Render Estimator

Ballpark client pricing for render costs

Content

Finished content (minutes)

Frame rate (fps)

Complexity

Measured MEDIAN 24 s/frame native across 30 recent jobs (Sept 2026) → ~60 s/4K at the 3173×1040 delivery default. ~4× the mid-2026 lighting-pass rate. If the job is actually 4K, its real rate ≈ 24.

Resolution

Farm & rates

Machines on the job

Farm has 3 (2x RTX 5090 each)

Power draw per machine (kW)

2x 5090 + Threadripper under load ≈ 1.6 (240V NEMA, 2800W PSU)

Electricity ($/kWh)

Machine rate ($/machine-hour)

Hardware + infra amortization + wear (excludes power) — see internal docs

Revision buffer (%)

Re-renders, notes, failed frames

Markup (%)

Margin on top of raw cost

Estimate

Suggested client price

$8,059

$134 per finished minute

Total frames108,000
Farm turnaround10.0 days
Machine-hours (incl. buffer)936.0
Energy1,497.6 kWh

Electricity cost$225
Machine cost$5,148
Raw cost$5,373
+ 50% markup$2,686
Client price$8,059

Ballpark only — dial in “seconds per frame” from the Render time shown on a comparable finished job for a much tighter number. Excludes artist time and licenses.