How Much Does Video Cost?

At Celi Creative, we get this question a lot. So often in fact, that it warranted writing an article on the topic. There are numerous variables that factor into how much a video costs. Unfortunately, there really isn’t a cookie cutter answer to this question. One-size fits all pricing just doesn’t work.

Analogies:

When asked, how much does a video cost? A great analogy that I provide clients is… “We can build you a house, or we can build you a mansion. It all depends on how elaborate you want to get with it.” Are you looking for the basics to get your message across, or would you prefer all of the fine details such as crown molding, marble tile, swimming pool, etc.? It’s all of the fine details that will increase production time and cost.

Similar to the house analogy above, “It’s not the size of the grocery bag that determines the cost, it’s what you put inside of it.” You can walk out of a grocery store with a giant shopping bag full of ramen noodles, potatoes, beans, and rice. Subsequently, you can also do so with a tiny bag of filet mignon, 2 lobster tails, and caviar. Which do you think is going to cost more?

I Need 3 Minutes. How much will that be?

Clients will generally come to us with a length on how long they want their video to be, and then request a quote based on the length alone. This is when I have to put my Video Production Professor hat on, and walk them through the process.

I will say, however, that anyone that provides you with a quote solely on the length alone, is probably not someone you are going to want working on your video to begin with. The end result will most likely be a mediocre, generic, template based, cookie cutter video, at best. You’ll just be throwing your money away. You may as well just go to Phantom Fireworks and blow your money there. If you’re going to watch your money go up in smoke, you might as well get a little enjoyment out of it.

A video needs to be engaging. It needs to captivate your audience’s attention long enough for them to watch to the very end. Template based videos just don’t work. All of the work that we do is custom. Thus, the various details that are needed in order to provide you with an accurate quote.

Video Production Factors:

The length of a video is important to know when estimating cost. However, other important factors include, but are not limited to:

What type of video is this? Live action requiring a film production crew to be sent out, an animated explainer video, or a hybrid of both.
What is the intended usage? Is this for broadcast television or web?
Are we shooting at one location or multiple locations? This would determine how many production days are needed to factor into the cost.
Do you have a script, or do you require one of our awesome copywriters to write one for you?
How about voiceover? Do you need a voice to narrate your video, or will music with text on screen suffice?
Is a drone pilot required to shoot aerial footage?
What is the deadline for the video to be completed by?

Camera Equipment & Crew:

We can either send out a lean 2 man team or an entire production crew including a Director of Photography, Production Assistant, Audio Engineer, Grip, Hair & Makeup, etc., depending on your budget and needs. In addition, the type of camera equipment we use will also factor into the cost. A DSLR will be more cost efficient than a Red camera. If you are unfamiliar, Red is a very high end camera used in the movie industry to shoot all of the Hollywood blockbusters. It also handles lighting very well. For example, here are some movies shot on Red.

Animation Factors:

If you prefer your video to be animated, then that would open up a whole new area of conversation that is required prior to providing an accurate quote. First and foremost, the main question is going to pertain to style. Do you prefer 2D or 3D?

There are 3 main factors that can affect the cost of an animated video. They are as follows:

LENGTH

LEVEL OF DETAIL

AMOUNT OF MOVEMENT

Three minutes of animation will cost a lot more than 30 seconds. Are you looking for a simple South Park style with solid colors and basic shapes, or more of an elaborate Disney style with gradients, shadows, reflections, and all around intricate level of detail within the artwork? How objects or characters move in an animation will affect the production time and cost as well. Will they bounce around like South Park or possess realistic movements like Disney?

Animation Process:

Animation runs at a frame rate of 30fps (frames per second). Meaning, that it takes 30 frames or images to produce the movement in 1 second of animation. Imagine the old style flip books where you quickly flip the pages and see an object move. The same principle applies here. The more movement there is, the more illustrations or frames are required, and the higher the production time and cost.

There are ways to cut cost by reducing frame rate. In the animation world, there is a process called “tweening”. This refers to the amount of in-between frames there are between the main keyframes in an animation. In an effort to explain this in layman’s terms, let’s imagine a ball bouncing. The keyframes on one bounce would be the starting position, the ground, and the ending position in the air. Furthermore, illustrations in a slightly different position in between those 3 main keyframes refers to the tween frames. The more there are, the smoother and more fluid the animation will be.

A reduction in frame rate will reduce the amount of tween frames and overall cost. Production time would be reduced, however, the end result will also produce a more choppy animation. Another way to reduce cost is to compensate with more camera movement, rather than character or object movement. Movement can be conveyed by panning or zooming into an image. This would be referred to as camera movement in animation, since a real camera is not being used. Minimizing moving parts of objects and characters in combination with a moving “camera”, can still produce an impactful video without the added production cost of full scale animation.

Video Production Process:

Whether the end result is a live action or animated video, there are 3 main stages to every video production project. They are as follows:

PRE-PRODUCTION

This is the planning stage where meetings, scheduling, concept development, storyboarding, animatics, scriptwriting and voiceover occur. Pre-Production is the blueprint for success in any video production project and lays the foundation for every phase of the project.

PRODUCTION

This is the actual shoot if it is a live action video, or the animation process if it is an animated video. Most shoots are completed within a day or two. Animation can take weeks or months depending on the scope of the project. Various meetings are scheduled along the way for client review.

POST PRODUCTION

This is where all the magic happens. This is the editing phase where everything comes together. Video is cut and edited with voiceover. Music, sound effects, motion graphics, and visual effects are also composited within video editing software and rendered out to a final video.

The Power of 3’s

Notice a trend here? Three minutes, three factors of animation, and three stages of video production. Now I present to you the Iron Triangle. Which is most important to you? If you choose:

QUALITY: Then it is going to cost more and take more time to complete.
MONEY: Then it will be more cost efficient, but the quality will lack since we have less production time to complete it.
TIME: Then we can get it done in a rush, however, the cost will be higher as we now have to delay other client projects that we are working on, and the quality will lack since we have less production time to complete it.

Conclusion:

So, what does video cost? In conclusion, it all boils down to one main factor, which is the amount of production time required to achieve the results that you want based on your budget. We can go all out, with all the bells and whistles, or find ways to scale back to accommodate your budget while still producing a great looking video that will not only impress you, but your clients as well. Therefore, it’s either house or mansion, raman noodles or caviar, or somewhere in between. Unfortunately, there is no cookie cutter, one-size fits all pricing.

The best thing I always recommend to clients is to provide us with as much specific details as possible regarding your video production needs, and then schedule a Zoom video conference call with us to further discuss. We will then review all of the details with our team and get back to you with an accurate quote.

Ready to move forward with a video to increase profits for your business? Then check out our demo below and drop us a line by filling out our Contact Form. Be sure to tell us a little about your project, and remember, size is not the only thing that matters. We need a little more details than just length.