Dan C. recently asked:
“I’ve taken your FCP training twice (good stuff) and am somewhat adept at getting to a final product, but am stunned by how long it takes from receiving the clips to publishing the movie. I just did a 9 minute family vacation movie with stills and clips and Google earth and drone footage. Took about 7 hours, and I didn’t do color grading or sound effects or anything tricky.
“So, maybe my expectations are way off. What should my expectations be?”
Larry replies: Dan, the only truthful answer is: “It depends….” It’s like asking “How long is a piece of string?” The answer is that piece of string can be as long as you want it to be.
Still, each of us needs to estimate the time required for an editing project – either for ourselves or our clients. So, I’m asking my readers to share their thoughts on estimating editing time for various typical projects.
How long would you tell a client it would take to edit whichever of these projects you have experience with?
What determines the duration? What adds the most time? What advice would you give to an editor “just starting out?”
I truly look forward to your comments. Thanks!
20 Responses to How Long Does It Take to Edit a Video Project?
Newer Comments →-
Ziggy Uszkurat says:
December 9, 2024 at 3:22 am
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Andy says:
December 9, 2024 at 3:29 am
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Jan de Bloois says:
December 9, 2024 at 4:13 am
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Randal Kennerley says:
December 9, 2024 at 4:36 am
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Steve Sweitzer says:
December 9, 2024 at 4:35 am
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Steve says:
December 9, 2024 at 5:17 am
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Edward says:
December 9, 2024 at 5:37 am
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Allan Yankosky says:
December 9, 2024 at 6:40 am
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Tod Hopkins says:
December 9, 2024 at 6:55 am
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Kit Laughlin says:
December 9, 2024 at 12:48 pm
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Kristen Flynn says:
December 9, 2024 at 7:26 am
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Victor Ingrassia says:
December 9, 2024 at 7:31 am
Newer Comments →A recent glossy corporate video – 3 minutes 30 seconds. Started with detailed storyboard. Spent a little time gathering stock footage. Edit (Da Vinci) 59 shots, 12 motion graphics. Commentary, music and 4 effects tracks. 1st cut 4 hours, 2 hours for motion graphics design and build. I hour to lay and mix sound effects. 3 hours for colour grading. 2nd cut – replacing a few shots and finessing the edit – 2 hours. The video was shown at a major event, large screen etc. But really, even with a detailed storyboard things can often take far longer – especially in the corporate world where there can be many stakeholders involved.
Depends on the deadline. My editing used to be a tv transmission deadline. Always having to allow for the time taken to travel to the feed point to be able to get the story into the studio. Now that I am no longer being paid, it’s how much time do I want to spend on this project. Piece of string is about right. You can always do a bit more work finessing the work. But if you are being paid ensure that your per hour pay is sensible.
When someone asks me this, I say that it take an hour for every minute of film. So a film of 10 minutes will take about 10 hours to make, supposed you have already the footage. If you have 100 hours of raw footage to distill 10 minutes out of it, then it takes a lot longer, because you will have to watch all that 100 hours of footage. So, it is a difficult question. And a warning: do not shoot to much!
There is a tight line between shooting too much and undershooting.
I only edit for personal use, but have had, in the past, many occasions where I wished I had filmed for a bit longer.
The shortfall may mean a need to revise the narration, or that simply, for some stupid reason, I cut filming too quickly.
I have not really considered how long it takes to edit a 5 or so minute film, as I am retired. I would say though, that I am in the ten hours plus. Bulk of video and stills are my own work. I do have a sub with a website providing stock data, and find that I am getting value for my money on video, stills, music(this takes a lot of time in addition to the 10 hours) and sound effects that I download.
I get pleasure out of what I do, and wish you all pleasant and happy editing.
I worked in TV news for close to 40 years and the answer to the question, “How long will it take to edit your story?” was “What time’s the newscast?” One of the first things I learned was how to backtime my editing – get the essential things done first and then go back and do as much “sweeting” as time allows. Now I’m “retired” and regularly produce freelance stories. The thing I enjoy the most is setting my own deadline and taking as much time as I want. I don’t get paid enough for the time I put into stories but I have the satisfaction of feeling the story is as good as I can make it. I appreciate how lucky I am to be in this position.
how long is a bit of string 😉
There are so many variables in “time taken to edit”
As a uk broadcast editor for over 40 years, ( of mainly tx ready programmes) the question should be how long have I got, when is it on the air , what other work is there to do ? (grading, captioning, sound mixing), ?
Often broadcasters have a cut-off time for delivery prior to tx
( on occasions we could not meet this, so live transmitted the edit onto the network via satellite)
Are the rushes logged and digitized/imported onto an “editable” drive?
Can I start editing straight away or do I have to wait for the record to stop.
How many special effects are you to add ?
are the story and rushes chronological, or are their “hours” to look through ?
Are any interviews logged, and pre-selected.
Is there an idea of a clear story to tell ?
who has to sign the story off, are they available?
( I once edited unto the wire in Dubai, ready to TX, but was then told it had to be signed off by head office in Switzerland, who had all gone home !)
For open ended videos, it often depends on the budget, facility availability and how picky the director/producer is.
If you have unlimited time it will never be finished to your satifaction 😉
Back to the question, i’d agree about 1 hour plus per minute for a “simple” edit,(not on the air in 10 minutes time 😉
More and more programmes now use the “editor” as one stop shop, remember to build at least some of the above into your rate.
I agree with the person who wrote that it depends upon the deadline. I worked in tv for decades. The primary criteria for a documentary was how cheap can we make it for. Editing a news piece or a magazine depended on the air time. Take the producer’s estimation & add at least 33% more time. Especially now when it is difficult to stare a computer for more than 8 hours.
I’m actually surprised that it seems no one had mentioned “what the customer will pay”. I now have corporate customers that I have worked with for 20 years and developed close relationships with now questioning my billing hours. I’m now second guessing actual hours worked vs hours billed. Hard to explain why your interview video took 8 hours, while the intern did it in a couple of hours on an IPhone.
It’s definitely a variables problem. Editing is not a chore, but a craft, art even. The more time you invest, the better the result, in theory. The difference between the bare minimum and the point of maximum cost/benefit can be a factor of 10. When I budget my time, I have many questions, starting with how much money and time do you have? How much am I responsible for and how much work will others do? Am I screening everything and making selections, or is the producer? Is music pre-selected or composed, or am I scoring from a library. Am I a one-person post, or is there a team (graphics, animation, color, sound designer, mix, etc…). My estimate is based both on my experience, and the experience and expectations of others I trust.
Because I can take a film from beginning to release solo, I break down my time into tasks: pre-production (planning, shoot, effects supervision, media management), pre-edit (screening and prep), creative edit to fine cut, graphics and animation, music, sound design, finishing, release prep.
I often work to a schedule/budget and triage my work. You have two weeks, then this is what I believe we can do. Nope, not going to do that because it will take too long. When I sense that the schedule is not progressing, I tell the producer immediately and we adjust.
Let’s talk documentary. First, assuming the editor is screening everything, that’s four times the total volume of footage. One hour of interview will take 4 hours to review and select. That assumes that it is clean and well done. If it’s a mess, it might take twice that. Music select and “compose” is minimum of a day for a short (10mins) and 3-5 days for long form (90). Mix and color correction (that’s correction not “grading”)about a day each for short, 3-5 days for long. Edit, that’s a judgment based on many factors: pre-planning, doc style, and relationship with producer/director. Is there a clear vision or are we building as we go? I just finished a feature-length doc (90mins). Starting from a detailed storyboard with pre-composed, and pre-assigned music, this took approximately 400 hours from the first phone call to locked picture. It was a bit start and stop and probably would have taken a little less time if I had everything upfront and worked continuously. I originally estimated 8 weeks. It was also the most meticulously pre-planned doc I have ever worked on. Minimal screening and prep. Limited visual gymnastics. Relatively simple finish.
What Tod wrote above about documentaries is what my experience has been. The short answer always will be, “longer than you think”, and definitely “longer than you want”. And the shooting ratio on docos plays a major part in this, too. While it seems sensible to say, “don’t shoot too much”, anyone who has shot (and edited) a doco knows that you simple don’t know what’s going to happen, and serendipity can present itself any time.
This is a really hard question to answer, especially as it relates to budgeting as an efficient and experienced editor. For my documentary-style corporate and non-profit edits, I interview many who are impacted by the organization’s products or services and then weave a story together. Obviously the more time I take in the interview, the longer that footage takes to go through; however time spent is also directly related to when I get the most authentic and genuine responses. On top of the story comes the critical pacing of that story. Not to mention selecting the appropriate music, adding graphic elements that enhance and not take away from the story, etc…I believe my editing style and experience (close to 30 years!) brings value to my clients on top of the hours that I spend and I try to budget accordingly.
Tweaking, nudging, adjusting, massaging, trimming, removing, replacing, rethinking, restarting, reviewing, rehashing, unfixing, fixing, diluting, condensing, restarting, resting, honing, squinting, relaxing, enjoying, returning,.
It’s my favorite thing to do. Editing. It never ends. But at some point it feels right… or maybe, maybe needs just a tweak…
Yes, the hours and days stack up. Nothing is automatic.