Hasta La Motion!

My question is, after watching award shows like the Oscars and the Grammy’s, I was wondering how much does an award show broadcast package go for? I would imagine that these packages include a show intro sequence, bumpers, nomination packages, lower-thirds, overlays, transitions, wipes and some stage elements, such as motion tiled backgrounds and the like.

Has anyone done anything of this magnitude here? How much should the price change if the event is televised (state-wide through major cable network – Viacom subsidiary)?

I know most say, "Well just charge what you’re comfortable with," but no one wants to drive off business or get underpaid by being uniformed. It would be great to say, such-and-such company got paid XYZ dollars for the grammy’s package which of course was nationally televised on a major broadcast station, so i’ll charge XYZ dollars for this project based on the scale of your audience. Something to that effect.

If I can get concrete or ballpark numbers that would be most beneficial. I’m just tired of hearing, "Just imagine what you want to make a year and divide that by how many hours you’ll think you’ll work and Voila!" I say I don’t like that because CLEARY some jobs are worth way more than others! Thanks for any help anyone can provide. I’m sure this can serve as a good reference to those finally turning their talent into $$$$.

BTW: I plan to use 3D animation, particle systems and advanced compositing techniques with After Effects and Combustion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWpHRwkBLUo – I want to create these effects, and composite them (Green fire, fire snake, magic)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_OtbXmu9kg I want to be able to create the meteor and composite it perfectly (Meteor, fire, smoke, Composite)

I could go on, but I think you guys get the idea. My problem is this, I cant seem to focus on the craft. My plan is to get really good with AE, then move onto NUKE, or some other node based software. Along side the compositing part, I want to get more involved with boujou. And to top it off I want to learn the effects part of Maya.
But Im not exactly sure where my focus is. As of now, I don’t wanna make the next toy story, I don’t wanna make the transformers models. I want to do the effects and compositing. I DO understand that all of these takes entire teams of people doing their own part. But when it comes to learning the 3d elements, what do I learn?

Im sure its good to learn most of the 3d basics, which I do. But for what I want to do, what areas do I need to focus most on? For example, to create the ocean or lasers, Im sure I don’t need to master rigging and lighting. Im assuming lighting and particles? That’s the thing I don’t know. There are millions of tutorials out there, and Im just not sure what the heck I need to learn. As of now,

As of now, Im a nobody. So Id like to start out small, and work my way up. With that, I know maya somewhat, what parts of maya should I put most of my focus on? For small video stuff, should I even give Blender a try? How is its particles and dynamics? Or am I missing out on learning 3ds Max? I know so little, I would like advice from anyone on what tutorials I should take and which I don’t need just yet, in order to be somewhat proficient in my goals. If anyone has any suggestions on specific tutorials that would be much appreciated as well.

Anyone doing or completed the Msc or MA Digital Effects cource there? im planning to join BU this fall, was wondering if anyone could give some insight on how good the courses are and would like to discuss the cirrulum and things taught.

BU seems to be a big name for animation in the UK but how good is the teaching really?, apart from all the hype, I have seen a lot of BU students scoring a job in big studios – does the name help secure a job at the end of the cource or its just the demo reel and lady luck dancing?

Cheers.

Thanks