Pricing for 3-4 Month Construction Project?

Charge hourly rate/ day or one set price w/ deposit?

  • Hourly rate

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Set Price w/ deposit

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0
Joined
Apr 16, 2018
Messages
8
Reaction score
1
Age
34
Location
Colorado
Hey all! I have been granted the opportunity to create a proposal for a 3-4 month commercial construction project (restaurant/ bar/ event center) where the client would like a timelapse of the construction, normal stills, and video at certain points in the project.

A little background, I'm part 107 licensed and insured, have been contracting for other companies in the real estate space for about a year, but started fully on my own about 2 months ago.

The insider contact for this project told me to NOT lowball at all, apparently the client has deep pockets. My current rates are $199 for 10 stills, and $399 for an edited 2ish min video, but these prices are geared towards single shoot properties which has left me scratching my head for a project of this scope, especially the timelapse. I'm no stranger to TL, but say if the project lasts 4 months - 120 days, played back at 30fps thats only 4 seconds of footage and would require traveling to the site every day at the same time and launching to the set height/distance/etc. I still need to talk with the contact again, however wanted to get a feel for what others have done for something like this.

If chosen for the project I'll definitely have a contract signed by both parties and a clause for additional payment in case the project has any delays.

Thanks in advance for any information and help!
 
Lots of questions you need to factor into the equation:

How far do you have to travel?
How much time on-site for each visit?
How much editing time after the fact?

How many times will you have to do the above?

How much do you "need" to make per hour?
How much do you "WANT" to make per hour?

What's the value of your aircraft (how much will it cost to replace it if it's destroyed on the job site)?

By now you should have a solid Business Plan developed and know what your "Cost Of Doing Business" is and using that along with the factors above you should be able to find a middle ground that's fair for your client and hopefully slightly profitable for you.
 
Lots of questions you need to factor into the equation:

How far do you have to travel?
How much time on-site for each visit?
How much editing time after the fact?

How many times will you have to do the above?

How much do you "need" to make per hour?
How much do you "WANT" to make per hour?

What's the value of your aircraft (how much will it cost to replace it if it's destroyed on the job site)?

By now you should have a solid Business Plan developed and know what your "Cost Of Doing Business" is and using that along with the factors above you should be able to find a middle ground that's fair for your client and hopefully slightly profitable for you.
Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. Things are still in the beginning stages, but it seems as though I need to ask my contact some more questions to come up with any sort of fair and profitable price point. Much appreciated and I will update with more information as I have it!
 
Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. Things are still in the beginning stages, but it seems as though I need to ask my contact some more questions to come up with any sort of fair and profitable price point. Much appreciated and I will update with more information as I have it!


Just keep in mind that you contact (and his superiors) may not even know exactly what they "want" right now. They could be going from something they read on the internet, in a trade magazine, or even mentioned at a Trade Show. I see this literally ALL THE TIME! They ask for something and don't really know what it is just that they heard of it and it sounded cool.

We do "Building Progression" work but not in the hyper-lapse way you described. We show up at agreed to intervals (weekly, 2 weeks, or monthly) and fly capturing the exact same shots over and over. They use this DATA during the building process and then it can later be compiled into a time lapse process or a "Morphing Image" showing the structure coming out of the ground.

Our "normal" shot list/script is:

  • Front, Left, Rear, Right
  • Birds Eye (God view)
  • 360 POI video fly around
  • 360 VR stitched together into one huge image
  • HiRes Mapping mission with all images stitched into ORTHO

Some jobs will ask for more than above (one asks for the 360 VR at all 4 corners of the property) and some less. I've got one that wants only Front, Left, Rear, Right.

Pricing is a very personal and difficult thing to come up with unless you know all of the pieces of the puzzle. Don't ever allow someone else to price your work. You and only you can price your work.

Also keep in mind that what I get in Western NC may be a lot less or a lot more than what your local economy can support. I can tell you this much....because the market is so flooded with "Professional Drone Photographers" you will want to know what your competition is charging for the same amount of work.

Good luck and SAFE Flights :)
Allen
 
Just keep in mind that you contact (and his superiors) may not even know exactly what they "want" right now. They could be going from something they read on the internet, in a trade magazine, or even mentioned at a Trade Show. I see this literally ALL THE TIME! They ask for something and don't really know what it is just that they heard of it and it sounded cool.

We do "Building Progression" work but not in the hyper-lapse way you described. We show up at agreed to intervals (weekly, 2 weeks, or monthly) and fly capturing the exact same shots over and over. They use this DATA during the building process and then it can later be compiled into a time lapse process or a "Morphing Image" showing the structure coming out of the ground.

Our "normal" shot list/script is:

  • Front, Left, Rear, Right
  • Birds Eye (God view)
  • 360 POI video fly around
  • 360 VR stitched together into one huge image
  • HiRes Mapping mission with all images stitched into ORTHO

Some jobs will ask for more than above (one asks for the 360 VR at all 4 corners of the property) and some less. I've got one that wants only Front, Left, Rear, Right.

Pricing is a very personal and difficult thing to come up with unless you know all of the pieces of the puzzle. Don't ever allow someone else to price your work. You and only you can price your work.

Also keep in mind that what I get in Western NC may be a lot less or a lot more than what your local economy can support. I can tell you this much....because the market is so flooded with "Professional Drone Photographers" you will want to know what your competition is charging for the same amount of work.

Good luck and SAFE Flights :)
Allen
Good foundational wisdom!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rado and BigAl07
Just keep in mind that you contact (and his superiors) may not even know exactly what they "want" right now. They could be going from something they read on the internet, in a trade magazine, or even mentioned at a Trade Show. I see this literally ALL THE TIME! They ask for something and don't really know what it is just that they heard of it and it sounded cool.

We do "Building Progression" work but not in the hyper-lapse way you described. We show up at agreed to intervals (weekly, 2 weeks, or monthly) and fly capturing the exact same shots over and over. They use this DATA during the building process and then it can later be compiled into a time lapse process or a "Morphing Image" showing the structure coming out of the ground.

Our "normal" shot list/script is:

  • Front, Left, Rear, Right
  • Birds Eye (God view)
  • 360 POI video fly around
  • 360 VR stitched together into one huge image
  • HiRes Mapping mission with all images stitched into ORTHO

Some jobs will ask for more than above (one asks for the 360 VR at all 4 corners of the property) and some less. I've got one that wants only Front, Left, Rear, Right.

Pricing is a very personal and difficult thing to come up with unless you know all of the pieces of the puzzle. Don't ever allow someone else to price your work. You and only you can price your work.

Also keep in mind that what I get in Western NC may be a lot less or a lot more than what your local economy can support. I can tell you this much....because the market is so flooded with "Professional Drone Photographers" you will want to know what your competition is charging for the same amount of work.

Good luck and SAFE Flights :)
Allen

Huge help here Allen, thank you! Definitely feel confident in offering a solid package for this client and will move forward with my proposal. Wish me luck in securing the job!
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigAl07

Recent Posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,357
Members
104,935
Latest member
Pauos31