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2021CostOfVideoEditing

Cost of Video Editing (2021)

How much does it cost to have someone create a video for you? The answer is in time and money. Editing videos takes a ton of time and the equipment costs a lot of money. Of course you can do it yourself, but it often looks like you did just that. Smartphone quality has gotten so good that I actually ditched my camcorder and primarily use a smartphone (iPhone) just like most people do. The difference is the intent and the editing.

If I shoot a wedding, I plan on having multiple cameras for multiple angles and may even go with special equipment for 'steadycam' (to hold the camera/phone steady while hand-holding the device), if that's what I'm going for. The other thing is the artistry. Getting unique angles, i.e. views from a spot someone wouldn't normally see, really enhances the final product.

Putting a camera up high or down low spruces things up more than you know. Close-ups are another great angle. Camera movement, especially with a slider, polishes the end product. Basically you at least want to do more than just holding one camera/smartphone and hitting record.

Then, with multiple camera angles a video editor uses a product like Final Cut Pro to create a 'multicam clip' which puts all of the shots together so the editor can decide which angle to show.

Yes, video editing is an art. It takes time and practice, and equipment. You can often use the same equipment over and over but sometimes you want something special. When I started shooting highlights for a children's soccer league I added an $800 HD drone (bundle) to the mix. I only charged $450 to create the video so it took a couple of years just to pay off the drone, not to mention other equipment and the time it took.

Then 4K became a thing. So then I wanted to upgrade all of my equipment to 4K. So I replaced that $800 HD drone bundle with a $1000 4K drone bundle. It's hard for the average person to justify something like that. I may only use 5 or 10 seconds of drone shots to the end product but it adds a lot and makes it look very professional.

Here's a music video that I shot in my studio several years ago for my band. We recorded the audio, and then basically lip-synced for the video. Really we just played unplugged except for the drums. We cranked the audio recording up and played along. Unfortunately the multicam option didn't work because the audio didn't line up (the drums changed the sound and sound is used to match up the multiple angles) so multicam work was done manually. We used 5 cameras and recorded 4 times getting 18 angles (2 of the cameras ran out of storage space at the end).

Here's the video editing equipment with approximate costs used to make the video:

equipmentcost
5 cameras (4 iPhones and a DSLR)$2500
camera slider$100
high-end laptop$2500
video editing software$300
total equipment cost$5400

Here's the time involved to make the video:

what was donetime in hours
shooting1
editing10
total time cost11

Another project I worked on recently was a series of interview style videos. 4 people gave their testimony and talked about where God fits in and works in their lives. Here's a run-down of equipment and time to create a series of 8-10 minute videos:

equipmentcost
iPhones 11 Pro Max$1200
iPhone mount$40
GVM automatic camera slider$400
GoPro Hero9$400
GoPro mount$40
Nikon Z6$2650
2 tripods$50
high-end laptop$2500
video editing software$300
total equipment cost$7580

Here's the time involved to make the video:

what was donetime in hours
shooting3
editing9
total time cost12

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