Almighty Video Game Designer

Chapter 56: Chapter 55: Animations are so Expensive

Translated by Coldtaco

Edited by Aelryinth

Solving the problem of card art was only the first step.

Chen Mo decided to deal with other visual resources, such as UI, background, and card special effects later. If possible he wanted to outsource it, otherwise he’d just have to do it himself.

There was still a more serious problem: finding a dependable animation company!

Replicating I Am MT shouldn’t be a problem for the animation companies in this world. However, Chen Mo wanted to make it higher quality, at least up to the level of the last few seasons of I Am MT, and it would be even better if it was able to surpass the quality of Warrior VS Dragon [1].

After all, this animated series was essentially promoting the game. If he gave up the effects of promoting in order to save money, he would be neglecting the essentials!

Chen Mo didn’t know anyone at any animation companies, either. After giving it some thought, he decided to give Zhao Zihao a call.

After all, Zhao Zihao owned a video game workshop, and would frequently socialize with others in the video game industry. It wouldn’t be hard for him to find a dependable animation company.

During the call, Chen Mo briefly went over his specifications, and Zhao Zihao got him a contact for an animation company in no time.

This Dazzling Aurora Studio was fairly well known in the industry, and had a few decent animations, therefore the company was probably a good choice.

Chen Mo went over his requirements briefly and arranged a meeting with a person in charge tomorrow in his experience store.

—

By the time the discussions were done, Chen Mo could barely keep his eyes open.

“This Super Accelerator is quite something...”

Chen Mo went to bed after woefully cleaning himself up.

—

Morning the next day...

Chen Mo had slept for a full ten hours, and still felt quite stiff.

No wonder they warned against using it multiple times in short succession; you might actually die from it!

-Wake up, washing and rinsing, open the doors.-

Wen Lingwei joined Su Jinyu, arriving at 10 AM sharp every day. She brought her own drawing tablet and laptop, colouring the characters down on the first floor of the experience store.

During the afternoon, the person in charge from Dazzling Aurora Studio arrived, and Chen Mo invited him to his office on the second floor.

The man was called Guo Feng. He looked about forty, and very kind, although he was starting to go bald.

Chen Mo didn’t go through the normal welcoming of guests, and went straight to the point, detailing his requirements.

“Here’s what’s going on. I want to make an animated series. There will be ten episodes in the first season, ten minutes for each episode. There will be a song for both the opening and the closing of each episode.

“I will provide the characters, scenes, story, dialogue, and shots. All you guys need to do is execute it according to my specifications.

“I was wondering how much this would cost.”

Guo Feng gave it some thought and asked, “Do you plan to pay for everything out of your own pocket?”

Chen Mo nodded, “Yes.”

Guo Feng said, “Personally, I’d give you this advice. Animations are a huge investment. If it doesn’t get popular, it’s entirely possible that you won’t even break even. You want to make your own characters, set your own scenes and settings... this makes it even higher risk.

“Of course, if you’re willing to pay, we’ll do it regardless. It’s just my advice to you.”

Chen Mo nodded, “Yep, thanks for your advice, but I already know what I’m getting myself into, so just give the price to me straight.”

Guo Feng nodded, “Alright. Right now the normal price in the industry for a twenty-four minute long animated series episode would cost around five hundred thousand, or about twenty thousand per minute. Of course, this is the highest quality service, including design, shots, and story writing.”

Chen Mo tried to calm down and said, “Umm... let me think about that.”

What was referred to as “highest quality” was basically the same quality as animes in his previous life. As long as it was a big production, had good video quality, dubs, sound effects, and background music, it would all be the highest quality.

However this price was slightly more than Chen Mo wanted. Based on twenty thousand RMB per minute, a ten-minute episode would be two hundred thousand. A season had ten episodes, meaning a season would set him back two million!

It was hard to tell how much I Am MT’s cost was in his previous life, but it definitely wasn’t that much, and was probably a lot lower than that.

In this previous life, Locojoy only spent three million to acquire the rights to I Am MT. Evidently that amount of money was a big sum to the production team at the time.

Guo Feng added, “Of course, the price varies according to the production quality. If you’re willing to settle for lower quality, the price can be reduced.

“Of course, it would still be according to your specifications.”

Chen Mo asked, “Is there a difference between 2D and 3D?”

Guo Feng explained, “There is a difference, but not a big one. Our 2D animations are actually converted from 3D ones, meaning we are using 3D techniques to create the effects of 2D. If it’s purely hand-drawn 2D, the price might be up to ninety thousand per minute. There’s barely anyone doing it that way nowadays.

“Hand-drawn 2D animations require too many artists. The previous 2D animations could probably be classified as labor-intensive, and most of the money would be spent on the artists. Currently, as the technology for converting 3D into 2D is quite mature, it allows us to cut down on a lot of manpower, therefore actually reducing the cost in the process.”

Chen Mo nodded. The parallel world wasn’t quite the same as his previous world. The wonders of technology...

Chen Mo thought for a few moments.

-Is two million for a season expensive?-

Judging on the profitability of I Am MT, it wasn’t. If I Am MT was just as successful as in his previous life, it would only take one month to make the money for ten seasons!

Moreover, I Am MT didn’t have as large a starting audience as the previous world. If the quality wasn’t good enough and the IP didn’t gain momentum, it would mean big losses for Chen Mo.

Losing money wasn’t a big problem, but he was currently in a wager!

Therefore Chen Mo didn’t dare save any money on the animations. It didn’t matter if it was expensive, as long as the quality was there.

Chen Mo said in a serious tone, “Alright, I’ve made up my mind. Just do it at the highest quality. However, providing the character design and story should cut down the cost right?”

Guo Feng nodded, “Of course! Without the investments relating to story, character design, scenes and so on, it will slightly reduce the cost, though not by a lot. Maybe like ten percent.”

Chen Mo couldn’t help but put his palm on his forehead. The savings were really minimal. However, after some thought, he was still saving two hundred thousand cold hard cash!

Guo Feng added, “However, if you provide the scripts and character designers, you will need to work closely with our crew, in particular so the settings and shots are decided on time, and try to reduce the number of times you make changes in order to not hinder progress.”

Chen Mo nodded. “Alright. How about this: a week from now, at the end of the month, I’ll provide the character design, story, and scenes, then we’ll make the contracts.”