New Clients: The Freelance Animator's Siren
Many animators will find freelance employment well before finding a studio gig. And most of the clients who work with new animators are new to animation themselves. You need to know a few things in order to navigate these rough seas, or you might find yourself up against the breakers.
First, unlike many other industries, the animation process is nearly impossible to intuit. Let's take a parallel example. If you were to hire a photographer to take a portrait of your family, you'd be pretty carefree about the process; you can probably imagine the entire endeavor of having your photo taken. Even when the photographer whips out a light meter, the answer to your question is simple: "That will expose the photo correctly." It's this familiarity in the process that allows you to feel comfortable parting with your money in order to get a really great portrait.
Now, let's pretend we are outside the animation industry for a moment, and try to put ourselves in the shoes of someone new to the process. In our profession, not everything makes sense, and nothing has a simple answer. "Why can't I change the model even a little bit once I've started animation? Why do playblasts look so poor compared to renders? And what the heck kind of name is 'playblast!?'" These are scary shoes to walk in. Think about how nerve-wracking it would be to spend large amounts of money on that same family portrait if, instead of a camera, the photographer arrived with a glowing green ball, started to squeeze it and said, "Say cheese!" Animation can be that unfamiliar and incomprehensible to a new client.
I like to cool the initial tension by likening the process to puppetry. Describe to your employer that before animation can begin, you have to create the puppets and build the stage. When the puppets are completed, you can start moving them. If you want to change the structure of the puppet, you have to throw out the movements that you've created so far. Explain it's fairly simple to repaint a puppet, but harder to cut and sew him new clothes. It's also easy to glue something to the puppet that doesn't need to bend, like a holster, a badge, a hat, etc. Use comparisons to ease the tension that surrounds the mystery of the animation process. A camera in 3D is very much like a camera in film, so quickly make the comparison when a client asks something to the effect of, "how do you draw this?" Your answer should be something along the lines of "actually, the computer basically takes a picture the way a film camera does, only it sometimes takes hours to expose a single frame. We place and move the puppets on the stage we've created, with lights much like a theater, and then let the computer 'draw' the frame." This illustration normally quells at least some of the protests of new clients.
Next, do not let new clients dictate a workflow to you. This is a common problem, and it can be dangerous. If you change how things are done, you may expose yourself to financial loss on the project, and may establish an unsustainable precedent if the client brings repeat business. Many will want to see progress faster than you can deliver. And most don't understand that animation, for the most part, looks really bad right until when it starts looking great. Clearly outline the process to the client in writing, and stick to it religiously.
Establish and put in writing how many revisions are expected and stick with the approved schedule. Sometimes I even like to have the client print out the calendar that I create, sign it, and fax it back to me. Then revision days pass without a hitch, and you can move forward with the work in confidence that you are working from the latest notes.
Lastly, and this is a tough one, but you should never deliver viable assets until you've received payment. I've made the mistake of delivering final rigs to a client that never paid. At the very least, watermark your images with your name or company title. If a client asks you to remove the watermark, you might have a runner on your hands.
All of this might make the world of freelancing sound scary and dangerous. It's not. You shouldn't be paranoid, but it helps to make sure you always stick to your guns, ask for payment for services rendered, and stay true to the process that elicits your finest work. At the end of the day, focus on your craft and the rest should follow.
Rock on,
Kenny
Kenny Roy is the founder of Arconyx Animation Studios in Los Angeles, Calif., and a mentor at Animation Mentor. To learn more about Arconyx Animation Studios, check out the site: http://www.arconyx.com