We only usually get to see the end result of CGI on screen or in the videogames we play. But the world of CGI is an interesting and complex one. You need to be familiar with alot of technical skills to understand it. But CGI requires more than just the investment of time and skillset; it also requires money.
Typically CGI development costs in film or videogame production costs from 34-79 million dollars alone. This means that, on average, CGI costs about 570,000 dollars per minute in a movie or in a game. The high price of CGI is caused by several factors, including the cost of the hardware technology used, the expertise of the producers, the number of labor hours put into the work, and the cost of the software technology.
Want to learn more about factors that make CGI so expensive? Keep reading ahead
What Contributes To The High Cost Of CGI
There are obviously several factors that make it expensive.
Watch this video for more detail before you read ahead
It Is Time And Labour Consuming To Make CGI
The process requires months of work even before production has begun. It can take up to 15 weeks to design a single model. Then rigging and animating takes their own time. Rigging is time-consuming because it involves focusing on the little details of the CGI animation and making them move to make it more realistic.
This can take another 15 weeks.
A single frame for final output is rendered in around 12 hours, and a single shot of a film that is one second long consists of 24 such frames, so rendering takes up to 288 hours for a single shot.
You can do the math yourself for the rest, but it is clear that the process takes alot of time, and time is money.
A Lot Of Technical Work Is Involved
Most of the time, CGI experts are hired to make the models. These experts charge alot because they have also used their technical and creative skills to provide services. Different experts are needed for the different aspects of design.
Large-scale production of movies and videogames often hire the world’s elite like Feng Zhu, Maciej Kuciara, or Scott Robertson for their design only. These people charge alot of money.
Then there are separate artists needed for rigging and rendering. One shot has about 10-15 people working on it, and all of them require hefty pay.
The Software Technology Itself Is Costly
The development of 3D CGI software requires the use of complex technology and technical experts.
Purchasing that software for use in movies and video games also adds to the total cost, making it all the more expensive.
The Conclusion
The cost of CGI is contingent on the time, labor, and technology that goes into its development.
Projects on a smaller scale probably cost less, but large-scale production or high-quality production is bound to be heavy on the pocket.
