The costs and time to produce various types of animation

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The costs and time to produce various types of animation

Hello all,

Here is another question from an uniformed person who likes animation.

Is there a big difference in cost between the different production styles of animation?

What would a 30 minute show assuming the same quality (or as close as possible), made by
2d animation
3d animation
Motion comic graphics
Video game engines
other means

cost?

And is there a big difference in the time needed to produce such animation?

Sorry if these are stupid naive questions.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,
Conrad

As I under stand it, not being in the industry, the pipeline determines the cost of a production.

I have some outline material that covers the subject in one of my books so you might have something in one of yours.

The production process, in a major studio, is broken down into ten or more steps or departments. Each step has its own crew and its own supply and equipment demands. Then there is the administration of all these different departments. There is also work that is farmed out to third parties, with their own pipeline.

The cost is all relative so you could say one form is cheap to produce. The pipeline, in how it is set up, is the game changer.

It could be said that motion capture is the most expensive component in a pipeline so if you add that in, that style become the most expensive in the production of a product.

So am I wrong, someone chime in.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I appreciate it.

I understand that the pipeline dictates the cost fo the production. Or so I have been lead to believe. But there must be a standard or near standard pipeline format for each of the types of animation. If not then everyone would be reinventing the wheel every project. And yes, I know that each project is a unique piece of content. Still there must be enough in common to be able to set a rough cost.

Anyway thanks again for your help.

Sincerely,
Conrad

[LIST]
[*]Motion Comic Graphics would likely be the cheapest
[*]2D animation would follow
[*]Video Game Graphics next (2D animation and Video game could go back and forth depending on the final quality you are shooting for)
[*]3D animation would be the most expensive.
[/LIST]

Obviously all of these have variations in cost based on the quality of the software you license, the hardware that supports it, and the artists you use to deliver the final product.

Matt Dragovits
Multimedia Professional (Video/3D/2D)

Dear DragoCG,

I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my question.
Thank you.

Sincerely,
Conrad