What does the post-production phase cost?
Post-production is editing. It’s taking the raw video and turning it into a finished project. Your investment in pre-production matters a lot. Do you have all the video elements needed? Did the interview capture the soundbites needed? Is there a written script? If there’s not a script, the skill of the editor to turn raw video into a compelling story looms large.
You may be inclined to think, the longer the video, the higher the cost. True to a degree, but not always. A 20 minute recorded TED talk, there’s basically no editing, just cut the beginning and end, export and upload, maybe add graphics– 30 minutes, max. For a 2-minute brand story, finding the ‘story’, adding supplemental shots (“b-roll”), timing to music, color-grading multiple cameras, creating animated graphics– death is the only limiting factor.
Good editors never actually finish a video. They just decide to stop (and keep it within your budget!) I’ve never met a good editor who, in less than 10 minutes after the export, didn’t have ‘just one more thing’ they could do. It’s an art and it can always be tweaked. How long an edit takes depends on the goal of the project, the skill of the editor, capability of the computer, and ultimately when they decide to stop.
For this reason, post-production is usually estimated at a ‘flat rate’ based on the details of the project. Be cautious agreeing to pay hourly, at least for the initial edit. There’s just too much subjectivity. For a nearly identical video (in the eyes of the client/audience), one editor can do it in an hour or two (ask a seasoned tv news editor) and another could take 10 hours.
The post-production rate is going to be based on how long they think an edit will take. Scripts or previous examples will help bring this time estimate down. Experienced companies have this dialed in for projects within their specialty. The flat rate is intended to capture what ‘most’ videos take. For example, an experienced editor will know approximately the time needed to edit a 1-2 minute video with two 30-minute interviews and supplemental shots (“b-roll”). Of course it varies, but they’ll know a solid rate.
And don’t mistake the ability to do an edit quickly with lower quality. Experience as an editor and in a particular style of video make a huge difference. Ultimately, a professional editor who cares about their work won’t deliver a video less than their personal standard.
Length of video doesn’t necessarily translate to a cheaper video either. There’s an incredible skill in getting all of the information needed into a digestible (for the viewer) 30-second commercial. On the other hand, we’ve all seen videos that are way-too-long for their content or just aren’t compelling enough to keep our attention.
How long you want your finished video to be depends on where it will be shown. Social media has progressively shortened average view length. As of writing this, Facebook should be 45 seconds to 2 minutes to be the sweet spot. Instagram and TikTok are far shorter. Your website or YouTube can be a little longer. If your video’s audience is in the room at an event, they tend to be already interested in your cause (or just captive in the room) and longer videos can be made to help convey more information toward your goal.
Color-grading
Color grading is a way of making sure the colors in the video look as they do in real life. This is especially important to make realistic skin tones and ‘natural’ colors like grass and the sky (instagram is FULL of videos with purple skies). Many cameras have a built-in color tone that looks great out of camera. However, when multiple cameras are used or there’s video from multiple environments, a quick color-grade can make a significant difference. High budget projects have professional ‘colorists’ to give a particular ‘feeling’ or ‘mood’ relevant to the story. Professional editing software has some automatic and manual methods to color-grade. A basic color-grade should be included as part of the standard edit price.
Review/Revision stage
The review stage comes near the end but is very important to be addressed early. How many ‘rounds’ of review comments do you get as a client? The better your vision or script, the less revision you should need for the final project. Mistakes and errors by the editor should NOT be counted as revisions, those are part of delivering a good project.
Revisions are changes to the order of the sound bites from interviewees, adding or removing certain shots, changing the music, changing someone’s title graphic, etc
Big changes versus small changes
Small changes are cosmetic like reordering soundbites or adding or subtracting certain lines. Big changes are structural to the video like replacing an interviewee completely, changing a voiceover script, changing the underlying music. Small changes are usually included in the “round” of revisions. Big changes may be considered a scope change and require a modification to the overall estimate/agreement. Generally big changes can be made at an hourly rate and a cost estimate given by the editor ahead of the change being made. It’s up to you, your budget, and your goals on whether that cost is worth it. A good production partner will work with you on the change to meet your goal
Post-production costs
Even though most companies list and estimate based on flat rate, most do have an hourly editing rate. Since editing is primarily a single-person job, it doesn’t vary as widely as the other costs. The standard rate is approximately $200 per hour. If you’re quoted $3,000 for an edit, you can figure they estimate it will take about 15 hours, including the revisions.
Edit Cost - $200 per hour
Here’s some industry flat rates based on the length and type of the finished video.
Interview + supplemental (“b-roll”) - $1,000 per finished minute
Multiple interviews + b-roll - $1,200 per finished minute
Talk or speech recording, minimal edits - $500-$1,000
Highlight reel, no interviews - $800 per finished minute