This is a question I am often asked and as I have never timed myself, I don't know how long it takes to produce a film. I class my films as being as long as the music track that accompagnies them so could be 3 or 4 minutes long. With my present project I am recording the amount of time spentand so far I have spent about 10 hours on putting a film together against a 3 minute track. I'm probably 3/4 of the way through.
How long have others spent putting a film together versus the length of the film
John Dory
Do you include exporting (and deinterlacing if you shoot 1080i) in those 10 hours? Using FCE on an old MBP, it takes ~ 1 min of AVCHD footage rendering per second of sequence. That's during the editing process. Since I try different things for each clip usually, I would say that a fair estimate is that I spend about 2-3 times more, i.e. 2-3 min/s of final sequence. Then exporting the whole thing and deinterlacing take probably as much time each so that brings the total "work" duration to maybe 4-5 min/s. A clip of 5 minutes would thus take me from 20 to 25 hours! Of course, as an amateur, I spend only a few hours at a time on my clips, so a 5 min sequence takes me usually a couple of weeks to produce... I definitely need to upgrade my hardware and software!
Damn, with a question like that... I was expecting a very different post!
It depends on how much post is done. Color correction, motion graphics, effects etc.
How long is a piece of string
Seriously though it depends on how much content you have to go through and how much effects, CC and grade you want to do.
It takes forever, but in the end, it is all worth it. During post, when it is about all done, I leave it for a couple of weeks without sneaking a peek. Then I will open the sequence back up and make final changes with a fresh eye and ear. My problem is when I go back to look at it a year later and I see so many things I would have changed. I gag every time I look at Nocturnal Nebulous which won the 2005 Beneath the Sea Film Festival that year. I think it was the last of the SD films and first of the Lembeh macro films but, my god, I wish I could change the now embarrassingly corny narration.
Steve
Damn, with a question like that... I was expecting a very different post!
Well that's blown my cover - being a girlie diver I posted that question in all innocence!
I like Steve's idea of leaving the 'finished' project a few weeks before going back and making final changes - I think I will adopt that approach. I am always thinking I could have tweaked this and that a little more. Like uwxplorer I try different things - moving clips around, swapping start times etc and this is what eats time - getting it acceptable in not only my eyes, but putting myself in someone elses view. I have my favourite critters and must balance the story with what a viewer can put up with!
It does take forever, but if one didn't enjoy the post filming aspect of it, I don't think anyone of us would be doing it. So yes it is worth spending the time and getting it perfect.
John Dory
My problem is when I go back to look at it a year later and I see so many things I would have changed.
Nature of the beast Steve, you hear that all the time in the creative field.
