I think I know the answer to this but....

I saw an notice on craigslist that asked for a wedding videographer, and that the videographer deliver an edited version of the wedding and raw footage.

From other comments on the board, giving away your raw footage just isn't done, yes?

And the reason being raw footage is going to contain stuff that you'd discard in editing, so you don't want someone looking at it and saying 'What awful footage!'

I do give the couple the raw footage, but I do a little editing first to remove anything that should never see the light of day, and I do a fade-up/fade-down at every point where the camera was stopped. So, technically, it isn't truly "raw footage."

My company also offers an entry-level package where the couple simply gets what I just described with no fancy edit. They have the option to upgrade at any time.

If you read the "how to select a videographer" articles on the trendy wedding sites, you'll see a lot of them say to ask for the raw footage. I haven't seen one say why, but they do.

For the life of me, I don't know why anyone would want to watch five hours of the camera shaking while I'm moving the tripod, shooting the same scene 10 times over, and pointing at the floor when I forget to take it out of record mode...

I do provide raw footage for an extra $50.00 .

we have had plenty clients ask for this (raw footage)....and they tend to not know why they even want it. i think those wedding articles that tell brides to ask for it may be the case. once we explain what they will be looking at....most become uninterested, not to mention we charge about 150.00 for it to burned to dvd.

i think some may ask for it just so they have it for whatever reasons.....maybe in the event they damage their dvd's, they have possesion of the original tapes instead of some wedding videographer which is actually not such a bad idea since most wedding videographers come and go by the masses.


If you read the "how to select a videographer" articles on the trendy wedding sites, you'll see a lot of them say to ask for the raw footage. I haven't seen one say why, but they do.

For the life of me, I don't know why anyone would want to watch five hours of the camera shaking while I'm moving the tripod, shooting the same scene 10 times over, and pointing at the floor when I forget to take it out of record mode...

I started offering this at a nominal price add-on but soon dropped that idea. I really don't want someone looking at my raw footage for all the aforementioned reasons plus wonder why I'm shooting clevages, (it's to focus the lens, do the guys too but they probally wouldn't notice that). I found it much better to offer in my higher price package an Archival Copy DVD. It's the same as the other DVD's but is simply an extra copy and labeled "Archive DVD" "Do Not Play" I include my contact info on it an my clients love that extra feature.

The only time I ever received a request for raw footage came from a wannabe videographer who had, a few months earlier, received a demo disc from me, pretending to be a "I don't know anything" groom. His speech pattern had a very peculiar cadence which was easy for me to recognize. On his second pfishing call he wanted raw footage, as he had "some experience" with NLE editing systems. Having seen his work at a nearby film fesitival, I can indeed confirm he had "some" experience.

Raw footage may be the core of the project that I produce, but it is not what I have contracted to produce. I am of the mind that raw footage must be sold with complete ownership, or not at all, so the cost is very high.

So far, that condition has eliminated every inquiry.