Prevent Scope Creep in Animation Commissions

[@HowardWimshurst]

This is from the CLIENT MANAGEMENT chapter inside the Turning Pro course: www.animatorguild.com/turning-pro.html You can also learn to animate with my other courses: www.animatorguild.com/courses.html

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

I really appreciate you tackling this business side of things and sharing your knowledge in such a concise and digestible way. There needs to be more resources like this for artists.

[@nakiempoole2511]

I’ve learned so much from you over the years your videos have shaped my understanding of animation and has helped me grow as a freelance animator, keep putting out this valuable information and molding the next generation of artists 👨‍🎨

[@Jani-li7iw]

I needed this🙏

[@RMAnimations]

This is a great lesson, thank you.

[@MEMEMEME-dl8ii]

Really helpful

[@Franko250]

trully amazing video thank you

[@AntikMahmud]

Want to ask you a question about renegotiation . In majority of the case for beginners, we are desperate to get the job. Now if the client says to increase character, how do you say lets renegotiate when clearly they are the dominating party and can leave anytime.

[@mildstuff]

I think Howard said in a his previous video to not chase clients

[@HowardWimshurst]

Good question, and a lot of beginners feel that way. It sounds firstly like a confidence issue. It's a hasstle for the client to leave, and they would leave empty handed having wasted the time they had invested in the project. People tend to honor their agreements so it's unlikely anyway. You can also use a legal contract if you fear them walking out on their commitments. The Turning Pro course has contract templates you can use for this. There are conventions like the hague convention that make laws enforcable across a range of countries. Don't back down when your client wants to walk all over you. You were alive and surviving before the client contacted you. They probably won't walk out but if they do, you will survive.

[@megamundo1567]

hello howard, what about the "i cant agree to that", could you tell me more pratical examples about this? like, the client want this project this way but i disagree, and if i put this in the contract, the client can think this can warm him. i can pay animators for make my characters this way but the animators doenst like this way and dont move foward, how proced? im just questioning here, new in this freelancer thing and trying to study more.

[@HowardWimshurst]

"We're gonna be bringing the deadline forward by a couple of weeks. You can handle that, right?" - I can't agree to that. "I know it took us two weeks to get back to you on essential feedback for the animatic plans, but we're gonna keep the project deadline as the same date" - I can't agree to that. "We know you made the animation over the top of the video footage we gave you, but we have been rooting around in our archives and found that we would like for you to animate over this clip instead (shows me brand new video clip I have never seen before)." - I can't agree to that. (This one actually happened to me) "I can't pay you in money but I can give you an Ipad, a motorbike and a holiday trip to ..." - I can't agree to that. (I was actually told this by a prospect client before, needless to say I didn't go on to work for him) This is not a phrase to write in the contract, but it's a strong verbal fortification for when your client crosses the line. The next escalation is to invoke the contract agreement you both had signed at the beginning of the project. The template contracts in the course contain safeguards that prevent this scope creep from happening if adhered to. If you didn't get the client to sign an agreement, then it's harder to call out the scope creep behaviour. In which case you would have to give them an ultimatum by threatening to deny them your continued expertise on the project. That's the nuclear option but it works because it's extremely inconvenient for them to find someone new and get the up to speed with the project.

[@megamundo1567]

@@HowardWimshurst thank you, thats a good advise

[@Kairegi]

I've been struggling with this scope creep. I just got my first commission. The client keeps adding more work on top of the agreed animation work. I was supposed to have finished the commission in 2 weeks, now its heading a month 😢

[@HowardWimshurst]

That's a bummer! Hopefully you can implement some of these steps for the next commission