VFX Feasibility Assessment: Clarity Before the Budget Is Committed

A written evaluation of your project before you shoot or before your client receives a quote. It shows what visual effects can realistically achieve, where the risks are, and what you need to budget for. I prepare every assessment myself, based on around twenty years of planning, supervising and delivering VFX.

When an Assessment Pays Off

Most VFX problems do not start in post-production. They start weeks earlier, when an effect is written into the script but nobody has checked what it requires on the shooting day. If references are missing, the lighting does not match or a camera move cannot be tracked, a manageable shot turns into an expensive one. The assessment addresses exactly this point.

It is most useful in three situations. First, before the shoot, when your script or treatment contains scenes that cannot be realised without visual effects. Second, before an agency sends its client a quote for a film with CGI or compositing and needs a reliable number. Third, after the shoot, when footage exists and it is unclear whether, and with how much effort, it can still be brought to the intended result.

What You Receive

You receive a written document that you can share internally, discuss with your director or your client, and use as the basis for budgeting and shoot planning. I evaluate each relevant scene or shot by what is reliably achievable and what is critical. I name the risks for the shoot and for post-production, give a realistic range of effort, and make concrete recommendations for preparation, such as which references need to be captured on set or where a different approach is cheaper and safer.

The assessment is deliberately honest. If an effect cannot be delivered at the desired quality within the available budget, it says so, together with the approaches that will work instead.

How It Works

It starts with a free initial call by video or phone, in which we clarify what your project needs and whether the assessment is the right next step. You then send me what you have: script or treatment, storyboard, mood board and, for footage that has already been shot, a few sample clips. You receive the written assessment as soon as possible after all materials have arrived. If you wish, I will walk you through it in a short video call.

Price and Credit

The VFX feasibility assessment costs €1,500 net plus VAT where applicable. If you go on to produce the project with me, the full amount is credited to the follow-up project. In that case the assessment costs you nothing extra. You have simply brought forward part of the production, and it is the part that saves the most money.

Who It Is For

Film and series productions use the assessment to budget VFX properly during prep and to make sure nothing is missed on the shooting day.

Agencies use it when a client suddenly wants moving images with effects and a number is needed that holds until delivery. The agency keeps the client, the project management and the invoice. How that collaboration works is described under White-Label VFX for Agencies.

Commercial and corporate film productions use it when a shoot includes CGI elements or complex compositing and it must be clear in advance what needs to be prepared on set.

Initial Call and Assessment: the Difference

In the initial call you get my first view of where the critical points of your project are. It is free and without obligation. A reliable statement on feasibility, risk and effort that you can base a budget or a shooting schedule on, however, requires reviewing your materials and a written analysis. That is the assessment. This distinction protects both sides: you decide on solid ground, and I can give you a statement I stand behind.