Delivering for Web, Broadcast, and Film: Formats and Costs

As part of our commitment to transparency and delivering high-quality work, we provide a clear breakdown of the core tasks involved in post-production. These tasks not only influence the creative outcome but also determine the cost of your project. Below, you’ll find our current pricing averages and the key factors that can affect the overall budget:

Conforming Footage (Organization and Preparation)

• Price Per Hour: $25–$50
• What’s Included: Prepping footage involves organizing, transcoding, and syncing audio to ensure it’s ready for the editing timeline. This step is critical for efficient post-production.
• Factors: If the footage is well-organized and labeled, this process is faster. Unsorted footage or large amounts of material increase the time and cost.
• Typical Time: 1-2 hours per hour of footage.

Editing

• Price Per Minute: $25–$250
• What’s Included: Organizing footage, trimming clips, adding transitions, and assembling the timeline.
• Factors: Number of cuts, use of B-roll, complexity of the scene, multi-camera setups.
• Footage Received: The cost is influenced by how well-organized the footage is. If footage arrives labeled, with clear shot logs, editing is faster and cheaper. Unorganized footage or large amounts of redundant content may require more time to sort, increasing the cost.
• Typical Time: 2-3 hours per minute of finished footage for simple edits. Complex scenes can take 4-6 hours per minute.

Color Grading

• Price Per Minute: $50–$300
• What’s Included: Adjusting color balance, contrast, saturation, and stylizing the footage for consistent visual appeal.
• Factors: Scene variety, creative vision (natural vs. cinematic look), and whether additional color correction is needed.
• Footage Received: Properly lit and exposed footage takes less time to grade. Underexposed or poorly lit footage requires more work to fix, increasing the cost.
• Typical Time: 3-5 hours per minute of finished footage, depending on the style and complexity.

Sound Mixing

• Price Per Minute: $25–$250
• What’s Included: Balancing dialogue, sound effects, and music for cohesive audio. This also includes adjusting levels, equalization, and reverb for clarity.
• Factors: The number of audio tracks, and the complexity of the sound design (e.g., dialogue-heavy scenes vs. layered action scenes).
• Footage Received: Clean, well-recorded audio is cheaper to mix. Noisy or problematic audio may require extra work, including noise reduction or ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement).
• Typical Time: 3-4 hours per minute of finished footage for standard projects; complex sound designs take longer.

Motion Graphics

• Price Per Minute: $100–$500
• What’s Included: Animation of text, logos, and other visual elements, as well as any complex 2D or 3D graphics.
• Factors: Whether the motion graphics are simple (like lower thirds) or involve intricate 3D animations and compositing.
• Footage Received: A detailed brief, pre-made assets (like logos), and clear instructions reduce the time spent creating graphics from scratch.
• Typical Time: 5-10 hours per minute of finished footage for basic motion graphics; advanced animations take significantly longer.

Delivery

• Price Per Minute: $0–$50 (included for web, additional for high-res formats)
• What’s Included: Final export and delivery in formats required for web, broadcast, or film. Common web formats like MP4 may be included, while broadcast formats (like ProRes) or theatrical formats (like DCP) can incur extra costs.
• Factors: The number of formats requested, resolution (HD, 4K, etc.), and specific platform requirements.
• Footage Received: Organized timelines ready for export to speed up delivery time. More complex export settings (e.g., different formats for different platforms) require more time.

Summary of Per Minute Costs

This breakdown shows that the total cost depends not just on the number of finished minutes but also on the amount and quality of the footage received and the specific deliverables requested.