If you search for the cost of 3D animation, you will find numbers anywhere from $1,000 to $50,000 per minute. That range is so wide it is almost useless when you are trying to set a budget for one product video.
This guide is for manufacturers and engineering companies who need 3D animation of a real product: a machine, a component, an assembly or an installation sequence. We will show you what we charge, how the price is worked out, and why animation made from your CAD files usually costs far less than the figures in most pricing guides.
At Acoroid Studio, 3D product animation costs $1,200 to $1,800 per minute of finished animation when you can send us CAD files and the product is shown on a plain, solid-color background.
So a 60-second assembly animation made from your STEP files, on a clean background, usually falls between $1,200 and $1,800. A 90-second installation video set in a factory scene usually falls between $2,300 and $3,500.
Most pricing guides you will find are written by studios that make every kind of 3D animation: characters, commercials, explainers with storytelling, medical work. Their price bands are built for all of that, so they tend to put 3D animation at $5,000 to $50,000 or more per minute.
Industrial product animation is a different job. Three things pull the cost down a long way:
We are also a small studio based in India, so our overhead is lower than a studio in New York or London. That is part of the price difference too, and we would rather say so plainly.
When we quote a project, these are the things we look at.
Length is the base of the quote. A 30-second product loop for a trade show screen is a smaller job than a 3-minute step-by-step installation guide. Most product and assembly animations we make run between 30 and 90 seconds.
STEP or IGES files from your engineering team are ideal. If your files are in another format, ask us first and we will tell you what works. If there is no CAD at all, we can still model the product from photos and measurements. For one of our clients, a truck rack maker, we built the whole product that way, but the modeling is an extra line on the quote.
A plain or gradient background keeps the focus on the product and keeps the cost down. If the product needs to be shown in place, such as a solar racking system on a site or a machine on a production line, the scene has to be built and lit. That is the $500 to $800 setup.
Exploded views, cutaways and x-ray views that show internal parts, moving mechanisms, fluid or airflow, and text callouts all add work. A simple 360-degree turn of a closed product is the lightest version. A full assembly sequence with every fastener shown is the heaviest.
Some clients need more than one cut, for example a long version for the website and a short one for social media, or the same animation without text for other languages. Some need transparent image sequences so their own team can place the animation over any background. These are quick to add when they are planned from the start.
Most projects take 10 days to 4 weeks, depending on length and detail. A hard deadline for a trade show is fine when you tell us early. A deadline that needs the whole render pipeline compressed into a few days can cost more.
| What you need | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Product or assembly animation from your CAD files, plain background | $1,200 to $1,800 per minute |
| Environment or scene setup (factory, site, workshop) | +$500 to $800 |
| 3D modeling when there are no CAD files | Quoted separately, based on the product |
| Revision rounds within the agreed scope | 3 included |
| Changes outside the agreed scope | Quoted before any work starts |
These are typical setups, not quotes for a specific client.
You send STEP files and your assembly instructions. We animate the parts coming together in order, with an exploded view at the start and short text callouts for each step, on a clean background. Expect $1,200 to $1,800.
The product is shown in the place it will be used, for example ground-mounted on a site or bolted to a production line, and the installation is shown step by step. With the scene setup, expect $2,300 to $3,500.
The product is simple, but nobody has a 3D model. We model it from photos and measurements, then animate a 20 to 30-second sequence showing how it works. The animation itself is a small job. Most of the quote is the modeling, which we price after seeing the photos.
For international clients we accept PayPal, wire transfer, or payment to a US account by card or bank transfer.
All three can be the right choice. It depends on the job.
The fastest way to get a firm number is to send us:
With that, we can give you a firm price instead of a range. You can see finished examples on our case studies page, including how each one was built from the client's files, or send us your project details.
At Acoroid Studio, one minute of 3D product animation costs $1,200 to $1,800 when you can send CAD files and the product is shown on a plain background. A scene such as a factory floor or job site adds $500 to $800. If there are no CAD files, 3D modeling is quoted separately.
Yes. Without CAD, the product has to be modeled from drawings, photos and measurements before it can be animated. We quote that modeling separately because it depends on how complex the product is. A simple product adds little; a large machine with many parts adds more.
Most projects take 10 days to 4 weeks, depending on length, detail and how quickly feedback comes back. If you have a fixed date such as a trade show or product launch, tell us at the start and we plan the schedule around it.
Most pricing guides cover every kind of 3D animation, including characters and commercials, and list $5,000 to $50,000 or more per minute. Industrial animation made from your CAD files skips most of the modeling work and needs no character animation. We are also a small studio in India with lower overhead than studios in the US or UK.
Three rounds of revisions are included for work inside the agreed scope. If you want something outside that scope, such as a new scene or extra length, we quote it before any work starts.
Yes. We sign an NDA whenever a product is not public yet, before you send any files.
