Just how long do you take ...
 

On average, just how long do you take from the time you shoot a wedding ceremony and reception until you deliver the finished product to your client?

I'm not so concerned with what you do in post as I am curious about how long it takes from shoot to delivery.

I know there are all kinds of variables and that is why I'm just wondering what your average is.

Jeff

if its early in the season I tell the B&G 8 to 10 weeks and try to deliver in 6
Later on when I start to get backlogged I tell them 10 to 12 and try to deliver in 8 to 9
Since I do more than just weddings it's important for me to allow enough of a time frame for the other work that really needs to be rushed out.
As long as i give the couple a time frame and stick to it they are generally fine with it.
I do know guys though that can bang it out in 2 weeks-of course it's not really what I'd call editing-they're basically laying off from tape to DVD with a bit of cleaning up - no color correction no real creative work of any kind but that's what they do and I guess there's a market cause they seem to be making a living at it.

Don

Hmm, I am guessing somewhere between 20-30 hours for me. 10 hours for production, 9 hours in post, and a hour or so designing /producing dvds - I have an epson r300....

With that in mind, I make an estimate based off how booked and when the video will be delivered.

Regardless of how long it takes me, I alway tell the B/G that I aim to deliver the dvd's in 3-6 months which gives me some padded time. On average, I would say 3 weeks from shoot to delivery.

"I do know guys though that can bang it out in 2 weeks-of course it's not really what I'd call editing"

hmmmm.....(feeling very insulted by Don! cheers mate!)

Takes me 2-3 weeks, AND i have a full-time job! (and I'm sure other people on this forum are the same, even with a backlog?)
I do everything from colour correction, multi-cam, audio enhancing, creative effects, after effects stuff, interactive menus, highlights clips, rendering over night etc etc..

I use Premiere Pro 2, maybe i'm just getting quicker at it?

My point is, it's down to the individual how long it takes them to edit, but it is CERTAINLY do-able in 2 weeks. You'll get quicker over time....practice, practice!

Out here in Los Angeles.....many of the "desired" wedding videographers who work at it full time, lets say they produce anywhere from 35 to 45 wedding vids per year are on about a 12 to 20 week delivery schedule, these would be 1 & 2 man operations. I fall into this catagory.

The actual editing of my clients videos generally take less than 4 days to fully edit with color correcting, audio sweetening, multi cam shoots always, etc. Every video is "custom" to suit clients taste and personalities....no template type editing which I have seen plenty of out here.

If I were producing less than 20 weddings vids per year.....the delivery times would be much faster. I state in the contract 12 to 20 weeks......and can be longer due to unforseen cicumstances. Never been an issue with clients...so all is good. I am busy year round....with very little breaks during the winter. The weather stays pretty nice out here year round so weddings keep going during the winter months.

I rarely only shoot a ceremony and reception...almost always shoot video bios of the clients prior to wedding day.....and pre wedding preparations of both bride and groom. Wedding day is usually no less than 10 hours from start to finish with two cam ops.....4 cams at ceremony and two at reception.

I'm a newbie, so I can't speak from much experience on this, but Joel Peregrine developed a pie graph showing how much time goes into each part of the process (pre, pro, post) It's based on his experience of course. He offers the graph on his blog (joelperegrine.com) in a variety of formats (.doc, .pdf, .psd) to show to prospective clients so they understand what they paying for -- not just the time they see us, but many hours when they don't.

Might be worth a look. Check out joelperegrine.com and click on the "What goes into creating an event video?" link. Some other good stuff on this blog too.

Regards,

Bill

Richard,
I did not mean to imply that it can't be done OR that a quick edit is not a good edit nor did I mean to insult anyone and if I did I'm sorry-what I was trying to say was that these particular people really don't edit anything in the time they work on the project-frankly they might be as well off doing a complete in camera edit on a DVD style camera and handing it the client at the end of the night.

I'm also not implying that it takes me 6 to 10 weeks to edit 1 wedding but it does thake that long t oget it into the schedule to edit-once I start it's about a 40 to 60 hour process but I also shoot 40 to 55 weddings a years and doing corporate and industrial work all year long so I have to have a very flexible editing schedule.

Once again Richard no insult intended.
Don

I'm with Richard on this one, this is mostly a workflow and individual experience kind of thing. At the beginning of the season I average about a week. I would hope what I am offering is what you would call 'editing'...

8-12 weeks stated up front. Usually done in 4.

Don,

I can "bang out" a wedding in 1-2 weeks but it's certainly not an "in camera edit" as you put it. Videography is my full-time job. I use Final Cut Pro and I'm good at it. I think you need to choose your words more carefully.

I believe some videographers equate longer delivery times with higher prices and shorter delivery times with lower prices. If you can fool your clients with that BS than more power to you.

Joe

All rigthy everyone-perhaps the choice of words wasn't the best but PLEASE ENOUGH!

I'm not impling that an edit done in a short time is not any good-I'm only responding to the question the poster asked-how long from the end of the job to the finsihed product is done and I mentioned I know some hacks that get it done very quickly-I should have also said I know some hacks that take forever-much longer than I do.
I too am full time in the business and as I stated before my editing schedule is flexible - most of the corporate /industrial stuff comes before the weddings and once I get started on the wedding it could be interupped-but in general it's about a week of editing to finish.

Appearantly I did not make myself clear about the fact that an edit done in a short amount of time doesn't make it bad nor does one that takes longer to get to make it good.
I do not equate longer delivery times with higher prices or quality it just what it is and in 35 of being self employed in my own business I do not employ the tactic of fooling clients with that BS as you put it. Like yourself I'm sure, my clients hire me based on quality and craftmanship not BS.
Don

Yes....lay off of Don, he has been at this for a very long time with much success.....much longer than just about anyone on this forum.

Try to stick to the topic.....the rebuts do not help the original poster's question.

some of our clients dont see their video for 5 months! on average... 3-4 months.

Mark, I will be cruisng around your island in less than a month on a Norwegian Cruie Liner......can't wait to see Hawaii!

edit.. what is it? what do u define it as?
Do u trudge through all your footage and neatly trim off the fat, or do you review every single second and draw out a cohernt story which takes us from a to b...

now how long should the edit be? shoud you include the full ceremony across multiple cameras? What about the speeches? do u run 2 cameras there as well? and with your final edit, did you just include the best bits of the best bits, or did you include guest interviews, slideshows, preshoots, etc etc what about the food? What about the hangers on at the bar? What about the relatives from afar?

there is no right or wrong way to edit, however one must consider all the variables with the different TYPES of edits we do..

Me, i do longform.. average 90minutes though to 2 to 3 hours depending on the speeches and the cultural requirments... point is, that the ENTIRE piece is FULLY edited...

So whats a long version to you? Is long version simply the raw footag? Or is it a "lightly edited" version? And how do u market this to your clients? Do u not tell them that its minimal, or do u tell them that its virtually untouched? Or do u edit the whole piece as a n entire feature?

hmm.. now then.. highlights.. do we want a quick 7 minute piece which mkes 95% of clients hankering and wishing that it just went that wee bit longer, or do we break down each segment down to 3 to 5 miutes. keeping the cohesion of the day in tact without jumping back and forth.. or do we give the clients what they pay for?
Do we focus on the art or the substance of the day? How much art can we fit if we want to include the substance?

Do we set a precedent for ourselves and for the industry, or do we tag along and do what everyone else does.. do we edit our work the same way we edited our previous jobs? or do we continue to experiment at each job which comes to pass?

editing an deliveries are all based on what you and your business requirements are, based upon the your target and actual market

As for editing for me in general, it usually takes 14days at 16hr shifts to deliver a full feature length edit from start to finish.

then 1 day for the short version (15-20min short version), half a day for highlights(less than 10minute edit), half a day for audio checking (both) half a day for image extraction, half a day for disc and case design, and one full day for disc prinitng and coverslip printing, cutting and packing.

NOW.. in my case, its not the edit which takes time, its GETTING TO the edit.. as an examle, if i have 5 weddings in one particular month, it would take at least 70days before i even look at the last job for that month.. 5jobs x 14days (70days)
Now double that if we add in the month prior... which means that it would take 40days before i can even get the FIRST job of the month following the previous.. so 40 plus 70 = 110 in essence, ti would take 110days to get the the last job for that second month...

i state 16 to 36 weeks..
And for the price i offer my work, people are more than happy to wait for quality