$12256 / $11500
Apologies if this is not the appropriate forum to post it in.
I'd just like a guestimate range of time needed to create something like the LPC character art. I really like how the art is structured.
So for something like,
Base sprite sheet + 1 alternate set of assets e.g mage.
Animations : Walk, Spellcast, Thrust, Hurt.
What would be a conservative time frame?
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I think there are too many variables to give you an estimate. Quality of artwork, how complicated the design is, stuff like that makes a huge difference in time and cost. Why do you want to know? Maybe once we know that we can help you better.
It'll take an artist 15 mins to 1 hour per frame depending on how complex the character is and how skilled the artist is. You could pay more hourly and still pay less overall for a great artist!
Count up the number of unique frames you need, minus any mirrored ones. Maybe you'll need about 60 unique frames for just the 4 animations you listed. But you may remember more animations you need, so make sure you have everything thought out in the beginning.
Now figure out how much a pixel artist costs. Maybe you can get an amateur freelancer to do it for $15/hr., but professionals will cost $60/hr or more.
So let's make a VERY conservative estimate! 20 mins per frame, 60 total frames, $15/hr.
That's 1200 minutes, or 20 hours of work. At $15/hr that is $300.
I think your conservative estimate is actually pretty liberal. It does take quite a while, but, using the example of Baldric, I think it's more on the order of 6-8 hours (or maybe less, I wasn't really timing myself). I usually work for about 20/hour, so that would cost about 160 dollars, worst case scenario.
Quality and complexity of the design will be on par with the mage LPC asset. The reason I wanted to know is that there is a party that is willing to provide funding but they want a detailed production schedule and I don't really have a good idea of how long certain art tasks take.
If I do get the funding, then I'd be willing to bring aboard a couple of artists and pay a monthly salary for the duration of the project.
If not, then I'd continue using the LPC assets as placeholder and delay putting in the real assets further down the road. A few months before release, I'd hire artist on a per hour basis to replace the placeholder assets.