how much would you charge?

[bigtree]

How much would you charge for site like this. It's not finished yet, but you still can get an idea:

www.firvalleyproductions.com

Any ideas would be appreciated.

[Articulate-Dee]

is this a site you're making or something you need finished?

[lordofduct]

it depends mostly whats in each category.

Is it a bunch of just text with some static images? Or are there photo galleries, music, videos, etc.

How dynamic does it have to be? Or is it a once made, don't need to change out data set up?

How much animation is there to it? I'm assuming you want it in Flash, but if all you want is that intro animation, then you don't really need much flash at all.

[sstalder]

To be honest, the quality of the photos and graphics looks very poor. I wouldn't pay too much for it at all.

[bigtree]

I'm still working on this page. I agree that the quality of photos are poor. I'm planning to change that and add more animation, maybe sound. At the moment it's just layout.

[lordofduct]

If all you're looking for is suggestions and the sort, the freelance section isn't the place for posting this.

The freelance section is for posting paying freelance jobs only.

[whispers]

lordofduct is correct...

this is NOT the place for such conversation.

freelance forum is ONLY for posting projects you want to PAY others to help/do for you. period..nothing more.


moved to chat only Coffee Lounge. (maybe boardroom? or something?)

[gerbick]

Boardroom bound. And honestly, open discussion of pricing isn't really encouraged still.

[whispers]

Not only do you need to turn the frame rate up a bunch..

its very hard to tell anyone what their time is worth.

There are so many factors to add in, not only about the project itself, that can dictate a price, but the developers skill-set as well.

Did it take you longer to complete because you had a learning curve in some areas? Cant charge the client too much for your in-experience...

Also sometimes charging by HOUR, may do yourself or the client a dis-service.. so thats not ALWAYS the route to take either.

example:

you have a previous project that is similar that you just edit.. or you are very experienced with this projects requirements, so it took you a very short/quick time..

thats doesnt mean the project still isnt worth what its worth..

on the flip side..

if the hours DOUBLES the cost of that of an equal project, because YOU were lacking in areas and need to sort out bugs..etc..

or you just plain mis-judged the time...

hard to make it the clients responsibility.



a full/compete flash site can fetch some decent money...

but do they need to contact you again for updates?

are things updatable by the client & set-up dynamically? XML? dynamic text, images, videos, audio?

were their other technologies you had to create & do as well?

creative/design work?
backend/serverside work (PHP, ASP, CGI)..etc
audio or video editing/creation?

There will be no set answer..and really no right or wrong answer..

You need to get a set of guidelines that works for you, are important enough that need to be addressed in every project from your experience, and stick to them, adjusting when you see arent working in everyone best interest.

[Stoke Laurie]

I would assume that your question is prompted by 1 of 3 things;
a) They think you are charging too much, or
b) You did not agree a price before starting the work, or
c) You now think you charged too little.
Which of these is it?

[J-Luv]

if i was someone who didnt know how to design this in my flash myself i'd pay a couple hundred bucks. there's nothing to it. you'd make more money off this site doing text updates, graphic swaps, etc...

[MyFriendIsATaco]

Eight million dollars!

[Googooboyy]

Holy Taco! That sum could justify for one thousand three hundred thirty three sites like that!

[MyFriendIsATaco]

hehe, so you got ~$6000 for that? Consider yourself lucky. I honestly don't see it worth $6000. It's not bad, but there are a lot of small things you could have done to make it worth $6000.

Also, it's hard to say because I don't know if it's all XML driven or not. If it is, it'll be worth a little more.

I think if you severely cleaned up the imagery, meaning, use less compression (look into pngs).

Make it completely editable via XML (if it's not already).

DON'T USE 12fps! Use at least 30fps.

With those things taken care of, I can see it being in the $3000 range.

[edit]
Oops, after rereading, Googoo didn't make the initial post. :P
[/edit]

[MyFriendIsATaco]

I'm still working on this page. I agree that the quality of photos are poor. I'm planning to change that and add more animation, maybe sound. At the moment it's just layout.

Please don't add sound. Nobody likes it, and it's usually annoying unless it was done in the exact right way, and recorded professionally. Sticking in sound effects from a sound effects CD or whatever is just a bad idea.

[whispers]

to me.. it does NOT look very dynamic..

I think I already commented on the image quality...

it doesnt seem very BIG in size.. even the content looks to be limited to the stage size.. (ie no scorlling...or gallery type stuff)


I think $6k is a TON....

(I need to increase my prices)

what would something like this command then?

www.dmstudios.net/demos/saberBuilder

[Googooboyy]

Okay, my bad. $6k would be in my currency!

And I'd agree with Taco on the sound part cos nothing drives visitors away like bad music can.

And sabre builder? Sixteen million dollars!

[MyFriendIsATaco]

And sabre builder? Sixteen million dollars!

[J-Luv]

Make it completely editable via XML (if it's not already).

whats the best way to go about doing this? any links to tutorials on this? i dont use flash that much for websites anymore, so i still build all my test, etc in the swf file and make them as movie clips. making it editable via xml sounds a lot more manageable when its time to make updates.

[whispers]

there a link in my footer you can read to get a quick OVERVIEW called XML101..

if you are comfortable with ARRAYS.. XML should be a breeze.