Almost every brief starts with "we need a few product images". It ends at thirty. Here is how that number adds up, and why it can be estimated well in advance.
The reason is rarely poor planning. At briefing stage people think about the hero image, not about the channels. The hero image is one picture. The channels are a dozen.
And because the extra formats only surface when someone asks for them, they get produced one at a time, in a hurry, and usually at a higher cost than planned.
Do not count products, count visibly different variants. Three scents with different labels are three variants. Two sizes of the same bottle are usually one, if the size difference does not read in the image.
Four are typical: the packshot cut out for shop and retail, a hero shot with staging, a detail for material and finish, and a contextual image in an environment.
For the shop, 1:1 usually does it. As soon as social and the website are involved, it becomes 1:1, 4:5, 9:16 and 16:9. That is four outputs of the same shot.
Retail partners with their own image specifications, press in print resolution, marketplaces with fixed rules on cut-out and margin, plus additions for promotions.
| Step | Assumption | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Variants | 3 scents | 3 |
| Shot types | Packshot, hero, detail, context | 12 shots |
| Formats | 1:1 and 4:5 for all, 9:16 for hero only | 27 outputs |
| Press and retail | one packshot per variant in print resolution | 30 |
"A few product images" has become thirty, without anything being exaggerated.
In a photo shoot every additional shot costs a setup, every variant costs a sample, and every format costs either a crop or a new exposure. Cost grows roughly in line with the count.
In CGI the effort sits in the model and the lookdev. Once those are built, the second variant costs a fraction and an additional aspect ratio costs almost nothing. That is why the comparison tips on quantity rather than on unit price. The full comparison of both routes works through it.
The fourth question is the important one. If motion is considered from the start, it comes out of the same scene. If it arrives afterwards, production often starts again.
For a product with three visible variants and the usual channels, thirty outputs sits in the normal range. The number comes from variants times shot types times formats, not from the number of products.
As a rule of thumb, from around three to five visibly different variants. Beyond that, the 3D setup built once carries the additional shots and formats far more cheaply than further studio setups.
With CGI yes, because the scene remains and is re-rendered with a new camera. With photography a new aspect ratio means either a crop that costs composition or another shoot.
Describe the product, the scope and the deadline. It usually takes a few sentences to say what is needed and which route makes most sense.
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