To be brutally honest, you get what you pay for. Guys like me can give mostly anything to the client, it all depends on how serious is their budget to begin with. Unless you have at least 60k in hand to back you up its going to be hard to do anything. 20 min of animation is going to cost you time, and that doesn't even include the pre-production phase. We really can't do much in terms of quality in Malaysia due to the grant itself, it is peanuts compare to what a canadian company gets. Plus most bosses who run the place have a hard time understanding what they even want.

My advice is get someone who knows what he or she is doing. It may cost a bit more to hire these people but they will save you major problems later on. Another advice is remmber that ANIMATION is NOT MULTIMEDIA DESIGN~ They are both 2 different subjects.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Aug 27 2010, 02:50 PM

RM 60k is the standard for international quality. You can still get away with a lower budget but it all depends on how well you manage it. Right now you don't even have a storyboard or character design to estimate how the show might go. To be honest i already have a marketing plan, it does not include marketing this to Malaysia only.

Asking for estimates now won't show you anything. You will to get something done first like pre-production material to start off the budget count. If your asking for something like anime i can suggest ways to do it, it all depends on how far you want to take quality from there.

When i said that most bosses have no idea what they want i meant that they have the iniatial idea but don't know how to develop it into a proper product.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Aug 27 2010, 02:59 PM

2D animation is a tedious process. If you got the people to back you up it will be much easier. But first to get started you will need to do pre-production first. From there you will need to do quality control and so on. Everything need to fit the theme and style.

Ill let you know in PM.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Aug 27 2010, 04:23 PM

I believe 60k is MINIMUM for animation, that doesn't include background, storyboard and any other pre-production. He was asking for Animation price, so i gave him just that:). The excess is uncertain since he doesn't have anything developed yet. Pre-pro and animation together will cost him 100k easily and this is a "if everything goes acording to plan estimate".

Unless your company have an Art Director and some animators already i think its best you take it to a studio. Difference in Freelancers and Studios is that when dealing with studios you will have to sign a agreement to hand the entire studio the animation job. You will be obligated to pay them by monthly basis or upon delivery of material. I have been to Animasia before, best you go there pesonally to discuss matters. There are a couple more studios around here, so happy hunting~

Our friend up there telling the truth, animasia really got no action shows in the making. Unless you count Superstrikers one.LOL.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Sep 13 2010, 10:06 PM

Is that pool table still around? I miss it. I also miss my bachelor life!!!!

But serious, after all this years, nothing ever comes out of our studios that is considered voilent. Even for most studios i work with they all follow the same kiddy train.

We can debate on this till the end of time.

Reality is we will never catch up with our competitors no matter how much MSC rave about taking iniative to do anything. Even if we manage to get involve in some kind of collab with another overseas studio, we are only there because we are cheap labour. And even then that possibility doesn't seem too bright anymore since China is making WAY better progress. Hell, their animators can produce better quality then my seniors. Majority of the guys who own these studios are power hungry maniacs that have no idea what they are doing.

Another problem here is that employers think animators are an endless reservior of slaves ready to be used and thrown away. Most of the guys in the industry now are veterans, new blood is hard too find and even harder to keep. The way things are going now, im not even sure we have enough talents to combat even india.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Sep 14 2010, 11:18 PM

Minimum 100k for Pre-production and Animation all together. This does not include Editing. Without any materials finalized, the cost is still a a big question. If you have a Director or a Producer discuss with them first. The cost also varies depending on your employees output level and skill. The longer it takes for your animators to finish it the more you will need to pay. This does not include the retake peroid where your animators need to do amendments which will consume time also.

In short no one can give you a definite amount. It can even go up to 150k or more if things get worse. It depends on your team and their capabilties to deliver. I have met companies that cough up 20k to do a 10 min animation but at the end of that road they could not even sell it because it was pure garbage. If your going to do 2D animation, do it the right way and get the right guys to help you on it.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Oct 4 2010, 04:53 PM

I dare not give you any contacts to any studios here. Every studio i have ever been in is a sweatshop and quality really differs depending on the staff they have at the moment. Advice, get your own studio up and running and handle the entire thing yourself, i know its difficult but you will not have a choice. If you want to save money in the long run and not have to worry about the cost of equipment and rent then you will have to get proper freelancers to help you out. This ofcourse only happens when Pre-production is done.

Doing it in sarawak it not a good idea since animators there are almost non existent. And animators here don't go to sarawak cause of low employment gains. As said before, get your stuff done first with money in hand then approach the animators for help. Even i dare not do any pre production work for you yet since nothing is confirm. And studios are even more difficult to handle if you source it out to them without proir knowledge to how Pre production is done. They can easily overcharge you if they believe you have no experiance in the matter.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Oct 5 2010, 03:06 AM

From my experiance and logics the goverment will not fund an ANIME project. It has already gotten a bad rep here and the only way money will ever come in is that you have connections with a DATO. Or you take out a loan and go with it. If you check out the winners for the MDEC funds you can see that their projects are somewhat for children and they will never dare venture further then that because of rules.

And if you do get it, you will bind to finish it or ELSE.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Oct 5 2010, 07:00 PM

Not that i don't want to give these guys hope, its a good thing what they are doing. But bare in mind i have met my fare share of talented Anime/ Manga artist and such. All of which draw pretty good and better then most. If getting funds were that easy these guys would be rolling in cash now.

Take my advice TS, don't expect anything and you won't be dissapointed. There are plenty of other ways to get your work out besides pandering to the government or overbudgeting your work. I have my ideas but they still required a decent capital to start and its much easier.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Oct 5 2010, 08:06 PM

3D Asset just let the guy do his thing. Even i know his pitch may sound a little profound and risky but just let him do it. He might even surprise me later on. The facts are already clear, if wants to get this done, he needs money. And when he can't get the money, then there is no project. So lets just let him be for the while until he does something of progression. If he fails then it would be a lesson, but if he succeeds then he would make a very big point.

To the TS, i have seen your friend work, read your statements and such. I can say your friend needs better character development cause the current rough i see is a VANILLA character that won't penetrate the market. You don't have to show us your stuff but do be serious when doing this. It might work if your willing to risk coughing out a bit of cash to come out with some animation samples. Plain drawings will not work. If your not willing to hire proper people to help you, then your hopes of getting this off the ground is near non existent. In order to make money you must spend money. Common businessman quote.

Also be advise, asking people for help has its limits. We can advise you to an extent, but for real work and progress you will need to hire. Don't want people to think your a cheapskate, bad for image . If you got animators already on your book then its good, but if you don't then you might want to start considering the possiblities of hiring them to do a short animation for pitching. Your chances go up higher that way.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Oct 7 2010, 07:16 PM

I doubt he has any hidden agenda's. Most likely high hopes but inexperiance. If he wants to have the slighest chance of this happening, he would have to spend money. Relying on friends has its limits. Without the right people to back him up, regardless of wheter you know a DATO or not, you can't expect easy money to come in just by doing a few drawings and script. If that be the case my friends would be rich seeing their quality is much better. Even the fund leechers at MDEC have to do a short clip to even impress anyone.

Lord_Ashe, are you one of the guys who attend the Mdec seminars/meeetings?
me
If so i can see where your coming from, my director and friend also went there occasionly to get their stuff into MDec. My friend won first place 2 times.

I don't know how Mdec run their funds, that much i can agree. But after so long we should have seen something promising that can wow others. I was one of those young and hardworking kids who companies take advantage when i first came into the industry. I had a great pitch too until i came to terms in reality that if i wanted it to be true i need it to be develope in canada. I wasn't happy with what i saw here, potential animators and good workers treated like animals and paid 2 months worth of MBPJ pay. The salary for animators here is never standard, when i first came out i was paid RM1100 with diploma. In AUS that would have been illegal and the company would have been fined for underpaying their employees. I may be a frssh grad with no experiance, but seriously we are not slaves. That may be all nice and dandy for single folks but what about us married guys who have a family to feed.

We have the talents, we have the passion, but lack the understanding.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Oct 8 2010, 03:36 PM

Saying 2D is dying while 3D is thriving is an ackward representation. What you say can be done, but that doesn't mean you can rear out 2D just like that. Some people have their trades, some can do 2D, while some can't, etc. In my company last time the 3D guys don't even know how to do 2D Animation. We called them Puppet masters. We also have to pander to the clients requests, just saying another company is doing it another way doesn't mean anything to them. They have the money, they make the decisions regardless of how much we convince them, thats how it rolls.

In today's industry if you only strifed to focus on one skill alone you are doomed to be obselete when the new generation kicks in. Unless of course you are Alex Ross or Miyazaki. Take all that you can from the time given, regardless wheter is 3D or 2D or whatever. I started with 2D, now i know Storyboard aswell, after that im going 3D. People would say why bother learning everything when you can just focus on one and be good at it. Bear in mind you are only as good as you are currently, and can easily be replace and overtaken by anyone else in the industry. By doing so you are insuring yourself a fair chance. There will be purist that tells you otherwise, but i have already learn to ignore such people for my own sake.

In short, Study Everything!!! Every Skill! Every Software!!!! if able.

You don't want a kid 5 years younger saying he can do everything you do but 5x better.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Oct 8 2010, 08:14 PM

I have worked with Philippians guys before. Quite talented but there will be issues with working visa's if you decide to bring them down here. Plus you will need to find the right guys to help you. Unless you are paying for their accommodation you will have no choice but to work with them on their terms.

Never go with japan.........doing business with them is like putting your hand into a basket filled with snakes. Animators get treated like crap over there.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Oct 25 2010, 07:03 AM

Ever since he started the forum he sounds like the kinda guy that wants to do everything from the ground up. I doubt he would go to that length.

Sad but true.

Though i would not pander to RTM, they won't pay much for animation series to be televised on their network. Unless you can get a product for dirt cheap and somehow conned them into buying your product then your set. ...........................................who am i kidding, just buy any dirt cheap show and sell to them, they will gladly take it off you. You will have to swallow your pride for awhile though, not even our local talents want to work with RTM. Its like selling your soul to the devil. lol.

Even astro is a problem. Though i am sure you will get at least 1 station to listen you.

I just finished a storyboard for a guy, he was very interested in marketing his own movie to our local studios. He told me how rude KRU is in accepting other ideas coming from outside their company. Though i do wish him the best of luck to produce his movie, a guy like him who is willing to spend his savings to accomplish a dream is worth supporting.

This post has been edited by meetxj9: Oct 25 2010, 07:52 AM

Im not too sure whether how much RTM pays. But from what i heard its extremely low, i guess it depends on the content.