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Hire freelance VFX artists for rotoscoping, compositing, tracking, cleanup, and simulation work. Compare fixed-scope packages with published prices and delivery times, or post a brief and receive offers.

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Services Under Visual Effects (VFX)

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What is freelance VFX on Osdire?


Freelance VFX is visual effects work bought per shot or per project from an independent artist instead of a studio. You send your footage, the artist works the shots, and you receive finished frames back in the format your edit needs.

On Osdire, this sits inside video and animation under editing and post-production. Artists publish packages with a fixed scope, a fixed price, and a stated delivery time, so you see what a shot costs before you order rather than after a call. You speak to the artist directly, and payment is held until you have reviewed the delivered frames. The work covers five distinct disciplines. Most projects need one or two of them, not all five.

What VFX freelancers deliver


VFX freelancers deliver finished shots, not advice. What arrives is a file you can drop straight into your timeline.
  • Finished frames or a rendered clip in your project resolution, frame rate, and color space
  • Alpha channels and mattes where you need to composite further downstream
  • Project files on request, so another artist can pick the work up later
  • Shot-by-shot delivery on larger jobs, so you review as you go instead of at the end.
  • Revision rounds against the agreed brief, defined in the package before you order
A VFX artist works on footage that already exists. If you need something built from nothing, that is 3D animation and CGI. If you need the edit itself assembled, that is video editing.

Which VFX freelance service do you need?


Naming the right discipline before you post saves the most time. Each links to its own specialists.
  • Rotoscoping and chroma keying separate a subject from a background. Choose this for green screen footage, or when there is no green screen and the subject has to be cut out frame by frame.
  • Compositing layers separate elements into one believable frame. Choose this when you have the pieces already, and they need to sit together with matching light, grain, and color.
  • Tracking locks an element to moving footage. Choose this for screen replacements, signage, or anything that must stay attached while the camera moves.
  • Cleanups and beauty retouching remove what should not be in the shot. Choose this for rigs, wires, crew reflections, logos, blemishes, or a car that drove through the background.
  • Simulations generate fire, smoke, water, dust, or destruction. Choose this when the element cannot be filmed or would be unsafe to film.
If two apply, post them as one brief only when the same artist would realistically do both. Roto and keying pair naturally with compositing. Simulations and beauty retouching rarely sit with the same person.

How much does it cost to hire a freelance VFX artist on Osdire?


VFX is priced per shot far more often than per hour, because a shot is the unit both sides can agree on. These are estimated market ranges in US dollars, not quotes.
  • Rotoscoping: $5 to $25 per second of footage
  • Green screen keying: $20 to $100 per shot
  • Object, wire, or logo removal: $50 to $250 per shot
  • Motion tracking: $50 to $250 per shot
  • Compositing: $100 to $500 per shot
  • Simulation work: $300 to $2,000 per shot
  • Hourly engagement: $25 to $150 per hour
  • Full VFX pass on a short commercial: $1,000 to $10,000

Five things move your number more than the artist’s rate does:
  • Shot length and frame count. Roto is priced by the second because every frame is manual work.
  • Whether the footage was shot for VFX, a locked-off tripod shot with a clean green screen costs a fraction of handheld footage with motion blur and no tracking markers.
  • Motion blur, hair, smoke, and transparency. Each one multiplies the roto time.
  • Resolution and delivery format. 4K and higher color depths increase render time and file handling.
  • Revision rounds. Agree the number before work starts, and agree what counts as a revision rather than a new shot.
Ask for a per-shot quote after the artist has seen the footage. Anyone quoting from a description alone is guessing.

How to hire a freelance VFX artist on Osdire


There are two routes. Use the first when your shots are defined. Use the second when the scope still needs shaping.

Option 1: Browse profiles and published packages

  1. Open the discipline you need from the five listed above, so you are comparing specialists rather than generalists.
  2. Filter and compare on what is actually in the package: shot count, footage length, resolution, revision rounds, and delivery time.
  3. Open the artist’s profile and check the reel. Look for shots that resemble yours in difficulty, not just in polish. A clean green screen reel tells you nothing about how someone handles hair against a moving background.
  4. Message before ordering. Send a still frame or a short clip and ask what they would need from you, how many revisions the price covers, and what format the delivery arrives in.
  5. Place the order. Payment is held by Osdire and released only after you have reviewed the delivered frames against the brief.

Option 2: Post a project brief

  1. Post a project brief describing the shots, the footage you already have, the resolution and frame rate, the deadline, and what the finished shot needs to look like.
  2. Attach a reference. One frame from your footage and one example of the result you want does more than three paragraphs of description.
  3. Compare the offers you receive on approach as well as price. A good offer names the method the artist would use and flags what might be difficult.
  4. Message your shortlist to confirm shot count, revisions, and the delivery format before you accept.
  5. Accept the offer and run the work in stages if the job is larger than a few shots, reviewing each batch as it lands.
Use Option 2 when you have footage but are unsure which discipline it needs, or when the shot count could change once someone looks at the material.

When should you hire a freelance VFX artist?


Hire one when the fix lives in the frame rather than in the edit.
  • A shot is usable except for one object, reflection, or person that should not be there.
  • You filmed on green screen and need the subject cut out and placed somewhere else.
  • A screen, sign, poster, or label needs replacing after the shoot.
  • You need fire, smoke, water, or an explosion that was never safe or affordable to film.
  • A product shot needs an element added that did not exist on the day.
  • Your editor has finished the cut, and three shots still do not work.
Do not hire a VFX artist when the problem is pacing, structure, or sound. That is an editing job. For vertical social content, start at short-form video instead, where the turnaround expectations are different.
Before you brief anyone, our guide on writing a brief for a video project covers what to include, and what to look for when hiring covers the checks worth making first.

FAQs


Do I own the finished shots and the project files?

You own the delivered work once payment is released. Project files are a separate matter and should be agreed before the order. Ask for them explicitly if you want another artist to be able to continue the work later, since they are not included by default in most packages.

What footage do I need to send for a VFX shot?

Send the original camera files rather than an exported edit, at the highest resolution you have, along with the frame rate and color space. Compressed exports lose the detail an artist needs for clean edges and matching grain. If the shot has a clean plate, send that too.

How long does one VFX shot take?

A straightforward key or removal on a locked-off shot can return within a day. Roto on a moving subject with hair and motion blur runs into several days for a few seconds of footage. Simulation shots take the longest because they require render time between revisions.

Can a freelancer work with footage shot on a phone?

Yes, with limits. Phone footage often has heavy compression, rolling shutter, and baked-in sharpening, all of which make edges harder to cut and tracks harder to solve. Send a sample clip before ordering so the artist can price the difficulty accurately.

What happens if the result does not match the reference?

Revisions cover work that misses the agreed brief. They do not cover a change of direction after delivery. Keep the reference frame attached to the order so both sides are judging against the same target, and raise issues on the first batch rather than at the end.

Will a freelance VFX artist sign an NDA?

Most will. Raise it before the order rather than after, and share the footage through a private link rather than a public one. For unreleased product or client-confidential material, confirm the terms in writing first.

How do I hire a VFX artist in a specific country?

VFX is delivered remotely, so location affects time zone overlap rather than whether someone can do the work. If you prefer local talent, Osdire lists specialists by city, such as video and animation experts in Liverpool. For everything else, browse all freelancers and filter on delivery time instead.

How to become a freelance VFX artist on Osdire?


Start by choosing one discipline rather than offering all five. Roto and keying have the lowest entry barrier and the steadiest demand, which makes them the usual starting point. Build three sample shots that prove the specific skill: a hair-heavy roto, a green screen key with spill, and one clean object removal. Use footage you are free to publish, and show before and after in the same clip.

Then publish a package with a defined unit. Price per second for roto and per shot for everything else, state the resolution you deliver in, name the software you work in, and set a revision count you can honor. Buyers order the offer they can understand fastest, so one clear package beats a list of services.

Deliver early on the first three orders, ask for the review in the delivery message, and raise your price after every five completed shots. Create your freelancer profile on Osdire to publish your first VFX offer.