Machine builders ask this before anything else, and most studios avoid answering. Here are real numbers, where they come from, and what actually moves them.
The per-minute benchmark
Industrial animation is priced per finished minute, not per hour. Published 2026 guides put high-quality industrial 3D animation at roughly $5,000 to $20,000 per finished minute. By provider tier the spread is wider still: freelancers $500 to $3,000, small studios $3,000 to $7,000, professional companies $8,000 to $25,000, and cinematic or broadcast work $25,000 and up. Most professional projects run four to twelve weeks.
What we charge
Our feature highlight films start at $2,900 for 20 to 45 seconds, line and process films at $5,900 for 60 seconds, assembly and service films at $4,900, and cinematic launch films at $8,900. Full prices are on the pricing page.
What drives the price up
- Part count and assembly size. A packaging line with 40,000 parts takes longer to prepare than a single pump.
- Whether you have CAD. Working from your engineering data is far cheaper than modelling from photos or drawings.
- Motion complexity. A turntable is fast. A full changeover sequence with product flow, servo motion and safety gates is not.
- Simulation. Liquids, powders, webs and flexible materials cost more than rigid motion.
- Environment. A studio void is cheap. A modelled production hall with lighting, floor detail and surroundings is not.
- Languages and versions. Each additional language is small; each additional edit length is smaller still if planned from the start.
What brings it down
- Reuse. Once a machine is prepared, later films skip the most expensive step. Repeat projects typically cost 20 to 40 per cent less.
- Scope discipline. Three short feature films often sell better than one long film and cost less to produce.
- Early CAD. Sending files at the quote stage avoids surprises that inflate the price mid-project.
- One supplier for the range. Preparing five machines together costs less than five separate projects.
Budgeting rule of thumb
For a first project, plan $3,000 to $6,000 for a focused feature film, or $6,000 to $12,000 for a process film covering a complete line, plus a little for stills exported from the same model. If your budget is below that, say so: a single machine render at $590 or a CAD preparation project at $490 is a sensible first step, and it makes the film cheaper later.
Getting a quote you can trust
Ask for the price to include CAD preparation, stated revision rounds, all cutdowns and language versions, and full usage rights. Ask what happens if a machine revision arrives mid-project. And ask who owns the model afterwards. Send one CAD file and we will answer all three in writing.
Send one CAD file for a free assessment.
We open it, tell you what is usable, and return a fixed price and delivery date within one working day. NDA first if you need it.
