How long does video editing take when working with a professional video editor? And what does video editing cost?

How Long Does Video Editing Take?
&
What Does Video Editing Really Cost?

Quick Answer

Professional video editing typically takes 15-20 hours for a 5-15 minute family video. Corporate projects run 12-40 hours, while documentaries can require 100-1,000 hours depending on how big the project is!

"How Long Does Video Editing Really Take?"

What's included in professional video editing:
- Footage organization and review
- Creating scenes that layout the 'story' as you want it told
- Correcting technical issues (exposure, audio)
- Audio cleanup and music selection
- Color correction and grading
- Refining the edit and getting the pacing to match what YOU enjoy watching
- Multiple revision rounds
- Final delivery and formatting

A recent example: I have this wonderful client that I love, it's a family that goes on epic trips together. It's really one guy that hires me - he and his wife found me initially. They were just the best to work with, fun, loved thinking through creative approaches, really willing to put themselves out there and try some things that I suggested. The husband also hired me again a couple more times to create legacy videos for the family that he grew up with.

There are 4 siblings that grew up together and now have families of their own. Being that they are spread out geographically, they schedule these trips as a way to see each other and take their vacations while seeing something truly epic...(islands, races, mountains...). Typically, I will give them a way to send footage while still on the trip (a link anyone can access via their phones/laptops) and family members will send photos and videos throughout the trip.

If the footage is sent early enough (or the trip is long enough) I can create a quick video for them to watch together while they are still on location - such as on their last night together!😭 Then when they return home and as I edit the drafts and get feedback, I'll start figuring out what the various moments from the trip (skiing, dinners, sights they saw, games they played and events they participated in) and I work on these one moment (or scene) at a time. As those sections start to develop and become clear, then I'll add music (and occasionally sound effects to emphasize something important or just fill in sound where it was wiped out by wind or other noise). In between the major moments of the trip, I'll create titles screens that show what next scene is coming. And often I'll do rolling credits at the end and include blooper-like moments.

People can get as involved or stay as hands off as they are comfortable with. The more time I have with the footage, the more likely I'll find those hidden gem experiences that others may not have noticed and include them to really strike a tone with people's emotions!

"Real Project Examples: What Makes Timelines Vary"

How long video editing takes is greatly affected by...

How much footage is sent that I need to review, organize and make decisions about.
How well we progress through the stages of video editing.
1. IDEAL example: If we get through intake > organization > editing > titles > music/sound > coloring > refinements...we're progressing from one type of task across the video to another until we're complete (drafts included).
2. LONGER example: Where it gets messy is when we move from intake > organization > editing > BACK to INTAKE > organization > editing > BACK to INTAKE -- we're not actually making as much progress as we could be...we're essentially starting over or re-doing sections of the editing timeline that we have already spent time on.

Family legacy video - The India trip:
An attorney from So Cal came to me a while back, as he had just finished taking his kids and his brother's family from L.A. to London and then onto India where they hit the highlights of the country and ultimately spread the grandfather's ashes in the Ganges River. This video was of low complexity, however what most affected the "time to edit" was the length of the footage. With simple scene transitions and nearly every scene (city visited) passing his approval as drafts were sent, the edit made fast progress. However, with 152 moments being filmed along the trip we were producing a 1 hour, 52 minute movie. This was done in about 6-7 days with me being in the edit bay for just over 50 hours.

Sometimes it's the sheer volume of footage that determines the length of time required. Note that, an example below required double the amount of time, in the edit bay, for a 10 second video. Compare that to the Epic India trip coming out to 110 minutes (660x's longer than the 10 second (scope creep) vid - and you can see that client decision making is a huge gating factor!!!)

Wedding Documentary Interview:
A photographer had this couple she was working with to pictorialize their wedding. In addition to the usual stuff, she had taken the time to film them asking newlywed questions a few weeks before the ceremony.

She set them up in an old library and really went for this timeless classic feel. It reminded me of those scenes in "When Harry Met Sally" where they occasionally break from the story to interview couples that have been married for 50-60 years and ask "how they met" and "what was their secret to staying together for so long?" -- They had such a unique quirky way about them and they both loved to tell stories. By them being interviewed separately for much of the interview, and my edit cutting back and forth using their combined answers to tell each story, it was touching and humorous.

Finally, by laying in some of the moments from a few weeks later at the actual ceremony and we had a hit that they'll hold onto forever.

When scope creeps:
One client example that stands out - when thinking about cost going over budget and the time it takes continuing to "get bumped to the right" (reference businesses often use when talking about looking at a calendar and having to continue to delay launching a product or starting on a project)..is a work-in-progress client that had an idea for a show.

It took nearly a month once the agreement was signed to get started...due to one of the decision-makers wanting to re-organize years of footage. That set us back a couple weeks. Time I had blocked off for them, that was not really being used productively. In other words, in those situations, I'm burning time where I'm not actually editing/creating 10% of the time and waiting 90% of the time.

As we began and I started to review footage, they asked if I could make an animated intro even thought it was not a part of the original estimate or scope of work. I was happy to help out....problem was, it hadn't really been throught through.

So, while I quickly sent some starting directions, they kept rethinking what this could be...and this short 10 second intro became a film unto itself.

25 versions later, we were done with the intro. It's weeks of time to bill a client for...that was never planned for at the outset when estimating how long it would take and at what cost!

Somewhere in there, they asked if I could build a website for them too...🤔

These requests were continually expanding the scope - so the cost expanded too. It would be like saying to a builder, "give us an estimate to build a shed on our land" and then when the project begins...adding rooms until the shed becomes a 2nd house on the property with 6 bedrooms, 4 baths, 2 living rooms, a kitchen, den, patio and a pool.

When the scope creeps up, so does the cost.

"Why Professional Video Editing Costs What It Does"

Professional video editing is a skilled trade requiring:

Years of experience and technical expertise
Significant equipment investment ($15K+ in hardware/software)
Ongoing software subscriptions and training
Two weeks of full-time focused work per typical project
Film-maker's eye
Patience and willingness to dive into the subject matter whole-heartedly! (your editor will need to spend many, many hours with your topic - if they are not interested, they'll rush through it and not give it the attention it deserves. Find someone who cares!

What affects your project cost:

How organized your footage is..
- Can you send it all at once, so the editor can start on it all at once?
- Have your vision be clear from the start - and stay the course
- Keep your decision-makers and approval layers to ONE.
- Move progressively forward in an edit try not to repeat steps already completed.
- Try not to change increase the scope of the project during the project
1 in 1,000 families take the time to put together a video that captures their legacy for generations. These are the replacement to the wall of photos that people look back on. You have the opportunity to make this something truly remarkable. Something that really shows who the people were, what they were up to and how they thought about life.

"How to Keep Your Video Project On Track (And On Budget)"

Projects finish faster when:
- All footage is sent before we start
- You have one clear, consistent vision
- We move through stages chronologically (not jumping back)
- Decision-makers respond promptly to drafts

Projects take longer when:
- Footage arrives in scattered batches
- Vision changes mid-project
- We revisit earlier stages after moving forward
- Multiple approval layers cause delays

"What I Can Help You With"

Whether you're working on a personal family project, company video, or filmmaker project, I enjoy the conversation - even if it's just to help you think through what to expect.

My areas of expertise:
- Video editing and story development
- Sound design and audio mixing
- Color correction and grading
- Visual effects and motion design
- Final delivery and formatting

Typical projects:
- Family legacy videos and memorial tributes
- Wedding and milestone celebrations
- Corporate storytelling and product launches
- Documentary editing and post-production

Ready to Discuss Your Project?

I do love talking to people about what they are creating. You might say, "It's my thing". I love talking about all aspects of it, from ideas, to how it could take shape, cameras, lenses, techniques and so on... Every project is unique, and I'm happy to walk you through what to expect for yours - timeline, process, and what to expect. I am NOT a fit for all projects. For example, fast-paced, latest tic-toc trend, scammy, jarring, mlm, bitcoin junk, fake ai trends...just not for me. I will tell you if I am a good fit.

Let's jump on a quick Zoom call to talk through your vision. If nothing else, it might just help to have someone who will listen to you and your vision for your video!

Book Time To Talk Here...

**Video Transcript**

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[MUSIC]

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All right, so here's a couple of

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frequently asked questions on timing for

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having a video editor create your video.

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These tend to be the

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questions I hear the most often.

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So one thing would be "how long

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does video editing really take?"

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And based on the last few years of

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projects, a five minute simple video

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typically requires 15

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to 20 hours of work.

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That would include footage organization,

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reviewing the footage,

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sometimes correcting some of the footage,

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audio cleanup, color correction,

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the actual editing and

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story and putting together.

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Then time back and forth

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where I'm saying "here's a draft,

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go take a look at this,

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give me feedback on it."

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I've got easy ways to do that where you

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can type comments right on certain

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points of the video.

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Then there's usually some rounds of

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revision stages that we will work through

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in a video to get to the end.

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So I'm gonna put up in if we quickly go

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through all the stages

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in chronological

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order, we get done sooner.

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If we start a stage,

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move to the next stage, and

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then go back to an earlier stage and then

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go back to an earlier stage,

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it stretches the timeline how long.

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A situation where we spent a month

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getting ready to start the project and

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then they had one more

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quick thing they wanted to do,

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which was a quick 10 second intro and we

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did 25 versions of that.

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So that can obviously slow things down.

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I never know what that's gonna look like.

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Corporate projects

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can take 12 to 40 hours,

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tends to be more decision

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makers, more layers of approval.

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Documentaries could require 100 to 1,000

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hours and that greatly depends.

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I worked with one doc director that was

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flying all over the country interviewing

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people for the film, 30,

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40 different interviews.

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Every time I talked to the director, they

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had interviewed another five or

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ten people.

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So it just kept the

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scope of it, kept expanding.

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I try to just do one at a time so that

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can be fully focused on your project

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while I'm working.

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"How do you charge?"

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Flat fee, hourly, something

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else, a hybrid?" I've tried.

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I typically charge hourly

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with an estimate up front.

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Sending all footage before

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the start of the project and

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having one clear constant

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direction and vision for

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the video can keep the

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timeline and cost more predictable.

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I would say one in a thousand families

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make time to do a legacy video and

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then that might be a

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once in a lifetime event.

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The matriarch of the family died.

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They took an epic trip to India to go put

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ashes in the Ganges and

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they visited a number

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of cities on their way.

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They took 12 friends and family members

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to Bora Bora when there was a milestone

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birthday happening.

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That kind of thing doesn't

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usually happen every year.

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Also with the professional video editing

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requires significant skill,

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equipment and time investment.

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A typical family project is

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two weeks of full time work.

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If you're looking for help with your

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video project for a

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personal family company or

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filmmaker project, I

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enjoy the conversation.

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Even if it's just to help you think

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through what to expect and

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what to prepare for as

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you're getting into your project.

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And my areas that I can help you with are

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in editing, working on the story,

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making sound, visual effects, delivery,

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finishing, all that kind of stuff.

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So let's jump on a Zoom

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call and talk it through.

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Take care.

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