Underbidding Visual Effects

Underbidding Visual Effects

One of the most problematic issues in the VFX industry, besides subsidies, is underbidding

This is where a company knowingly underbids what the company  estimates it will actually cost to do the proposed work.  It's also known as 'buying a project'.

This isn't done by just up and coming companies. Large, well established companies even in subsidized areas underbid frequently.

It doesn't take a financial wizard to see intentionally losing money on a project is not a good long term plan. In fact it's not even a good short term plan.

Why do companies underbid?

1. Subsidies
If a company in a location with no subsidies is bidding against a company located in an area with a subsidy (paid by a government) then they will likely have to underbid just to have a competitive bid to make up for the 20-60% difference. It's not like there's a 40-60% markup so that reduction has to come from the actual costs. Even companies in subsidized areas have to compete against other companies in more subsidized areas. That 20% subsidy looks good until you need to compete against a company with a 40% subsidy.

2. Competition 
Currently there are too many VFX companies for the amount of work available. If there weren't then most would be busy most of the time and would have no need to underbid. That's why the notion a lot of people have about starting a VFX company because they're not working, is flawed. And too many VFX companies in turn means that there are too many VFX professionals. Those considering a career in VFX should rethink because the odds are very much against you, despite what the for profit school ads may say.

3. Poor management
Many running VFX companies have no business training or background so will make these types of decisions based on a feeling of desperation. They'd rather be bailing water rather than considering fixing the leak. Rather than try to make decisions based on long term issues they are making rash decisions.

The thinking
Companies think they need to underbid the work to make sure they have work. They look at the dozens or hundreds of people at their company and the large cost that incurs. Larger companies can be burning through $1 million dollars a week in payroll costs alone. So the thinking is even if they lose a few million on the project it's better than losing even more by not doing so. The money offsets a large portion of the losses.

And underneath the decision to underbid is the notion that somehow they can make up for it. The crews can work a bit harder, they can be a bit more efficient and that things will go well on this one project to turn an underbid project into a break even project. That never happens. Directors do not stop changing or adding shots until someone with authority (the client) tells them they can't due to time or money. What ever budget and time allowed will be filled.

The hope is also that even though they are losing on this one they can make it up on the next one. That type of thinking can work in some industries where there are very big hits to offset some losses (films, products), but in visual effects there are no big hits. A company may be in the black on the next project but the tight margins in visual effects are hardly enough to fund that one project, impossible to make up for losses on one or more other projects. And that means any profits that might be made on the current project have already been spent on the previous project just to cover the losses.

And unlike some industries (contractors to the government) it's impossible to make up for the loss from underbidding with change orders and extras. Most vfx companies are reluctant to even submit valid change orders, the fear being if a client feels they were charged more than they expected, that company will never get work again from that client.

Impact of Underbidding

Company 
No company can continue to lose money indefinitely. While underbidding may seem like it's slowing the bankruptcy of the company, it is still going bankrupt. At some point the investors or the creditors will have enough and make radical changes or will simply close the company.

Some people think that's up to each company and if they wish to underbid where's the harm in it other than the company that goes out of business. But it certainly affects more than just the one company.

Workers
When a company goes out of business it likely will mean the workers will not only lose an employer, they will likely lose at least one pay period, possibly more. Any accrued health care, vacation or other benefits will be instantly gone.

Clients
When a company goes out of business because its been operating in the red it is likely do so at a very inopportune time such as the middle of a project or even worse on the major crunch period right before completion.

We've seen this scenario played out and affecting both workers and clients a few times just in the last year or so and it's a painful process for the workers.

Industry
When companies underbid it not only affects that company, it affects all other companies and the people who work for them. A company that underbids erodes good companies who are attempting to operate a visual effects company as a real business instead of a lemonade stand. A company that is bidding using actual numbers is now losing business not due to true competition but because a business is choosing to commit long term bankruptcy. A good company can only lose business for so long before they close.

And that's when other companies start jumping in with the same idea. Now instead of one desperate company, underbidding may be creating a half dozen companies that are getting anxious. Once they start doing the same thing, which some are, the quicker the race to the bottom happens not only for those companies but the entire industry.

Clients also get a very skewed sense of what the actual cost of doing visual effects is when companies underbid. Some clients will assume the company knows what's its doing and others will be aware but will feel compelled to take full advantage of the situation while they can. Money is a compelling substance and can cause loss of reasonable thinking on both sides.

What can be done
1. Don't underbid. Even Kansas arborists have a code of ethics that prevents them from learning other bids from clients and underbidding each other. No such ethics exists in the visual effects business. It's been said some companies have a 'we'll beat any bid' agreement with the studios. If managers can not operate a company morally then they should not be running a company.

2. Operate the company as a real business. Any idiot can run a business and lose money. When millions are at stake along with hundreds of workers, it can no longer be run by the seat of pants and wishful thinking.

3. If the company is unable to make money then the owners and investors should examine the problem and consider making improvements or they should consider closing or merging. Taking other companies down with you to bankruptcy is not a plan.

4. Lay off workers when there is no work for them. Keep a small group of key people to keep the company running between projects. The reality is film and other media work are project by project. The studios do not keep crews employed between projects. If the company is located near similar companies (real VFX hub) and the industry is healthy then the workers would likely be able to find other work as it shifts from project to project. It's when companies set up in a distant location or when the actions of a few make for an unhealthy industry that this becomes a problem. Now it may seem to be better employing the workers and get some funding but that is simply eroding the industry and its better to have workers make a short term change rather than trying to work long term in an unsustainable industry.

5. Have the visual effects companies form a trade association like other industries. Put aside petty, non-business issues and work together to stabilize the industry. Have a basic code of conduct and ethics for companies to abide by.


Individuals
The same problem of underbidding happens with individuals. Graduates and those starting out think they have to work for free simply because a company posts a job offer saying so on Craigslist. Too much competition makes them more than eager to work for nothing which in turn causes companies to consider lowering all wages. When companies start dropping experienced professionals to hire cheaper labor (another poor business plan) then what do the newer workers think will happen to them in a few years?

Some workers go out on their own with the intention of truly being independent contractors but these people almost always underbid as well. Frequently they charge less than they were making while working for a company. Some may choose the same rate but they fail to understand even the basics of business. When you're working for a company it costs the company more than simply your pay check.  Most of the time there are benefits, taxes or other costs that you may not be aware of these. These may be another 20-40% above your pay. As someone working for themselves now all taxes will need to be paid by you along with health insurance, your computer, software, etc. It starts adding up quickly. Vincent Laforet has written about the cost of doing business as an independent photographer. 

Summary
Place a value on what you do. Do not underbid. Consider the long term consequences. If both companies and individuals are only focused on being the cheapest above everything else, then the quality and the creativity will fail along with the business.

Related:

Bad Visual Effects Business Practices

Should I work for free chart

Visual Effects Tips 2

[Visual Effects Tips 1 post]

Time is important in visual effects. There’s never enough of it so make every attempt to minimize wasted time and simple mistakes.

Many of these examples are animation or compositing but most apply to the majority of visual effects work from texture or matte painting to lighting.


Checking materials
When starting a task or shot check the materials you’ve been provided.
Are all the materials correct?
Does the live action match the count sheet?
If there’s a match move is it correct?
If you’re composting are the supplied renders correct with correct alphas?
If there are problems flag them immediately. If you don’t check you may not know that there are problems until well into the shot, at which time trying to correct the mistakes will take longer and be more difficult.

After confirming everything is ok become familiar with the material. If it’s a greescreen take a look at the screen and potential problems extracting the mattes. If you’re going to roto the live action run the clip a few times to see what’s happening so you can plan your approach.

Note to visual effects companies: Make sure your contracts include explicit details for deliveries to your company. File formats, schedules, naming, file organization, size, etc. Sometimes it’s amazing the amount of incorrect material received from a client. On one project I worked on the editorial dept seemed to have a PA who was simply recopying everything onto hard drives and shipping them with no information and no organization. The visual effects company then would have to spend hours sifting through the material to determine what was new and what had changed. In other cases I’ve heard of some editorial departments constantly providing incorrect count sheets. By having this info in the contract the first time this happens flag it to the client and inform them that additional lapses that require rework or unplanned man hours correcting will be billed on a time and material basis. Additional costs seem to be one of the few ways to get a clients attention unfortunately but it also means that the meager profits will be less likely soaked up by these types of sloppiness or errors on the clients part.


Thinking
Now that you’ve reviewed the materials take a moment to think through the task at hand and how this will be accomplished. What are the critical elements, what are the steps that will need to be done, what tasks will have to be done by other departments, etc. What are the items that will likely change or that will need special care? If this a stereo shot or will be converted to stereo after the fact then you will have to consider the implications of working in real 3D space. If you’re compositing you’ll need to think of the layering process.


KISS
Keep it simple stupid. In your plan for the task try to keep it simple. You have to anticipate the areas that will need to be controlled independently and break it up accordingly but avoid going crazy with layers or keyframes if possible. A complex shot will probably require more than simple work but don’t needlessly make the project or the work complex.


Sharing
As you start thinking of the shot and the steps required keep in mind it’s likely you will have to pass the work on to someone during the course of the show. That someone could be you having to re-open the project and make changes two months after it was finalled or it could be you re-starting the shot after it was put on hold for three months. Or it could be a co-worker who has to take over the shot while you finish something else or the shot may have to be split up because of an impending deadline.

With that in mind you want to make it so no one, including yourself, has to spend hours reverse engineering what you were doing and why. (I’m not even going mention the possibility that a sequel may mean some of these files and projects are opened years later)


Fundamentals
Start with the fundamentals. If you’re an animator then you want to make sure you have the proper poses at the correct key frames. Don’t get lost in trying to do the secondary animations, just focus on the fundamental animation. If you’re a compositor adjust the black levels and adjust the basic color of the assortment of elements you’ve been provided before throwing in all the layering atmospherics and other enhancements.

Once these are done and approved then you know you have a solid foundation to build on. It allows the supervisor or director the ability to review the work before you spend a lot of time on it. There may be radical changes that would make all the additional work worthless.

There will be times when it will be useful to do slop or rough animation, renders and composites. Frequently it’s necessary to block in an entire sequence so the director and editor can review before proceeding. Other times it may be necessary to provide shots for test screenings that were scheduled to be done in the future. Regardless you’ll get notes on the shots and the first impulse will be to take these quick and dirty versions and start making adjustments. However it’s almost always best to get back to the foundation and the basics before addressing the notes. If the black levels are off or the basic timing of animation is wrong, it will still be wrong even tweaking the other aspects of the shot. And in the end it’s likely you’ll waste a lot of time and have to scrap it to get back to where you should have started from.


Priorities
You should have a To Do list for every shot you work on. With feedback from the supervisor or director you may be changing the order of priorities. Neither the director nor supervisor will want to ask multiple times for the same thing. Let them know if there is an issue accomplishing that.

If you’re reviewing yourself play the shot through and note the items that stand out to you as not in keeping with what the final shot should be. Determine the priority based on which issues truly jump out the most and which ones are fundamental issues versus getting sidetracked and spending time noodling with a few pixels in the corner. If it had to go in the movie tomorrow what are the top 5 items to be fixed or changed?

As you work on each item mark it off your To Do list so you always know how much you’ve done and how much is still to be done.


Monitor
Is your monitor actually calibrated? Are you using the correct lookup table and gamma settings? Are you seeing the same results you see in dailies review and that the supervisor and director see? If not check with your company to see if your system can be calibrated or you’ll have to develop an eye to compensate for the difference. Be aware if your system or playback has limited color depth.


Reviews
If you’re presenting to the director or supervisor it’s usually worthwhile having the previous version loaded and ready to review since many times it will be used for reference and comparison. If you’re showing with and without results in something like Nuke then wire up the viewer so you can quickly cycle though the different versions or variations if possible. Having to zoom out, find the areas, relink the viewer, etc are time consuming and should have already been done ahead of time.  Sometimes it’s worth putting in a switch to quickly change the composite flow. Create snapshots in After Effects or other apps.


Reviewing your work
For your own reviews crank the gamma up and down and the exposure up and down to spot any inconsistencies or level issues. Try the alternate lookup tables (make sure to return to normal once done reviewing). Will the shot hold up in the DI or once it’s transferred to video? Are areas being clipped or is there a mismatch of blacks and levels? Is there any quantizing? Check the blue channel for grain issues. Have you added the proper amount of grain and does the whole shot match?

Play it slow, fast and in reverse to see if everything is working as it should. This can sometimes show flaws in the animation or simply allow you to spot fluctuation problems.

When you’re staring at something a long time you may not spot some of the flaws that might be obvious to others. Painters sometimes look at their work in a mirror to give them a different feel for the painting. This was common in the pre-digital days with matte painters. Flopping the image in the viewer or composite will provide this same option of seeing the shot in a new light.

Be honest with yourself. If the animation or whatever you're working on isn't working consider how to fix it. Discuss with a co-worker, lead or supervisor if you know it's wrong but aren't sure how to proceed.


Organize
Do your work in an organized fashion that follows logical thinking. If your company has templates or guidelines be sure to follow those. It’s easy in some apps such as Nuke to end up with something that looks like a mess of spaghetti. This will chew up your time daily to maintain and change and it will mean that anyone else who needs to work on the composite will spend extra time digging through the composite.

Come up with some basic conventions yourself if none is provided by your company or lead. Try to be consistent about the approach and naming. Group parts of the shots as modules. This makes it easy to enable/disable sections or to switch sections. If you’re working in Photoshop you might want to put sections in folders to keep it more organized. Likewise with some roto packages and other apps there are opportunities to group related items.


Document
It’s not always clear what your project file is doing. It may seem totally obvious to you now but to others or even yourself a few weeks from now it will likely be a totally mystery. If you’re writing software code then include comments. If it;s a complex process with multiple files consider writing a Read Me file or some basic document describing what the process is and how it works. By including some forms of documentation it will be easier and faster to keep track of what is what. Many software packages offer methods to document the work as you’re doing it. Label layers in After Effects and Photoshop. This minimizing the amount of guess that is done or the toggling of layers to determine exactly what each is doing. Label key nodes in Nuke.

Some apps allow adding comments. Nuke provides Sticky Notes so you can mark a specific area with a reminder to yourself or an explanation why you’re doing it this way. Their backdrop can be placed behind a number of nodes with text and with user defined colors making it easy to spot key areas even on a large and complex composite. Nuke also provides No Op nodes that can be labeled. Take a look at the software you’re using to determine how you can use labels and other built in documentation. If none exists consider writing up a short text file in the director with your notes.

Add slates to your rendered images and add useful comments there. These are going to become very valuable when you have to dig back through them for yourself or a client.


Save often
Many software packages have autosaving functions. Make sure these are turned on but also get in the habit of saving yourself to make sure your work is being saved where it needs to be saved.


Save versions
Save your files and projects as you go along with version or take numbers. Use the company defined file structure and naming conventions. Especially important if you’ve made major changes. It’s very frustrating when the client or supervisor likes a test or previous version you did but you didn’t save the project. Now you have to spend time trying to recreate what you already did once before.


Optimize
When you work on a shot you will likely have to render quite a few takes on your machine and/or on the render farm. If for some reason your render isn’t optimized that can equate to quite a few hours of lost production time and processor time.  As you manipulate, test and review interactively an unoptimized configuration can mean the difference of trying multiple changes in a short time or become a slog of spending most of your day making a few simple changes. It may mean the difference of producing a great result on a short turnaround or a mediocre result since you didn’t have time to manipulate and render a better version.

Optimize your renders when possible. Know the application you’re working in and know what options there are when rendering. Here’s a list of optimizations for Nuke. There’s likely more than a few lists for all visual effects software packages. Avoiding things that slow down the app and doing more of the things that speed up the app may have a big impact on the day to day work. Consider using low resolution proxy models or elements when you can for working on animation or basic testing. Consider pre comps and caching when working on the top layer. Consider rendering just a frame range of the shot and combining it previously rendered frames to check the new frames in context.

For specific tasks you might turn off some of the advanced settings - motion blur, fur render, etc. as long as you know what you’re evaluating. You might be able to disable specific areas of a composite or render if that’s not what you’re working on. Just make sure to restore all of the settings for the final render and another other renders that require full reviews.

There’s no point in spending 3 days trying to shave a few seconds off the entire shot render but if your render is running much slower than it should due to simple changes, then it’s a waste of time and resources.

The other thing to consider optimizing is yourself and your approach. If you’re working a lot in one software package then get to know all the keyboard and mouse shortcuts. Configure the app keys or your Wacom to take advantage of specific and frequent tasks. Use macros or scripts as needed for repeating common tasks. In Photoshop use actions for tasks that you do a lot of.


Check your results
Check all the renders or tests you generate and consider them in terms of the request from the director or supervisor. Make sure to check your work before passing it on to others to use. Do NOT assume that its correct. If you’re an animator check the final animation for any stray keyframes or oddities. Rotoscopers should make sure the motion and coverage is correct. If you’re rendering simulations make sure they’re the required length and have correct alphas. If you’re a TD make sure there aren’t any glitches or bad frames rendered.

It’s far better to find out now and fix it rather than getting a frantic call late at night two weeks later.

Once you’ve checked the results make sure everything has been correctly entered int whatever asset database your company may be using. Make sure to prep the files for archiving if you’re finished.


Keep a log
Keep a log of the time you work and the shots and tasks you’re working on. You likely already do this for your timecard or for production but it’s worthwhile recording it as well for yourself. It can be a real eye opener to see how much actual time was spent on a shot or given task or how much linear time it took by the time the back and forth happened with the director. Use this as a reference when you’re asked to bid on a shot or when you’re asked how much time you think is required to get the version done. All of us in visual effects are eternal optimists. We assume we can whip out the next version in a couple of hours. Time after time of saying that with a client waiting and disappointing them with something two days later is a problem. It’s also a problem for the visual effects company who bids on the amount of time required and unknowingly underbids the work simply because everyone is optimistic. The company should in fact be doing their own reality check of what the typical shot requires but most companies don’t work that way. No point in budgeting 2 hours of roto per shot on a new show if the company average was 8 hours of roto per shot on the last show.

Also keep a record of the bids you provide when bidding a show. Don’t be surprised if the numbers changed quite a bit when you go to do the actual work months later. Especially problematic when they try holding you to it. The supervisor or producer may think you were pessimistic and ‘adjusted’ the amount of time much lower. Or in some cases they may have added a lot of padding.


Check the next phase
Once you’re done with your tasks and passed the files or elements on it’s usually out of your hands. And the company probably wants you to be focusing your efforts on the next task. But when possible it’s worth checking the next step, the next render or task. You can check to make sure the correct version is in fact being used of your animation. You can make sure the root elements or renders are the right ones and are being used correctly. It’s possible there’s been a mixup or confusion on the next step and by viewing the 10 second shot you can flag an error that may not be evident to others.


Check the final
If a shot you worked on in any form is finalled check it out. Its worth doing a reality check of what you did and how it was used in context of the shot and project. Did you over build details of the model that never show up given the action or smoke levels? Did texture map you painted work? Did that elaborate 30 second shot get cut down to 2 seconds? Would you have done more on a specific aspect that would have made the shot better? There may not be much you can do about some of these things but it’s worth getting the experience and understanding how things come to be. It’s also worth considering how would you approach this same task or type of shot next time. Would you change anything? Have you learned anything you can apply to the remaining shots or to future projects?

[I'll have future tips posts. Feel free to add your own tips in comments]

Sad but true..

A cautionary tale:

 From @VFXSoldier twitter

Art Institute graduate spent 70K on degree, can't find video game job, takes up stripping instead.

Believe me,  you don't want to see most vfx artists stripping.

---
Unfortunately most VFX companies end up going through the following.  These would be funny if
they weren't so realistic.  I've seen the same things almost verbatim so they're not exaggerated. 
Note that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing since there are times when the client feels they need to define how the vfx need to be done to the experienced vfx people they hired.

And from @alba twitter:
VIDEO:  VFX Guy versus commercial producer video "This is a fixed bid"

    Caution: Explicit Language

The unrealistic portion here is the client reminding you it's a fixed bid.  They don't even bother saying that. 

Here's another example how clients work with VFX companies and vfx artists

VIDEO: The Vendor Client relationship - in real world situations

Overtime?  What's that?

VIDEO: Do you like fighting robots? The interview. 

Budgeting VFX

Budgeting VFX

I covered some of the basics of this in the post/podcast Bidding and Preproduction
I’ll be going into more detail in this posting.

As previously discussed budgeting visual effects can be very difficult. You have the possible issues of developing new looks and techniques. How long will this take and how many people? Add to this mix the director’s creative changes that happen on any film project. Should you calculate 2 takes? 5 takes?

I’ll be discussing feature films here. Budgeting is somewhat the same for television or commercials with a few key differences. Television shows may have a small permanent staff (or at least an assigned vfx company) if they’re vfx heavy. They also tend to have very little time or budget. There’s usually no time for storyboards in television. In many cases they’re told what has been budgeted for the effects and have to work within that. On a commercial much of the final work may be done on a Flame™ or similar system. These are expensive high-end systems where the client sits in the room and guides the artists to achieve the effect they want. Note that feature films use Flames and other equipment as needed where the vfx supervisor is the client. For high-end 3D work it may go through a similar pipeline as a feature film but with a smaller team. The budget and post time for visual effects on a commercial can be much higher on a per second basis than a feature film since a commercial is only 30-60 seconds in length. Commercials have detailed storyboards and may have previs because they use it as a selling tool to the final client. Both commercials and television used to be primarily done at standard television resolution (which made it a bit faster and easier than feature films) but with the advent of High Definition they’re now done at resolution at or close to film resolution.

The average Hollywood feature film is now approximately $100 million. A VFX film can run even higher. For a ‘visual effects’ feature film the vfx budget can be 1/5 to ½ of the total film budget so it’s critical to get the budget done correctly.

Why are visual effects so expensive? VFX are very time and labor intensive. A large project may take 200 people to work on over the course of several months or a year.

The first step in the process is someone at the studio plugs in a guestimate for the VFX. Years ago a producer with minimal vfx experience might pencil in a budget that was an order of magnitude off. These days most of the large studios have a VFX head in charge of budgeting and assigning the work.

Initially the script is broken down by the VFX producer on the film (likely with a supervisor involved) or it may be done by a VFX company’s producer and supervisor. A rough count of the number of estimated vfx shots is created based on the script text only. Note that even if production has done scene numbering these don’t break down into the specific shots, which is what’s required to budget the vfx. Shots may be designated as hard, medium and easy to allow setting an approximate cost for each shot or as a quicker process an average cost may be assigned to all shots. A studio film usually has an average shot cost in the $10,000-60,000 range. Low budget projects may have $1000 or less per shot.

These ballpark estimates are submitted to the studio to evaluate. The VFX company may meet with the director and the team to refine the bid further by dropping potential vfx shots that they expect to do with stunts or clarifying some of the planned shots.

During the pre-production phase the director works with artists to create storyboards and/or previs animation. These resources will be used to create more accurate bids. The production or studio VFX head will submit a package to any VFX companies bidding on the work along with parameters. Parameters might include average length of shot (typically 5-8 seconds), handles (4-16 frames on each end of the editor’s cut shot to allow some adjustment), delivery dates, delivery formats (film, digital, both), temp screening dates, etc. Each shot may also include specifics or assumptions. Due to times constraints sequence bids may be worked on as soon as storyboards for that sequence are done.

In some cases the studio employs a company or multiple companies to do some concept work and/or some R&D. The studio may require this before proceeding to the next level and to make sure the look and approach is what they want.

With storyboards and information in hand the visual effects supervisor determines the best methodology. He/she works with the vfx producer and the team (lead compositor, lead TD, CG supervisor, etc) to review the approach. If it’s an animation heavy production there’s likely an animation supervisor as well. Each shot is then broken down into detail regarding the amount of time required for each task. Ideally this involves all key personnel but could also be done by the producer and supervisor if they feel they have an accurate idea.

The animation supervisor may review the shot and determine it will take 8 days for an animator. The CG supervisor may think it will take 5 days for a technical director (TD) to light the scene and work out the look. Estimates are made for composting, rotoscoping, paint work, specialized modeling, matte painting, simulations, dirt removal, etc. Each of these goes into an Excel spreadsheet the vfx producer has. Modeling (CG or practical) is budgeted (and required texture maps or paint work) along with R&D. When you’re doing hundreds of shots this process can take days.

All of these estimates are based on actual experience and gut feelings. The complexity and difficulty of the shot is taken into account. A company that’s been operating for some time should have averages from other shows to refer to (although they seldom do refer to them). Of course all of these estimates have to take into account some changes and doing multiple takes. Some companies bid the lowest possible number (as if everything were perfect and there would be no changes) to get the show and then force production to have change orders for every change, big or small. This just creates a very awkward and painful process for all involved. It’s always best to consider some time for reasonable adjustments or changes. If the VFX team has worked with a director or given studio before they make some adjustments to the estimates based on number of changes on the last production.

The biggest danger in creating the estimates is being too optimistic. Your first impulse is to say that it can’t possibly take that long to do that shot. It’s just a simple blue screen, etc. This is especially true since the person making the estimates is likely an expert and can do the shot quickly. The reality is there are no simple shots, the original plates won’t be as good as you’d hope, there will be changes, etc. You also have to take into account the average person working in that position at that company. The range of quality and speed between employees can be vast. One person might be able to do something in a day and another will take a week.

In some cases the vfx producer and supervisor may modify or pad the budgeted shot. This can be tricky and is best to be discussed at the time of the group budgeting. If the producer feels a certain task is under bid then that should be brought up. The danger is if the estimates are modified after the fact then the person who provided the initial bid may be held responsible for it, even though it was changed for more or less afterwards. If you’re bidding a show I suggest always keeping your own notes if there a discrepancy months down the road. The other issue is if the producer pads the bid and the people originally providing the estimate are padding their estimates you end up with a double padded bid. This may mean you lose the project.

When planning a show the producer and supervisor try to cast the show much as a director casts actors. Who are the best people available for the different tasks and different leads? Is there an animator that would be perfect for a specific character or a modeler that is great at the organic modeling required? Unfortunately schedules and any other shows may prevent the flexibility of having a choice in all of this. It’s not unusually for modelers to be tied up on another company project. This delay in getting the models started ripples through the entire production causing more overtime. All of this needs to be taken into account internally at the company.

The vfx producer calculates the cost of the shot based on the time estimates and the average cost for that type of person at that company. That rate will likely include not only the employee’s salary but also their related expenses such as health insurance and pension. Note that most vfx artist work more than 8 hour days so the overtime has to be taken into account for the estimated. Some companies include in these time estimates the entire overhead and profit margin. In some cases they may fold in the R&D costs or the model costs. If a 10 shot sequence has a $100,000 model budget then they will add $10,000 to each shot in the sequence.

The cleanest and best process though is to keep these costs separate. If you include a lot of extra costs in the time budget then things get very wacky as changes are made. In the example above if the 10 shot sequence is cut down to 1 shot then you only have 1/10 the model costs. If the sequence is dropped before it’s started but after the model is built then you have to find out how you can cover the price of the model somewhere else. If a 100 shots are added that doesn’t necessarily mean all your overhead goes up dramatically. Likewise if production requires a lot of overtime work at the end of the production then those calculations will be out of line.

Overhead includes all the labor and materials not directly related to a shot or that can specially broken down into shots. The basic staff of production assistants, coordinators, vfx producer, vfx supervisor, etc. are all part of the overhead. The cost of the computers, software, sales people, human resources etc. need to be included as well. The time the vfx artist spend in meetings or general prepping (getting the pipeline worked out) also fall under this category. The amount of down time when the company keeps people on payroll without a project has to be incorporated as well.

An estimate is also calculated for plate photography which will have a vfx supervisor and possibly a small team of matchmovers or coordinators.

A percentage will be added to the project to cover profits. Contrary to studio belief the markup for visual effects is not astronomical. (i.e. not as much as most retail)

If you’re a freelancer or a new, small shop, try to do the work on a time and materials basis if possible. You’ll have to provide a basic estimate but if the director or the vfx company that’s contracting you changes anything you won’t be forced to cover the change costs yourself. First time freelancers make the mistake of charging what they were being paid working for another company. The problem is none of their overhead is included such as health insurance, computer and software expenses. You’re also assuming you’ll be working full time which won’t be the case for most freelancers.

The vfx producer has to lay out the linear time required to do the work. If you have 15 TD’s and it will take 20 weeks of work but production only has 12 weeks of post then there has to be some adjustment. Either more people need to be brought on, more overtime is added in or the number of shots the company can do must be limited. As mentioned if there are other productions at the company the resource allocation (for both people and computers) can be a real problem if a production adds or drops a 100 or 200 shots on a project (not that unusual unfortunately).

Visual Effects are usually feast or famine. Either there are too many projects and a company will have to turn down work or there’s not enough work and the company has to do what they can to get the project. In some cases the company may choose to bid the project at their cost (no profit) or even as a loss. The smarter companies know that if they have to lay people off it will cost them a lot to rehire people and bring them up to speed with their internal systems.

In the end the vfx company provides a cost for each shot (not broken into each task) along with an overhead budget, model budget and R&D budget. Any assumptions the bidding team made should be spelled out clearly for each sequence and each shot. (The car will be a stunt car, the fire will be provided by the onset special effects crew, etc) In commercials there are standardized bidding forms but there’s no standard in visual effects for features. The studio will likely add up all the costs and divide by the number of shots to get an average shot cost. They can use this as a rough comparison with other bids as well as to help ballpark additions or deletions of shots. Of course the studio is likely to ask the vfx company to sharpen their pencils and provide ‘better’ numbers and they may ask the director to cut shots or elimatinate a sequence based on budget considerations.

Do not be surprised if you’re asked to do this process a dozen times by the studio. Storyboards and concepts change which require a re-bid. Bidding occupies a large amount of the pre-production time.

Multiple vfx companies bid on the work. The vfx producer for the show may choose specific companies to bid on specific sequences. If a company has a specialty (such as matte painting) they may only bid on those shots. The studio may have a list of companies they’re willing to work with that the vfx producer has to use.

After the bidding has settled down the studio will award the show to a company or companies. In some cases the studio makes the decision based purely on cost and in other cases the cost only plays a small role in the selection. The quality of work, past experiences of the studio and the ability to accommodate many more shots are all taken into account.

At this point the studio and the companies work out their contracts. In some cases the contracts may not be official until the end of production but of course the best approach is to get it locked into before production. Note that the contract may lock in a specific bid even though additional changes and storyboards arrive after that time. It’s critical to have an experienced entertainment lawyer review the contract since the studios have teams of lawyers who specialize in this. You need to make sure everyone is on the same page with regard to the assumptions and delivery schedules. You also need to be clear about the payment schedule. Some are done by weekly allotment and others are done when hitting milestones (per shot or by major sequences)

During production the supervisor and producer flag the studio when changes or additions are made that might affect the budget. Note that the movie release date will not change so the only way to handle additions is to add more people, more overtime or additional companies.

Once the film is shot and there is a rough edit that can be turned over, the vfx company will likely review the bid and compare it to what they actually have in hand. Quite a few things can change from the plan to the final result and this is a final reality check before the work begins.

Hand in hand with the budget is the schedule. A preliminary schedule is made when the budgets are done. There is usually a schedule for turnovers. This is where production (director and editor) gives an edited sequence to the vfx company. If the turnovers happen later than planned (a frequent occurrence) then the entire schedule and budget may be affected. Time is money as they say. Also the finals date (when all shots are supposed to be done) may vary a bit but it’s very unusual for a release date for a movie to change. If it does change, it may be for the worse (i.e. earlier)

In scheduling the work each step of the process is taken into account. The vfx editor will have to provide negative numbers, the film needs to be scanned, then the matchmoving (or layout) will need to be done. Next the animator starts, then the TD and then the compositor. These last three overlap a lot or a little depending on the shot and pipeline. Most people are working on 2 or 3 shots at a time. Even though a shot may be budgeted as 2 weeks it may take 3 or 4 weeks to complete since there will down time while waiting for feedback from the director or while other changes are made. In some cases a shot may have to be put on hold for a month or more while a change is made or until additional elements are shot.

Ideally each task for each shot is tracked either by timecards or by a database. If they’re not tracked it becomes difficult to determine how much progress is being made relative to the schedule and budget since linear time and budgeted time are different. If the work isn’t monitored you may not realize how over budget or over schedule you are until the last phase of the show when it’s too late.

The poorest process is for the vfx producer to say we’re $5000 over budget on a specific shot or to dump an inch thick document of raw figures on the desk of the supervisor. At that point the shot is already in the red and you’ll have to spend time figuring out what that amount means (which task is causing the problem, is the dollar amount with markup, etc). The best process is to monitor the shots and flag them as they reach critical stages (50% done on a task, shot to be completed that week, etc). As an example: If the composite time is already 75% used up and there’s a lot more work to be done then the supervisor may want to review the shot with the compositor and determine if there’s anything that could be done to simplify or complete the work in the budgeted time. There may be another 200 similar shots yet to do so if there’s a major flaw in the approach then it should be modified or discussed with production.

Dailies are held everyday to review the work in progress. The team creates weekly targets for which shots should be completed. These are reviewed and frequently adjustments have to be made. A shot that was scheduled to finish that week has to be pushed to the following week because the director kicked it back or because there were larger problems than planned. As production nears the finals date the weekly reviews become daily reviews. Don’t wait until the last minute to alert the film production company if there are scheduling issues.

If there is a crunch time at the end of production then the costs will start to skyrocket with overtime and other rush charges.

Related posts
Getting the most out of your VFX Budget
VFX Wages
Why do Visual Effects cost so much?

Related books (In the VES Handbook I cover budgeting similar to this site)

Visual Effects Producer

In this podcast I cover a bit more detail on what a Visual effects Producer does.
Approx 14 minutes.  (Click the title above to hear the podcast.  Sorry, no transcript posted)

Related post
Visual Effects Positions
Budgeting VFX
Scheduling VFX
Bidding and Pre-production VFX

Since this was posted a book has been published on VFX producing.



There's also now the VES Handbook of VFX

Bidding and Preproduction

Visual Effects Bidding and Preproduction are covered in this podcast.
Storyboards and animatics are included in this discussion.

Transcript
Today I'll be discussing the start of the process, which includes bidding and preproduction.

A studio or producer will contact a visual effects company, which is also referred to as a visual effects house. If a producer or studio has a relationship with an effects company they may provide the script only to that company but more likely they will have at least 3 or 4 effects companies review the script. Studios often have a postproduction supervisor or even a visual effects head who is involved in making sure the postproduction process flows smoothing. If a production company is contacting the effects company directly they may have hired a visual effects producer for the film itself. This is common if the film is very large and will the work will be split out to a few effects companies.

Most of the time the producer will have a script for a film that's been greenlit or is close to being greenlit. Greenlit means that the money has been approved to make the film. Sometimes the producer just needs a ballpark estimate before it precedes any further in development.

At the effects company the visual effects supervisor and effects producer review the script. The visual effects supervisor and effects producer mimic the director and producer but specifically to visual effects. The supervisor's job is to oversee the work from both a creative and technical standpoint and make sure it accomplishes what the director needs. The visual effects producer is in charge of the budget and schedule of the work.

The script is reviewed and the supervisor and producer make notes on what they think the effects work will be. Typically I tag anything that might be effects work and create a list. Details about what the client wants may be minimal at this time. The supervisor and producer sit down and create a ballpark budget based on a rough idea of techniques and their experience. The next step is a meeting with the director and film's producer to clarify exactly what the vision is and what they think they can accomplish with stunts and practical effects work. Based on this conversation the list of effects shots is revised and a new ballpark estimate is created. It's important to provide these estimates in written form so there's no miscommunication.

Before more detailed bids can be created and the job awarded the work has to be very well defined. Scripts usually don't have a lot of detailed descriptions and even when they do the director may have other ideas.

This is the start of the preproduction phase. For a large film this can be 6 to 9 months before shooting even begins. Once filming starts there can easily be a crew of 200 or more people at a minimum cost of $100,000 or more per day. Anything that can be done in preproduction to speed up the actual shoot and make it as smooth as possible is worth it. An ounce of prevention as they say.

The concept phase
In many cases you're being asked to create something that doesn't exist so it's critical to get the design down on paper to allow communication with all involved. The production may start a concept phase where they hire an effects company or their own artists to create artwork. The visual effects art director plays a key role here. The director may not have a clear idea of what the creature or gadget or vehicles is supposed to look like so numerous sketches are done by the artists. The first step usually covers a wide range of possible looks and the artists may also work closely with the production designer to make sure they're on the same page. If there are elaborate makeup or costume designs these are proceeding as well and in many cases the teams work together. Hopefully the director will be clear about which parts of which designs he likes and the designs are refined further. In end color concepts are usually created and in some cases a model sculpture is created. This is sometimes called a Marquette.

Directors vary a lot in terms of being able to visualize and communicate their ideas. It some cases the director may not know what he wants until he sees it. This means you could spend a lot of times doing concept art and in some case this may continue on well into production which can cause further complications.

Sometimes during this concept phase I may shoot some video and do some moving mockups to try to clarify what the effect might look like in motion.

Storyboarding
The next step is to storyboard all the visual effects sequences. There needs to be one storyboard or sketch of every shot that will have effects work. If it's a complex shot with a lot of movement or action then multiple panels will be done similar to a comic book except the format for all shots is the format of the film frame. The production may hire an artist to work directly with the artist or they may have the visual effects company artist work with the director. It's important for the visual effects team to be involved in the storyboarding since they have the most experience in what works and doesn't work in this area. I always suggest to a director he storyboard the shots as if it all existed. This avoids the effect shots being approached differently than the live action and avoids dwelling on a single effect.

Storyboard may seem to suppress the creatively of the scene but they're very important for a few reasons.

A single shot may require a number of departments to work together and prepare for the filming of the shots. With storyboards and concept art the director is able to easily communicate to everyone. A picture as they say is worth a thousand words. Without the boards each person would envision the shots differently.

For the visual effects crew we can't budget a shot until we see what the director sees. It's one thing in the script to set the action as a dogfight in space but it's critical to know the exact number of shots. The effects supervisor has to analyze every board and determine the technical process to create the final image. If an actor is framed one way that might require a bluescreen but if the shot is framed another way it may require rotoscoping or may be a simple split. A single shot may require a dozen different images or as we call the elements. There may need to be a section of a matte painting, a shot of the main actors on location, a shot of some extras against a blue screen, a model shot with motion control and a computer graphic creature all in one shot. Some of these elements may be shot or created over a span of a year so planning is critical. In a film such as star wars there about 2000 shots. Most shots average 5-8 seconds in length for budgeting purposes. In the old days. And I use the term old days to reference pre-digital effects; a large show was 200 shots.

Animatics
If a sequence is very complex, production may want to do animatics. These are essentially moving storyboards. They may be as simple as editing the storyboards together to check the flow and timings of the shots or may involve elaborate 3D models with animation. The storyboards do a good job of conveying the composition and basic action of the scene but moving images provide timing information and camera motion. At times we may videotape models by hand or do other types of mockups using clips from other references.

Both storyboards and animatics are used as a guide and starting point with the understanding that some of the shots will need to change when shooting based on the locations and the actors. It's important not to get too hung up on animatics. Because of their simple texturing they usually don't do a good job of conveying the sense of speed compared to a live action image projected onto a movie screen. It also becomes very easy to create shots you can't actually shoot due to the camera speed or other real world limitations. Some directors try to finesse the animatics in great detail which can make it that much more frustrating to them. They should be used just enough to convey the concept of the shot.

Once the boards are created then it's possible to create an accurate budget for the visual effects work. Budgeting is one of the most difficult tasks in effects work since there are still quite a few unknowns I usually gather the heads of the different departments and review the storyboards. Each department head provides their estimate for the amount of time they expect a shot to take for their discipline. Animation, matte painting, compositing, technical director, etc. Ideally they will bid it based on the performance of their average worker. It's easy to become optimistic when bidding about how quickly the work should be done and how the shots will all flow as planned. Reality and experience quickly temper this urge. Likewise if someone has had a bad experience they may pad their estimates. In either case these deviations from the target add up since there may be several hundred shots budgeted this way.

When reviewing the techniques to use it usually isn't a question of how to do an effect but which way is best for this particular film. Each technique has certain limits associated with it. I'll cover the details to this in another podcast.


As mentioned before it's also common for the studio to bid out the project to multiple effects houses so budget is always an issue. On larger shows the studio may end up dividing up the work among a few effects houses. When this is the case the film usually has an effects producer or coordinator assigned to it to oversee the project to make sure budgets and schedules from multiple effects houses are on target.

Most productions are done on a fixed bid that means that any overages are out of the effects company pocket unless the director requests changes or additions to the from the original planned shots. Part of the budgeting process is determining how much coverage is included for changes. Some places bid a bare minimum, which requires them to request, a change order from the production for additional charges even when a minor change has taken place. Most of the larger effects houses try to include enough funds to cover typical adjustment requests by the director.

The time is also a consideration when budgeting. If there isn't sufficient pre-production or postproduction time the crew may have to work overtime. In this business a 50-hour week is usually a minimum. Days are usually 10 to 12 hours long and a workweek can stretch to be 6 or even 7 days, especially toward the final completion of the project. At the end of Star Trek the motion Picture I worked 90, 12-hour days straight. Since the movie release date is locked at the moment it is greenlit it becomes an unchanging deadline. Obviously this will affect the budget.


You may have to do a fair bit of research and development to create the look the director is after and since this is an artistic endeavor with a different director on each project the amount of time it takes will sometimes be an unknown. One director may like the look of the shots very easily and another may dwell on some detail in a single shot at the expense of other shots.

During the pre-production phase the film departments are busy creating the sets, costumes and other items required for the shoot. On the visual effects side the R&D, research and development, is in process and tests are being shot if new techniques are required. Some of the models (both CG and physical models) can be constructed. Just a note here that CG refers to computer graphics. Visual effects artists usually use CG instead of CGI since it's shorter and not redundant.

We also use this time to work with the director of photography to make sure we're in sync with them. The film stock and shooting process will discussed since this could affect some of the approaches taken in post production.

As the date for shooting nears the visual effects supervisor goes on the tech scout with the other department heads. This may be reviewing the sets or flying to the locations where the film will be shot. The effects supervisor works closely with the director of photography, the practical effects supervisor and the stunt supervisor. Some revisions to budget and storyboards may need to be done once the tech scout is done.

Preproduction on your own
Even if you're doing the visual effects for your own miniDV movie it's important to take advantage of preproduction. It's best if you do a simple sketch or storyboard of your shots. This doesn't have to be anything fancy, it's just to help you review what you're planning to do. When you've sketched it out it's easy to spot some potential problems you might not have thought about.

You'll have to figure out what techniques will be required for each shot. If you haven't done much of this before it's best to keep it simple because a simple shot well done is better than a complex shot poorly done. In most cases a locked off camera will make the shot easier to do. This means use the camera on a tripod and don't move it.

Also consider doing what the professionals do during pre-production. Test. If you have a video camera then try to shoot a simple version of your shot with people filling in for the actors. Step through the process of the shot with this test footage so you're clear about how the technique works. You don't need to finish the shot but this can help figure out how to best shoot the images and how much work will be required in post production. It may not cost you in money but it's important to understand the amount of time required. By doing a test you'll also gain a bit more experience so that your skills will be better for the actual shots.

Well that wraps up today's podcast. Shooting the visual effects will be our next topic. Thank you.

Related post
Budgeting VFX