Budgeting your film correctly is an extremely important step and a rather long process. In its basic terms, it is a listing of the cost of every single thing you’ll need to create your film. Sometimes you already know how much you are able to spend, but you still need to list out everything to see where you can save on some and pay more for others. With contracted films, a correct budget means you don’t lose money out of your own pocket.
The first step is the script breakdown – which is the previous tutorial. This will give you a clear listing of everything you need. The easiest way is to go through the breakdown and type out a list of everything you need broken up by types of items. Some just use excel for this while others use budgeting software.
One of the most confusing aspects of budgeting for SL machinima is that there are no standard rates of pay for anything. In live action filmmaking, the price is almost always based on experience and quality of work. This is not always the case in SL.
So you will need to do a lot of hunting around for items that are already sold in world and talk to people to commission other parts. I highly suggest before talking about commissioning any work, is to have a clear list of the bits that you need. Shop around the grid, but don’t purchase anything yet. Just write down the location and price of each item. You may find that same thing somewhere else later but fits within the budget better.
Cast: Will you need to pay your cast? You can use alts for on screen, but what about the voices?
Wardrobe/Hair: Are the items you need for all the wardrobe and hair purchasable already? Will you need to commission anything? If you do, you need to find out how much that will cost for everything.
Animations: Will you be able to find every action you need in each shot? If not, you need to contact animators and find out rates and how long everything will take. Many animators base their rates on length of time, so you will need to know all the information before you can get a clear number.
Building: Are you going to need to pay someone else to build your sets and/or props? Will you be purchasing them from different shops?
Scripts: Will you need specific scripts written to get objects to interact? Or something else entirely?
Locations: Will you need to pay for renting land to shoot?
Crew: Will you need to pay people to help you on different aspects? Will you have a separate camera person? Editor? Director? Art Director?
Music: Will there be music and how will you get it?