How to find freelance clients as a 3D artist

Where the work is

CGI and VFX studios book 3D artists per project by specialism: modelling, lookdev, lighting, FX, animation. Motion and design studios need generalists who can take a piece from model to final render. Advertising agencies and their in-house studios book 3D for product shots and campaign imagery, often replacing photography. Brands book product visualisation directly, especially in furniture, fashion, beauty and consumer electronics. Architecture practices and developers book visualisation. Games studios book outsourced environment and character work, usually through a lead.

Each pays differently and wants a different portfolio. A brand wants photoreal product work and quick turnaround; a studio wants to see your pipeline and your breakdowns.

Who makes the call

At studios it is the head of CG, CG supervisor or producer. At agencies it is the head of the in-house studio or an art buyer, the person who used to commission photographers and now commissions renders. At brands it is a creative lead, e-commerce manager or product marketing manager. In games it is an art director or outsourcing manager.

Art buyers and producers are the ones who keep lists and remember rates. An introduction to them, with a clear statement of what you specialise in, is the most durable thing you can do.

What to send

Pick the three images or one short reel that match what they make and send those, not everything. Say what you did on each if you worked in a team. Name your specialism in the first line so they can file you correctly. Breakdowns and wireframes reassure studios; final renders persuade brands.

Say your software and your availability. Producers are often choosing between two people who are both good, and the one who is clearly bookable this month wins.

Keep it warm

Send new work when it is relevant to them, not whenever it is finished. A product render to a furniture brand, a character to a games lead. A short note when they launch something you noticed. Keep track of what you sent to whom, and when. Six months of silence followed by a good piece is a perfectly good follow-up.

The art buyer who booked you moves to another agency and takes the list. That is how most freelance 3D artists end up with clients they never pitched.

Where Soloish fits

Soloish does the research half of this. It reads your portfolio, works out what kind of 3D work you do, and finds the agencies and studios in the markets you choose that hire that kind of work, ranked by fit with the reason beside each one.

Connect the email you already use for work and it shows who you know at each company and who is due a hello. It only sees who you emailed and when, never what was said. When you don’t know anyone there, it finds a person with the right title in the right office and checks the address is real; if it finds no one, it costs nothing.

Every email is written for that one company and shows the piece of yours that fits them best. You edit it and send it from your own Gmail or Outlook, so nothing goes out that you didn’t read. Soloish watches the companies you follow for news worth writing about, notices replies, and brings a follow-up back on the day you choose.