Ask a 3D freelancer what they charge and watch what happens.
The conversation gets vague. "Depends on the project." "Somewhere in the usual range."
Nobody says their number. Which means everybody sets their number half-blind, anchored to guesses about what's normal in their city, their niche, their corner of the internet.
So I went and got the actual numbers.
For the new video I dug into what 3D artists charge per day around the world. Research across markets, plus what I've seen in 17+ years of hiring, subcontracting, and quoting against other freelancers and studios.
Some of it matched what I expected.
Two things genuinely surprised me. One of them changed how I'd set my own rate if I were starting today.
The numbers, the gaps between markets, and what actually decides where you land in the range, it's all in the video.
– Moritz
Tiny tactical tip:
Write down what you believe the "normal" day rate is for your kind of work.
Then write down where that belief came from. A real data point, or an old guess that calcified?
For most artists it's the second one. That's worth knowing before you quote again.