EDITING PROCESS
On this page, you will find our editing process, which helps give an idea of the number of hours which go into editing, and how we produce content from video clips to high-end marketing videos.
As well as including the steps for editing, we've also included a rough breakdown of the hours required for each step.
Naturally, every project is different, and the required hours differ depending on the brief, however, this page should give you an idea of how everything works. It's like baking a cake, only....a lot more complex!
2. Selecting the BEST Clips
After shooting, it is important that we sort the footage between the great shots, the b-roll shots, the a-roll shots, additional footage, e.g. drone, go-pro, or ground camera, and the not-so-great shots.
When shooting, not every clip will be perfect, but the end result must be! Therefore, we are required to spend time post-shooting to select those absolute gem shots for you.
On average (depending on the amount of footage), clip sorting will take anywhere between 2-4 hours.
In this time, we must watch through all the clips individually, highlighting the best parts and labelling the footage with tags.
Tags could be such as:
- A Roll (Primary Footage)
- B Roll (Secondary or Up-Close Cinematic Footage)
- Daytime shots
- Night shots
- Subject A, B, C, D, E, etc (a car, building, someone laying bricks)
- Great shot
- Not so great shot
This tagging process is essential for making sure each and every video comes out of the editing software at the end of the project, in its best form.
3. Editing to the shot list & music
The next step is editing the selected footage to the music and storyboard shot list we put together ahead of the shoot. We spend around 8 hours doing this, making sure that clips are in an order that makes sense and looks good, utilising our professional eye for detail and our professional editing skills.
Whilst going through this process, we have to render the footage at intervals to watch the footage back, ensure everything lines up in time, the footage works with the music and that any clips that need additional stabilisation, slowing down, or speeding up are done, ahead of the next stages.
4. Footage Colour Conversion & Baseline Colourgrade
When shooting footage in SLOG3 or other flat profile (a video format with no colour which helps bring out the best details in the video; especially when shooting in low-light scenearios) we also have to convert the entire timeline (the editing sequence) to the appropriate colour that it 'would be' if shot as standard.
The time to do this varies per project, however, usually takes around 1-2 hours depending on the amount of footage, as well as any minor baseline colourgrading, which takes an additional 1hr-1.5hrs.
When we're shooting originally in normal colour profiles e.g. for bright-lighting scenearios, we only have the baseline colourgrade to do, bringing our editing time for step 3. down to 2 hours as opposed to 3-4hrs for low-light scenes.
5. Adding Text, Logos, and Graphics
After colour converting the footage and adding a baseline colourgrade, we then move on-to adding any required text, logos, and graphics: such as transition effects, and other graphics that are required.
For baseline shoots, with a single introduction text and logo at the end of the video can be anywhere between 20 minutes, and 40 minutes for more text e.g. subtitles and information throughout the video.
For productions where lots of text is required and complex graphics, this can be anywhere from 2+ hours.
.png)
.png)
6. Initial Edit Sent Off & Client Feedback
After the above steps are complete and circa 20+ hours of editing has been done, we send the initial edit off to the client for their review. As we will have edited to a brief received from the client before beginning works, feedback changes are usually minor, such as text changes, logo amendments, certain shots requiring being removed, etc.
We include 1 feedback edit within our editing pricing, for any minor changes. If any major changes are required, e.g. the client requires music to be changed, we determine how many more hours of work are required to achieve the result and price up an amendment rate based on the hours required. This amendment rate is ALWAYS in our contract when we agree work with a client; so don't worry about any hidden fees...there are none!
You may think changing the music is as easy as clicking a button, however, it is much more complicated than that.
Every clip within your video, every scene and every part which has been created in a specific order, is edited to the specific track that was chosen ahead of the shoot. Therefore, by changing the music, clips must be adapted, lengthened, shortened, replaced, added to, etc. Where clips have been created within the initial editing stages and are a version of that clip within a nested (a 'baked' format - like a cake) sequence (green on the timeline below), we must go into that sequence clip and make adaptations to the nested sequence to extend or shorten that footage. Essentially like baking a cake! Once you've baked the cake, it's difficult to extract the sugar from it! - With editing, it works almost the same; bar the fact that we can get access to that clip with some extra work, unlike getting sugar back from inside your cake.
Therefore, for this reason, major changes such as music changes, come with an additional amendment fee, to cover the additional hours we must complete to achieve these changes.
7. Feedback Changes
Once our client feedback changes have been received, we will make the required changes to the video as per the feedback.
It's difficult to put a number of hours onto feedback changes as the hours depend on the number of feedback changes that are required.
As we usually include 1 feedback changes opportunity within our editing rate, please ensure you try to include as many minor feedback changes as you can within your first round of feedback changes, as after this, additional changes will cost additional charges. Small changes are priced at our small amendment fee price and large amendments at our large amendment fee price.
All this information is included within our contract we send across before beginning works, so as always,
there's no hidden fees!
8. Final Colourgrade & Export
After all required changes have been made, we will then complete a final colourgrade, adapting any last colour changes that are required; again, utilising our professional eye for detail and colours, on a colour-accurate screen, to ensure you get the best end result video!
After this, we export the timeline (the editing sequence) and 'bake' your final cake!