3D art? What do you (PJ) make?

barbult

For reference, take a look at the Daz Gallery. Look at the most popular images which are shown at the top of the gallery. That will give you an idea of the types of images and artistic creativity and skill that have attracted interest. It may give you some lighting and composition ideas as you work on your skills.