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nonhuman · Jul 25, 2005, 10:43 PM

I'm assuming there's a few people who read this who do professional video editing, either freelance or otherwise. I'm curious to find out what people charge for video projects and what exactly they charge for. Is it just a straight hourly charge, variable depending on the complexity of the project, what?

The reason I ask is because I've been approached by someone who wants me to do a video project for them. It's fairly simple, no actual shooting involved, just editing together a 5 or so minute slide-show like video to music that might include digitizing and incorporate some already shot footage. They want to know how much I'd charge for it, and I honestly have no idea what to say.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

grovberg · Jul 27, 2005, 03:01 PM

I know that most of the professionals in my area charge aroun $35/hour, but they are seasoned pros, so I certainly don't recommend you charge that. The only advice I would give you is to make sure that you do charge by the hour. Flat rate jobs usually end up screwing you over.

nonhuman · Jul 27, 2005, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by grovberg

I know that most of the professionals in my area charge aroun $35/hour, but they are seasoned pros, so I certainly don't recommend you charge that. The only advice I would give you is to make sure that you do charge by the hour. Flat rate jobs usually end up screwing you over.

Sounds like good advice. Thanks.

And I'm not exactly inexperienced. The reason this person came to me was because we used to work together and they've actually worked with me on video projects I've done for my company in the past. So they already think I know what I'm doing and like the way I do it, which can only help me price wise.

travisimo · Jul 28, 2005, 09:13 AM

Can i just say, most editors in my area charge by day... While it does work out to be the same hourly, 350/ day usually a 9 to 7 day's worth of work, something to consider when quoting clients.

nonhuman · Jul 28, 2005, 01:17 PM

Originally Posted by travisimo

Can i just say, most editors in my area charge by day... While it does work out to be the same hourly, 350/ day usually a 9 to 7 day's worth of work, something to consider when quoting clients.

Now there's an idea. I kinda like that. Probably wouldn't work so well for me though since I work a full-time job and will be doing this on my off time.

konakazi · Jul 28, 2005, 05:19 PM

$35 an hour seems like nothing. Personally I don't do much of anything that's less than $50 an hour be it web design or video editing.

travisimo · Jul 28, 2005, 06:15 PM

editing isn't nearly as creative. in most cases you have a director sitting over your shoulder telling you which buttons to push. thus not as much money is paid out.

loki74 · Jul 28, 2005, 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by grovberg

Flat rate jobs usually end up screwing you over.

SO true... did that once, never will again, unless I have a damn good reason. (Granted, I was not editing, I did the graphics part-color correction, 3D animation, etc.)

MovieCutter · Jul 31, 2005, 09:42 PM

Originally Posted by travisimo

editing isn't nearly as creative. in most cases you have a director sitting over your shoulder telling you which buttons to push. thus not as much money is paid out.

It's more creative than you think. As an editor myself, if my producer says "I need you to edit a TV spot for the show" and nothing else...I have full reign over script, shots I use, effects, motion graphics, etc. If he says "can you do [add random animation here] and add it to [add random effect here] while making it do [add random animation here]" Then if it's something my program (In this case Final Cut, After Effects, and Shake) can't do by itself, I have to think of a way to make it do what my producer wants, then tweak it until he is happy. Editors in the film world have a lot of creative power. They control the pacing, effects, and sometimes the flow of the story, even adding ideas that the director hadn't thought of during shooting.

That being said, I charge about $40-50/hour or $300-400 day depending on the situation, usually if I'm hauling my G5 or Powerbook to the site and using my own gear. I also shoot so I charge for gear (XL-2, sticks, steadicam, etc.) as well. Keep in mind I've been using the program since the day it was released and am also an Apple Certified Pro for FCP (which doesn't mean a lot, but it's a cool thing I can say).

dlefebvre · Jul 31, 2005, 11:44 PM

It's all relative to the client. 35$ is a good average (here in Montreal).
If you work on a corporate video, it's hard to get more than that. Unless you do more than editing. i.e.: compositing, graphics, etc. than you can charge more. it also depends if you're hired by the client or by a post-house.
For music videos, since they're usually produced by some independent production houses (at lest here in Montreal) rates are usually based on your reputation or the complexity of the project.
For TV commercial work, you can charge a lot more, but it's a very closed market and tough to get in.
For a movie or other long projects you usually charge on a week basis.

It all depends on the City you're in and how's the market. Final Cut Pro is amazing, but it had a negative effect on rates. They're lower than ever, since a kid in his basement with a G5 can do editing. Will he do a better job than an experiened editor? Maybe it will take more time to do, but his rate is so cheap, it's not hard to justify for a greedy producer.

It was easier to make a decent living when the only tools available were pricey Avid and Discreet logic systems.

travisimo · Aug 1, 2005, 12:36 AM

i suppose i knew that was somewhat untrue when i said it. A smaller amount of editors are button pushers these days. I do know, being an editor myself, as well as a motion graphics artist that editing is a very important process in the film and television industry. I did however quote about the same amount per day for pay as you did MovieCutter, 350ish. A good days work to me

nonhuman · Aug 1, 2005, 12:48 AM

On this particular project most of the creative control will be in my hand, though it's a pretty simple project so there won't be that much. I've decided to quote $30/hour which is a little low around here because 1) it's for a friend, 2) this project will get me good exposure and hopefully bring in more work, and 3) it should bring in about $300-$400 in total which seems like a good price for the project. If, as I hope, this brings in more work I'll up my rates for those.

Thanks for all the input, guys, I really appreciate it.