Hands down 80% of the work (and cost) of a video production is the post production editing process. For every one hour we shoot we can be editing in studio for ten to twenty- this means that a significant part of the budget is in post and we understand a lot of people want to save money by cutting out the editing and only asking for delivery of the raw footage. They want to save money by trying the editing themselves or they just want to archive the footage for later

We don't consider raw video footage a FINISHED product- We consider it a in work-in-progress in the same way that "Garden Fresh" vegetables with roots and dirt on them wouldn't be called a Salad or cooking ingredients in a grocery bag wouldnt be called a gormet meal (until a chef prepares them) .

While we here at DocumonkeyTV strive to give your the best quality video production possibe, and we honor requests for uncut camera feed or raw footage we cannot guarantee the same level of quality on the delivery of raw footage if we do not have the opportunity or the budget to finish or process it so please be aware of the following when you request to skip any post production services.

1. Raw footage hasnt been edited for content or run time yet. Modern shooting and editing techniques and multiple takes mean only about 10-20% of all the footage recorded is intended to make it into the final edit- for this reason the shots may be long and drawn out or there may appear to be 10x as much footage as required. The footage might also be filled with unusable shots , out of focus shots, unused interviews and shots that dont work in the context of the story. Most videographers will pre-roll or overshoot more than they need in order for the editor to have more to work with. (its better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Footage alone without edits will be slow paced and potentially boring.
   
   
2. Raw Footage isnt colour corrected, or processed - the colors may be washed out, muted or image might be too dark
   The colours may look flat due to the camera settings or white-balance mistakes the image may be too dark because of bad venue lighting or where the subject just happend to be standing. Colour differences in whitebalance for indoor and outdoor shooting as well as the colours that come off different cameras will not match and may have to be adjusted in post to make them bright and vibrant and pop.
   
   
3. The Audio isnt synced or corrected
   so it may be too loud of soft or have other issues.Generally raw footage will just give you the audio of the onboard camera mic and depending on the physical proximity to the speaker or the audience it may be too loud / soft. - Now we do have specialized mics and a way to get digital recordings from soundboards but this may mean that the master audio will be recorded sepparately and need to be resynced with the video or the specialized mics will have to be used during the recording process.
   
   
4. Raw footage can contain test or calibration shots that have not been removed - a lot of time you will get 10-30 second shots of the videographers feet or dummy shots of windows, carpets, lights, or random objects going in and out of focus, changing colour etc as the videographer calibrates his gear and takes a few test shots. Other times the videographer will move into position to get a shot and realize the composition doesnt look good or is not acheiveable. It could be that the camera moved into position to record just at the moment the subject moved or something entered and blocked the shot.. The consequecne of dynamic shooting and trying to get the most interesting shots is that most of them dont work out.
   
   
5. Raw footage contain shakes errors, blurs, bumps that haven't been removed We are all human, we all make mistakes, we laugh, we cough, we sneeze, we hiccup, we get fatigued or we get distracted when people ask us where the washroom is or the people dancing to the music at the concert back into us , or the delegate at the conference throws his backpack on the camera riser knocking the tripod, or even unplugs the camera from the wall so he can plug in his cell phone charger. and that means that occasionally the camera will shake slightly or the focus may drift. it is usually understood these things will be corrected on post or there is usually another camera recording in sync to provide the backup coverage
   
   
6. Raw footage isnt shot in order and we often shoot cut-away shots
   and when the opportunity arrises so we have extra "B-roll" to work with. So the raw footage might cut away from the bride to a shot of the cake, to the best man toast, to the outside shot of the building (before the sun goes down) to an audience shot to shots of the wine being poured, to personalized greeting from someone who had to leave early. Generally shooting random stuff as the opportunities for good shots arise or before the windows of opportunities close. So you will get a grab-bag of seemingly random shots with no logical order to them.
   
   
7. Raw footage of the same event will come in multiple video formats- depending on the camera that was available to recorded them. An HDV Tape, a SD card full of MOV files, a DVD, a flash drive of MP4s or a Hard drive with a P2 folder there are a ton of different possible video formats and you have to make sure your editng software can use them or your video player can read them. Downloading CODECs and playback software is easily done but it may be inconvenient for you
   
   Raw Digital Video files will be fragmented into multiple files and not convenient for uploading or sharing without editing- due to the file size of digital video and how modern digtal storage on cameras work often full length video of lengthy talks or performances will be spaned into multiple video files segmetns instead of one large file -- This means that if you wish to upload one file to Youtube or Vimeo you need to do some post production to put it together.
   
   
8. Raw Footage of the Same event may be recorded by multiple cameras at multiple angles and will need to be edited together - we will record an event or performance with multiple cameras so the footage of the full show may be divided in 3 different folders for each camera angle. This will need a multi-track video editing to put it together.
   
   

Ultimately our goal is that you be happy with the results.
We dont want to give you something that will dissapoint you and we want to make sure that you are aware of what cutting back the post-production | editing budget means. Are you going to be happy with the video you paid for ? Do you have the skills and resources to finish it on your own? If no - please consider letting us do the edit for you.


~ Ryan McCann www.documonkey.tv 2018