3d modeling production timescales?

#1 A working week would be my estimate. Thats full time.

And you are right, it is one of those "how long is a piece of string" questions really.

Knowing what you want from the start is a good thing. height, sex, demographic, clothing, colours, art style etc... Re-editing a model unnessarily later on is very frustrating though sometimes unavoidable.

A picture of any description is preferable to me personally. Even a doodle.

As for doing 20 pictures in an hour, I wouldnt expect much more then gesture drawings with that timeframe.

#2 This was 15 minutes, granted i haven't been doing concept that much lately so I'm a bit rusty. I think 20 an hours is quite a bit.

#3 A week seems reasonable although I am interested how quickly a professional can do it, and also as before, lets assume concepts have been done.

Its fair enough taking a long time if you do it as a hobby, but a pro (a person who is paid to do it) surely can do it quicker if under pressure, deadlines, etc.

#4 Go here http://poopinmymouth.com/ Ben's tutorials (minus rigging/animations) is a pretty good example of the speed concept through completion. His tutorials are sped up so just take the time multiply it by however fast it's sped up. A few places are missing small buts of time, but it's not a lot. That should give you a really good feel for production time on a professional level.

I know i can rig and animate a character in about a day with about 5 basic movements. So my best guess is going to be about 2 days, minus concept (but thats the easy part!).

#5 There's a reason I, and most likely most professionals, don't have a set price for "a model" but rather take a look at each case and asses how long it will take.

I'm going to be boring and vague here and say; It simply depends on a whole load of things how long something takes. Art style, level of polish needed, concepts, the complexity of the model/rig/animations/textures needed, etc, etc. You can easily spend 100 hours, or more, on a model if that's the level of polish that's needed (and the client is willing to pay for that time). Similarly it's also possible to do the same model in a day or two to save a buck. It won't have that "extra", but it will work.

Different projects simply have different requirements. If anyone even tries to give you a generic answer to "how long it takes to make a model", well... they're full of crap. Sorry. =)

#6 Wow thats quite impressive, great site also thanks for that link.

#7 @Magnus, I would also factor in how determined you are, some people are just faster than others no matter how hard they try, but it does not make them less capable or intelligent, they are just slower at producing.

You can see it in any workplace, in any trade, my uncle could build a wall faster than any guy I have seen, he was a super builder, whereas the other builders just slowly plodded along.

#8 Not entirely sure "determined" would be the word I'd use. As a professional you can't really let things like that be a factor.

I do understand your point though, just a poor choice of words.
Of course some people are faster at doing things than others. (even though I don't quite agree with you on the rest; Speed is definitely something you can train).

But in either case, that wasn't at all my point. My point was if you went to someone and said "I need this and that model, I have this and that much money", provided the money isn't some ridiculously low amount it can probably be done. The upper limit is of course, well, there is none. If you want to pay me for 200 hours to work on one model, you're very welcome. I'd love to have that sort of time to polish the hell out of that one model. =)

#9 Well, I guess with my original question I knew there was no definite answer, but I can imagine that is one of the questions your clients do ask you, at least, I know when I am asked to code something, the last question after discussing requirements is 'so how long will it take?'

Magnus, do you give a general guideline on time to your clients, or I mean, do you have anyway at all of gauging how long things take?

I should come clean and explain why I am asking, I have tried to work with a few 3d artists in the mod community and I have never had any content other than renders of parts of models, but never anything completed! I guess I just have had some bad luck so if I know a general guideline I can choose the people I work with more carefully :) (or maybe I should begin to pay for what I want!)

#10 I work on my characters a little everyday. And on weekends.
I have spent a couple of days forming something basic. Textured rigged it and out.
But I have worked many months on something more detailed.
What Magnus is saying is true. Its really the level of polish you are looking to achieve.
I never feel completley satisfied during any of the stages.
As an artist - you always want to perfect your creation.

I see it like this.
Basic concept > Low poly mesh > UV Mapping > Then Basic texturing > Then off to ZBRUSH for all the HIRES work>
Generate NORMAL MAPS>More work on the Texture>Combine all into a Direct x9 Shade view to see Normal Map
with texture on Lowres model.>Rigg Model> Export it, and test it to make sure everything goes the way as planned.

For a single person as myself. Working these steps, while working a full time job,leaves me an a hour or two a night and weekends. Lets say I can get one full productive day out of a weekend. Then it could take me weeks to finalize.
In otherwords. 2weeks (10 working days) full time as a professional, might take me 10 weeks as a guy filling
it in here and there in my spare time.

Thats my swing on it!

#11 Ian; I work longer days than most if needed, so, in terms of hours I usually don't specify how long something will take to my clients unless they really want to know. I ask my clients "when do you need it done?" instead.

Since I generally do charge "per model" (or whatever it may be) rather than hourly rates (well, it depends a bit, sometimes it's easier to charge an hourly rate) I of course have ways of estimating how long something will take me. But as I said, I look at what need to get done and get as much information as possible about what the client need before I say anything about costs. The time estimates are mostly based on experience, of course you miss the mark once in a while but as long as I get enough information about what's needed I can usually say how long it will take (or, well, how much it will cost). If I get vague information from the client about what they need I'll be sure to mention up front that extra time may be needed to figure out what exactly it is they want.

If you're not paying for the work, all of what I've said goes out the door immediately... There's simply no way to compare a (usually not full time) hobbyist to what you get if you pay a professional in terms of, well, professionalism. If I say you'll have your model by this and that day, you will. (if you don't I can't pay my bills, or eat... so... you're pretty certain to have it by the time I say you will... I hate being hungry).

#12 Cool, thanks Magnus, that clears a lot of things up, I guess that is the dividing line between a hobbyist and a pro, if you are getting paid to deliver then you have obligations to produce in the constraints of what has been agreed.

I think my only option as a hobbyist is to take the attitude of 'if you want a job done well then do it yourself' although that does not really translate very well if I do not have the skills.

I have dabbled in 3d modeling and I am currently loving blender, so I am putting my hobby programming aside and spending the next two years putting every free second I have to learn how to model well.

Unfortunately I program business software professionally (which is not really unfortunate as I do enjoy it), but programming games can be equally challenging in areas business software will never take me, all in all it actually has made me program better business software.

Anyway, thanks again for that insight :)