Video Post Production Services: What’s Included and What It Costs
Video post production services are the professional processes applied to raw footage after filming: editing and assembly, colour grading, sound design, motion graphics, visual effects, and platform-specific formatting. Post production turns filmed material into a finished deliverable. A full-service partner handles all 6 stages; many providers specialise in 1 or 2.
Post production is where most corporate video projects succeed or fail against their brief. Filming gets the raw material. Post production decides whether that material communicates clearly, holds attention, and meets the technical standard the channel requires.
Video post production services are the professional processes applied to raw footage after filming: editing and assembly, colour grading, sound design, motion graphics, visual effects, and platform-specific formatting. Post production turns filmed material into a finished deliverable. A full-service partner handles all 6 stages; many providers specialise in 1 or 2.
What video post production services are, and what they are not
“Post production” and “video editing” get used interchangeably, and that single confusion is why briefs arrive scoped for one stage and quoted for six. Here is the distinction, written so it can be quoted without the rest of this page.
Post production is everything that happens to footage after the camera stops recording. It starts with editing and assembly, selecting the right takes and structuring the narrative, and ends with export files formatted for the target platform or broadcast standard.
Video editing is one component of post production: choosing takes, ordering them, and setting the pace. It is the stage most people picture when they say "editing", and on a single-discipline freelance booking it is often the only stage covered.
- ASSEMBLY
- SEQUENCING
- PACING
Post production is the whole chain: editing, colour, audio, graphics, effects and delivery. Each stage is a distinct production task that can be scoped and quoted separately, which is exactly why the two terms are not interchangeable line items on a quote.
- EDIT
- COLOUR
- AUDIO
- GRAPHICS
- VFX
- EXPORT
Wyzowl reports that 82% of video marketers say video has helped them increase web traffic (2026, verified 4 September 2026). Production is not post production either. Production is the filming stage: cameras, crew, locations, interviews. Post production is everything after it. Many businesses film in-house and outsource post production, because the two stages need different skills and different tools, and post production is usually where specialist expertise makes the most visible difference. Wyzowl’s State of Video Marketing 2026 reports that 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool and 82% report good return on it (both verified 7 August 2026), so for most organisations the question is not whether to produce video but which half of the chain to own.
What video post production services include, across six stages
Every stage below is a separate production task with its own craft, its own reviewer and its own cost. The span is the part of the schedule the stage actually occupies, which is why colour and audio overlap and why assembly runs under most of the week. Colour correction and stabilising are in scope. A creative grade, screen replacement and kinetic-text builds are quoted per project, because their effort does not package at a per-video price.
| TRACK | STAGE | WHAT IT COVERS | DAYS |
|---|---|---|---|
| V1 · PICTURE | Editing and assembly | Take selection through to a locked edit. On interview-led content this includes which answers run and in what order | D0–D4 |
| V3 · COLOUR | Colour grade | Correction in scope, a creative grade quoted. Correction fixes exposure and white balance across setups; a grade applies a deliberate look | D3–D5 |
| A1 · AUDIO | Sound design and mix | Music, ambience, effects and levelling. Delivered to loudness spec, typically −14 LUFS for streaming and −23 LUFS for broadcast | D3–D6 |
| V4 · GRAPHICS | Motion graphics | Lower thirds, intro and outro sequences, kinetic text. Templated per client, built once and applied across the content set | D2–D5 |
| V4 · GRAPHICS | Clean-up | Object removal, stabilising, screen replacement, overlaid data. Full compositing and CGI are specialist work, quoted separately | D5–D6 |
| V1 · PICTURE | Export | One file per channel, to that channel’s spec, rather than one master repurposed everywhere | D6–D7 |
Why the export stage is not an afterthought. Each delivery channel has its own requirements for resolution, frame rate, codec, colour space and audio format. YouTube, LinkedIn, broadcast, digital signage and an internal learning platform do not share a spec. A high-resolution ProRes master sent to YouTube gets transcoded anyway, so the right export at the right spec is more useful than the largest available file.
Turnaround. Post production runs on the Long-form service level: 4 working days to first cut, 7 working days to final delivery, measured from brief ready. Projects with heavy motion graphics or VFX are scoped individually at briefing rather than forced into that number. Two revision rounds are included; a third is a new billable task, quoted before it starts.
Cost. Post production is scoped per project rather than per hour, because complexity varies more than runtime does. Rates and plan structure are on the pricing page. For a project-specific figure, ask for a quote.
Cut for the channel it ships on
Filter by content type. Every figure attached to a clip below traces to a capacity sheet, a status report or a signed statement of work — the rule is that a number reaches a page only if it can be traced to a system.
In-house, freelance, agency, or Rizen
Rizen Media’s row is verbatim from signed agreements. The other three are categories rather than named competitors, and they carry no invented prices or turnaround claims: no sourced survey of provider turnaround exists, so this table does not pretend one does.
| PROVIDER | FIRST CUT | REVISION ROUNDS | COVER IF THE EDITOR IS AWAY | COMMITMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-house editor | Depends on the internal queue | Uncapped in principle, capped by one person's hours | None — cover is a hiring decision | Salaried, fixed monthly cost |
| Freelance marketplace | No published SLA — commonly 24 hours to 7 days | Negotiated per freelancer, often open-ended | None — a single individual | Per project |
| Subscription editing agency | Typically 24–72 hours, varies by provider | Varies — confirm the scope of a round before signing | Depends on the internal QA process | Monthly, terms vary |
| Rizen Media | 4 working days 7 to final delivery |
Two per deliverable, a third is a new billable task | Named primary editor plus a named backup | Monthly, term stated in the agreement before work starts |
On the in-house question specifically. The trade is fixed cost against variable cost, and a single in-house editor against a set of specialists. One person covers edit, colour, audio and graphics competently. A colourist, a motion designer and a sound mixer each cover one of them well. Below roughly four long-form videos a month the fixed cost of an internal team rarely pays for itself, and above it the calculation turns on whether the output needs specialist finishing or consistent competence.
Answers
P.01 What is the difference between production and post production?
Production is the filming stage: cameras, crew, locations, interviews. Post production is everything after: editing, colour, audio, graphics, delivery. Many businesses film in-house and outsource post production, because the two stages require different skills and tools, and post production is usually where specialist expertise makes the most visible difference to the finished video.
Last reviewed 2026-08-07
P.02 How long does corporate video post production take?
Rizen Media's published service level for post production borrows the long-form turnaround, 4 working days to first cut and 7 working days to final delivery, because post production does not have its own row in the delivery table. Projects with heavy motion graphics or VFX are scoped individually at briefing rather than forced into that number.
Last reviewed 2026-08-07
P.03 Is colour grading included in post production services?
Basic colour correction, fixing technical inconsistencies across shots, is usually included in scope. Full creative colour grading, applying a deliberate look to match brand guidelines, is sometimes quoted separately, particularly for brand films where the grade is itself a meaningful creative decision. Confirm scope at briefing.
Last reviewed 2026-08-07
P.04 What file format should I request for final delivery?
H.264 or H.265 in an MP4 container covers web, internal platforms and most presentation software. Broadcast delivery typically needs ProRes or MXF. Check what your distribution channel accepts before specifying the format: a high-resolution ProRes master sent to YouTube gets transcoded anyway, so an H.264 export at the right spec is often more practical.
Last reviewed 2026-08-07
P.05 Who owns the files once the work is delivered?
The client does. Intellectual property transfers to the client on payment, and source files, project files and exports stay in the client's own folder, during the engagement and after it ends. Rizen Media signs a non-disclosure agreement on request, and files are named so an episode from eighteen months ago is still findable.
Last reviewed 2026-08-07
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