Is asking for a price per minute a reasonable way to start thinking of a CGI custom-made content?
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Would you ask an architect for a price per square meters for your dream house?

Then why should you ask for a price per minute with your tailor-made content?!

  Hi! Today we want to talk about a huge issue that is part of our industry, and which brings confusion to professionals in this business. That is where to start when thinking of a CGI custom-build content. Sometimes when professionals want to implement a tailor-made title within their venue they ask for a price per minute. Think about it for a second. When designing your house, would you have asked the architect to give you an estimate only based on the square meters you wanted? And what about how you want these square meters to look like? It’s one thing if you want them to be made with cardboard walls and floors, another if you are considering marble or if you are looking at structural insulating wall panels. There are many options in finishing and furnishing a house that greatly increase the price, such as granite countertops instead of Formica, hardwood or tile floors instead of linoleum or carpet, real wood trim instead of plastic, and so on. When it came to building your dream home, you probably asked the firm you relied on for a project, references, and maybe some blueprints. Before the construction work began, you asked if they’d have models, drawings, computer animations. You and your architect maybe bounced around ideas, expressed critiques and made adjustments. Why would you expect and ask for anything less when producing your tailor-made content? Let’s imagine this situation for a minute. You want to update your digital attraction with a modern CGI title that revolves around the theme of your venue. You ask a local or generic CGI media studio, and just like that, they give you an estimated price to produce your custom-built movie. But are you sure that they can help you without a track record and no experience in the attractions industry? Maybe, they are focused on other types of 3D works with no connection with the creation of contents for the attractions industry. They first have to figure out how to manage the work related to an immersive movie. So how can they come up with a price per minute just like that? Their lack of expertise may translate into delays and works that were not correctly done. This means extra costs compared to the initial ones, to make adaptations and changes. On the other hand, you may think that asking a big production studio from Hollywood is the best choice, and then again you’re wrong. They work creating top feature films, TV series, cartoons for the big screen, and the price per minute they give you will be too high compared to the price that a company focused on the industry might give you. Then, you may think of asking a distribution company. These people don’t produce all the contents they sell, so when they give you a price per minute you can’t help but wonder how much of the commissions will they be taking compared to what the ones who produced the movie actually want. These companies act as brokers and if something goes wrong with the synchronization of the special effects between the hardware and content, they can’t help you at all. Wouldn’t it just be faster and safer for you to ask directly to those who produce the film? As a CGI studio, we spend our days creating contents in-house. When you are thinking of implementing a tailor-made title within your media-based attraction, to give a price, first we need to understand exactly what will go in the final content. Imagine us as the architects who create contents for digital attractions. There are many factors that can really affect the production and its final costs and we like to analyze them all before giving our clients an estimate on what they will spend for the title that revolves around their venue. Every custom-built content is a world on its own. There are different stories, different purposes, different features. Frankly, it’s impossible to figure out a range of costs if you still don’t know what the title will be about, how long it will be, how many characters will be in it… And you should keep the distance from companies that do give you a price per minute without having everything clear in their minds ahead of time.   There are a lot of variables to consider when you create CGI content from scratch:
  • Character modeling and rigging - How many characters are in the story? What is the level of detail required? In addition, the rigging phase is very delicate and must be performed carefully to obtain smooth animations.
  • Character animation - The detail of animation is very important to determine the final cost of the title.
  • Environments - Do you prefer a complex setting or do you want to go minimal? However, lighting has to be curated in order to deliver a credible immersive experience.
  • VFX - This category is huge! There are several kinds of special effects and it’s very hard to understand from a simple chat with a salesman how many of them you are really going to use…
  • Audio - Sound may not seem so important at first, but it immensely contributes to the mood and atmosphere of the whole movie. Furthermore, contents can include dialogues or not and this should always be taken into account.
  • Length - It’s one thing if you need a two-minute title and it’s another thing if you plan to produce a 15-minute long film. Plot complexity is something you have to consider as well.
  • Stereoscopy and final editing - This stage is necessary to give you a refined product that is up to modern standards and that can deliver a convincing 3D feel.
  As you can see, just like with a house, you cannot simply tell how much a tailor-made content is going to cost if you still haven’t fully analyzed all of these features. Here at Red Raion, as the CGI studio specialized in media based attractions, we know that everything has to start from somewhere. And what’s the starting point of every tailor-made title? It’s the story, the idea, and the concept.  

This is why we have come up with a solution and it’s called Magicboard!

Magicboard is the ultimate tool for amusement professionals to immediately see how their final tailor-made content will be like without actually producing it.

  It’s like an oracle that helps you foretelling the future. Magicboard consists of a colored storyboard, dialogues, and a detailed script all working side by side. Only by watching the sketches and reading the dialogues and plot, you’re able to visualize the final outcome. And we’re talking about a content designed especially around your venue. A work of art you have total control upon. Do you want to change a character? Want to add detail? Now you can! Say goodbye to the ready-made titles they try to dump on you. For the companies working with immersive contents, technical knowledge is fundamental. This is true even when considering titles sold under license. But, when tailor-made contents come into play this is even more important. A production company that is focused on the attractions industry knows all the necessary procedures to create content following your guidelines carefully. In this regards, we work just like architects when designing a house. Our approach is not to give a price per minute, but to analyze and design before coming up with a price. It would be complicated to think to have the perfect house if you start by calling the construction workers. Wouldn’t you want to see a detailed plan first?  

The Magicboard is the first step to get the perfect tailor-made content!

  This is what you’ll get when you’ll decide to get YOUR Magicboard:
  • You will be able to get familiar with your content before signing a contract that commits you to pay for the full service.
  • Want to use high technological equipment? Given our experience, we create storyboards and scripts that will fit every technology on the market.
  • Even if you don’t plan to get a new tailor-made content now, you know that is the right thing to do. With Magicboard at your disposal, you will have a lot more than an idea to show to your board when it’ll be time to develop a new title!
  • Starting with a Magicboard is the perfect way to know a new team to work with in the future without spending a huge amount of money.
  • If you want to produce the final content, our team knows everything about the project and is ready to work for you!
  • Do you want us to go beyond the Magicboard and create your tailor-made title? The amount you’ve spent on the Magicboard will be taken away from the cost of the final content!
  • We don’t want you to waste your time and money. If you don’t like the final Magicboard, we will refund you with 50% of your purchase.
  • BONUS: If you choose the Gold or Exclusive option, you will receive the printed version of your Magicboard. Adding it to your digital version, it will be a practical feature for those in your team who prefer to see graphics on paper support.
  Remember that Magicboard is not the regular black and white lifeless storyboard you probably are familiar with. Our digital artists are committed to delivering you a properly painted storyboard, so you can dive inside the story with all the colors you would expect from a digital work of art. This comes together with a detailed script that explains all the features of your future content.  

On the left, a picture from the illustration of the Magicboard created for Unlimited Leisure Holding's SnowPark.
On the right the final result from the movie "Miko and the Spell of the Stone".

  As you can see, creating a title that revolves around your venue doesn’t move that far away from when you’re designing your dream home. If you want to start off on the right foot, avoid any bad surprises of extra costs that unexpectedly come after you receive the final CGI content, and get familiar with your next tailor-made title before signing a contract that will commit you to pay for the final project, we have the right solution for you. Take one step closer towards your new media-based attraction and click on the following link to receive a Magicboard sample directly on your desk.  

==> GET YOUR MAGICBOARD SAMPLE NOW

 

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