Industry Surveys

By Jeff Mottle

LAST CHANCE! Take the Salary Survey Now


We're Almost There! Please Help Us Reach 3,000 Responses!


This survey should take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. The questions asked will help us build a detailed report outlining hiring practices and salary ranges for the architectural visualization industry. We are also going to be including information from top companies in the industry about their hiring practices and what they look for in new hires and much more.

Due to the amount of time required to compile, analyze and publish the results we will be charging a nominal fee to purchase the final ebook. Those who complete the survey will receive a 60% discount code at the end of the survey.  ($19.95 - Reg. $49.95). You'll be able to use it once the survey is made available.

We're also giving away a number of random prizes from Moleskin. Just complete the survey and register your name for the random draw. (the random draw registration is not tied to the salary survey in any way, so don't worry we're not tracking your responses)

Random Prize Giveaway

2 Copies of " The Hand of the Architect" by Moleskin (Value $50)
3 Copies from the "Architect and Design Series (Limited Edition) - Inspiraiton & Process" by Moleskin - Your Choice (Value $ 40)
3 Copies of "Moleskine Drawing Gift Box Set" (Value $40)


PLEASE NOTE: This survey is completely confidential, and we do not ask you for any personal information that would tie any answers to you or your company.

You must be logged in to post a comment. Login here.
On other hand, maybe there could be slight compromise, and show some basic numbers and leave more information to buy ?
There will be some sort of information available to get some idea of what you might be purchasing and in more general terms the results of the survey. Same as last time. It's funny, last time I charged for access to the full searchable results that were not even written up into a nice format for easier digestion and no one said a thing. LOL.
I must say this kind of discussion is finally interesting. Why can't there be heated debate on both sides of argument ? It seems quite polite to me, not sure why everyone gets so offended. Everyone just want to shut it with some final word. LOL at "shut up". Anyway, 20 dollars is damn hella cheap, internet content, after all, isn't that different from printed content these days. And I surely pay few times that amount monthly just to buy printed media to get me information I find valuable or interesting. Which this survey is. On other hand, maybe there could be slight compromise, and show some basic numbers and leave more information to buy ?
Just shut up all of you and be happy CGArchitect is here. Without it the industry wouldn't be where it is now. Thanks for all your hard work, Jeff.
Hey Jeff, Thanks Sonny. I'm curious what sort of results and information did you get from the HR companies? Where did it fall short?
1. For the most part I get either 3D artist as a collective group not individualized based on our industry 2. no one ever tells me how hard these employees are working. (how many hours) 3. I also want to understand what benefits are important to employees. 4. I would love to also understand why people get into Arch Viz to begin with, what motivates them
Not sure what you expect. You have a survey any random 12 year old on the internet can fill out AND you are charging for it.
Not sure I've seen too many 12 year olds working in arch viz, much less visiting CGarchitect and taking surveys for the purpose of trolling. CGarchitect is niche enough that the only people who are going to be taking this survey work in the industry. Likely someone who takes issue with CGarchitect trying to keep the site running by earning revenue. Not the first or last I'm sure I'll run into who has such a narrow-minded and unrealistic view of running a business. Clearly think everything should be handed to them on a silver platter without any work or money. If there really is such a dislike towards me charging for it, perhaps it would be better if I did not do it at all. As I've said many times before I'm not going to invest this much time for free.
wow, just reading through the constructive feedback and comments left about the industry at the end of the survey and find this comment: "Jeff. You are a dick." Someone from Miami. Sometimes the sheer childishness of people in this industry astounds me. I'm not even sure what it was I did to this person, but obviously it required them to post their elementary school playground retort anonymously. Feel free to email me personally if you have something you want to want to tell me. (jmottle@cgarchitect.com) Seriously!
Not sure what you expect. You have a survey any random 12 year old on the internet can fill out AND you are charging for it. For obvious reasons this kind of thing is something I would ever pay for. Good luck and welcome to the internet
Hey Jeff, Thanks for putting the survey together!!! I would love to buy a copy when you guys are done and think it is fair to do so. As a business owner I've paid tons of money to some leading HR companies for insight that is not as comprehensive as this will be. So, once again, Thanks
Thanks Sonny. I'm curious what sort of results and information did you get from the HR companies? Where did it fall short?
wow, just reading through the constructive feedback and comments left about the industry at the end of the survey and find this comment: "Jeff. You are a dick." Someone from Miami. Sometimes the sheer childishness of people in this industry astounds me. I'm not even sure what it was I did to this person, but obviously it required them to post their elementary school playground retort anonymously. Feel free to email me personally if you have something you want to want to tell me. (jmottle@cgarchitect.com) Seriously!
Hey Jeff, Thanks for putting the survey together!!! I would love to buy a copy when you guys are done and think it is fair to do so. As a business owner I've paid tons of money to some leading HR companies for insight that is not as comprehensive as this will be. So, once again, Thanks
One thing to note is that I can filter the results of the survey quite a bit. It's not just the individual questions themselves, but analysis of the questions in relation to each other that will show the real results. There are also many questions in the survey you may or may not have seen due to the way you answered the questions. There were a lot of forked questions in the survey. I've done these surveys enough times to know what works and what does not.
As far as it being a report that I could take to a CEO\CFO...I don't think I'd get too far into the conversation once the words "internet survey" came out of my mouth. On the flip side 20USD isn't a lot of money to satisfy your curiosity and, as Jeff said, reflects the time it takes to compile the data not the quality of the data.
I don't think you can dismiss the results of this survey that much. Granted you are going to get more depth from a personal interview, but the scalability of that sort of survey is limited. You are not going to be able to interview an entire industry within a given country with significant results let alone the entire world. I've participated in the type of surveys you mention and I would not consider the results statistically accurate, but perhaps more exact for the limited scope they do cover. I think the results will be pretty accurate for the countries where we do receive significant responses.
@Peter Drew The point about charging for the survey is that the ones that cost real money generally are not totally anonymous and random (the participants are vetted a bit more than asking the internet), have detailed analysis and projections of more coherent data, and are more comprehensive than what is indicated by the limited scope of questions in the CGA survey. As far as it being a report that I could take to a CEO\CFO...I don't think I'd get too far into the conversation once the words "internet survey" came out of my mouth. On the flip side 20USD isn't a lot of money to satisfy your curiosity and, as Jeff said, reflects the time it takes to compile the data not the quality of the data.
[/QUOTE] Hi Chris, As I mentioned in an earlier comment above this is ONLY a salary survey. There is a separate industry survey that will be coming soon.[/QUOTE] Great - will be looking forward to that one.
It also doesn't seem to be as comprehensive as the last. I would like to see more info on program usage, models used, particular skills whether it be modelling, texturing rendering etc., perhaps some more questions on the particular roles of employees in the company. I have 4 full time staff with each employed for a seperate role - modelling, texturing, post etc. Chris
Hi Chris, As I mentioned in an earlier comment above this is ONLY a salary survey. There is a separate industry survey that will be coming soon.
Hi Jeff, I've adressed my 'wishes' in the final note however I'll submit them here to avoid them getting lost in the many surveys. The survey seems more geared toward employees rather than employers. Perhaps a few more questions or options directed to the employers would be of more interest (to people like me). It also doesn't seem to be as comprehensive as the last. I would like to see more info on program usage, models used, particular skills whether it be modelling, texturing rendering etc., perhaps some more questions on the particular roles of employees in the company. I have 4 full time staff with each employed for a seperate role - modelling, texturing, post etc. Just my $0.02 Chris
Aleksander, you say this "community business is a 2-way street", I ask you then, what do YOU supply to the community? Do you pay to be a part of this community? Not a single cent. Are you asked to pay money to host you images, so your peers can comment and critique your work? Never. Are you asked to pay for features, tutorials, interviews. Nope, nope and nope. So then tell me Aleksander, what have you contributed to this community that gives you ability to call into question the morals of CG Architect. Do you have any idea how much it cost to run a website of this magnitude, the hosting, the bandwidth, let alone the time spent keeping the whole thing moderated and up to date? And the simple democratic fact is, if you don't wish to pay for the survey, you don't have to. That is your choice, but have some respect for Jeff and the people who look after CG Architect, that they are a business and they need to cover their costs somehow.
This is only my opinion - this is why you have comments right. It isn't matter of how much you take, just a matter of moral.
Sounds like you'r feeling sorry for your self. Been in the industry for 7 years Jeff. what I meant was: Without those who answered your questions, you wouldn't have anything to sell right? wouldn't it just bee fair to share what comes out of an collaboration with those who participated? - I think so.
I'm not feeling sorry for myself at all. I just don't think I should give my time away for free all of the time. I still do this a a lot. To your argument though, if I did not spend 60 hours putting it together, spending 11 years growing a community that could participate in a survey, and time just getting the data, you would not have any information about salaries either. It's a circular argument. I however have chosen to charge for it. It's a service that ALL other industries charge A LOT more for. I could have easily charged $500-1000 and still been less than other industries. I think paying a mere $20 for data like this is pretty nominal don't you? You've probably spent more time just replying and reading this thread. I know I have. You are not obligated to take the survey or purchase it though. Thousands do however.
Sounds like you'r feeling sorry for your self. Been in the industry for 7 years Jeff. what I meant was: Without those who answered your questions, you wouldn't have anything to sell right? wouldn't it just bee fair to share what comes out of an collaboration with those who participated? - I think so.
The participants should have access to the survey results. If it where not for the contributors and visitors to this site, would you have any business at all?
I've not sure I even understand your augment. It makes me wonder if you even work in this industry or run a business. You don't have to take the survey if 5 minutes is too much of an inconvenience. That simple. I will be charging for it for the reasons mentioned above already. I don't work for free, just like you don't I hope. Based on your argument I don't think you realize how much work it is to run this site or how much it costs. Nor do you likely realize that over the last 11 years I've given A LOT to help this industry (1000's of hours without pay or compensation.) Ask any anyone who has been in this industry for a while. I earn my living from CGarchitect now and made a decision a while ago that I refuse to do everything for free. If you would like to donate a few thousand hours to help run CGarchitect I'm happy to give it away for free though.

About this article

DEADLINE AUGUST 31. The CGarchitect salary survey is back! Please take 5-10 minutes of your time to provide your information so we can publish the most comprehensive survey for our industry.

visibility11.5 k
favorite_border14
mode_comment44
Report Abuse

About the author

Jeff Mottle

Founder at CGarchitect

placeCalgary, CA