How many revisions to include in a 3D contract, and how to word it

The short answer

Include two rounds per stage for most 3D work, and one round on stages that are cheap to repeat but expensive to reopen, such as camera approval. More important than the number: define a round as one consolidated list of comments, say which stages close with a sign-off, separate revisions (adjustments within the brief) from changes (anything that alters the brief or the design), put a price on an extra round, and say what happens to the deadline when feedback is late.

This guide is about the contract wording. How to run the rounds day to day with an architect and a developer is in client feedback rounds in an archviz studio.

Why the number alone does not protect you

A contract that says "includes three revisions" without a definition invites a fourth round dressed as a continuation of the third, a round made of eleven separate emails from five people, and a facade redesign called a revision. The number only works with the definitions around it.

Step 1: define a round

A round is one consolidated set of comments from the client side, sent at one time, on one delivery. Everything that comes in afterwards about the same delivery is the next round.

The word consolidated carries most of the weight. On archviz jobs the architect, the developer and the sales agent all have opinions, and they rarely agree. If the contract says comments come from one named contact, collected from everyone, the conflicting notes get settled on the client side before they reach you.

Two smaller points to define:

• What the client reviews: a draft render, a clay render, an animatic, a preview at low resolution. Say which, so nobody expects final quality on a draft.
• How comments arrive: one email, one document or one list on the project, not a call where nothing is written down.

Step 2: rounds per stage, by discipline

Rounds should be counted per stage, because a round on a camera angle and a round on a finished animation cost very different amounts. These are sensible starting points. Adjust them to how you work and what the client is paying for.

Per stage, not per job. "Five revisions" across a whole job gets spent on cameras, and then you have none left when it matters.

Step 3: revision or change

A revision is an adjustment inside the brief that was signed: lighter grass, a different chair, the sky a bit warmer, a timing tweak. A change is anything that alters the brief, the design or the inputs: a new facade material, a different product version, a new script line, an extra view.

The contract should say that changes are not revisions, do not use up rounds and are quoted separately. Give an example or two, because clients genuinely do not see the difference until it is spelled out. A useful rule: if it needs new inputs from the client, it is a change.

Step 4: sign-off gates

Each stage ends with a sign-off. Once a stage is signed off, reopening it is a change. This matters most at camera approval on stills and at animatic approval on animation, because everything after them builds on them.

Write how sign-off happens: an email reply saying "approved" is enough, as long as the contract says so. Also say what happens if the client goes quiet. A common wording is that a stage is treated as approved if no comments arrive within a stated number of working days after delivery. Some clients push back on this; then at least agree that silence pauses the schedule.

Step 5: the price of round N+1

Name the price of an extra round in the contract or the quote, per image or per stage. Base it on the hours a typical round takes you times your rate. Saying the number in advance changes the conversation: in round three you are pointing at a line the client already accepted, not starting a negotiation.

For changes, give an hourly rate or say they are quoted before the work starts. Quoting first is better for anything bigger than a couple of hours, because it gives the client the chance to drop it.

Step 6: late feedback and the deadline

Feedback that arrives late moves the delivery date, and the contract should say so: delivery moves by at least the number of days the feedback was late. If the client has a fixed launch date, add that you will tell them as soon as a delay puts it at risk, and that rushing to recover the time may cost extra.

Also cover a job that stalls completely. If the client does not respond for, say, 30 days, you can invoice the work done so far and restart the schedule from scratch when they come back.

A sample clause

Plain language, adapted from what small studios commonly use. It is not legal advice; have it checked for your country and your client type, and see what to put in a freelance contract for the other clauses it sits next to.

REVISIONS AND CHANGES

1. A round of revisions is one consolidated list of
   comments from the Client, sent by the Client's named
   contact in one message, on one delivery.

2. The fee includes the rounds per stage listed in the
   quote. Unused rounds do not carry over to other stages.

3. Each stage ends when the Client approves it in writing
   (an email is enough). If the Client sends no comments
   within 5 working days of a delivery, the delivery is
   treated as approved.

4. A revision adjusts the work within the approved brief.
   A change alters the brief, the design, the inputs or
   an approved stage. Changes do not use up rounds and are
   quoted before the work starts, or charged at the hourly
   rate in the quote.

5. Each extra round costs the amount stated in the quote,
   per image or per stage.

6. If comments or inputs arrive late, delivery moves by at
   least the same number of working days. If the Client
   does not respond for 30 days, the Studio may invoice the
   work completed so far.

The contract checklists have plain-language samples for 3D artists and animators with the rest of the clauses. Put the round counts and the extra round price in the quote too, so they are visible next to the price; the quote template has room for that in the notes.

Getting it signed

A revision clause only helps if it was agreed before the work started. Send the contract with the quote, ask who signs, and do not start the job on a verbal yes. Getting a proposal signed online covers how to get that done in days rather than weeks.

Doing this in OIO

In OIO you can write the contract in Legal or upload it as a PDF and send it for signature with the quote. The client signs on a web page without an account; these are simple electronic signatures with an audit trail per signer. Once it is signed, each image or stage is a ticket on the project, and each round's notes go on that ticket as a checklist, so the history of rounds and sign-offs is written down in one place. OIO does not count rounds for you and has no approval button; the sign-off is written into the ticket when it comes in. Extra rounds and changes go on the invoice from the same project. More on OIO for 3D studios.

Questions