Turnaround Estimator
realistic dates, not optimistic ones

A 90-second motion-graphics explainer takes longer than a 12-minute talking-head trim. Cut density, caption styling, graphics and colour work drive editing time far more than runtime, which is why the estimator asks for complexity rather than just minutes.

Selection time also matters: an hour of raw for a 45-second short costs more than a tightly briefed eight-minute take, and it lengthens delivery as much as it raises price.

Delivery is not the finish line. Add 24 hours per revision round and allow time for your own internal review — which, in practice, is the step that most often slips. A video due Friday needs a Wednesday first cut, not a Thursday one.

First projects with a new vendor also carry three to five days of brand setup: caption presets, colour, templates. Build that into the first month rather than treating it as a delay.

Editing time is rarely the constraint. In our own production data the median short-form edit occupies two to four working hours, but the median calendar time from brief to delivery is closer to forty-eight. The gap is made of waiting: for footage, for a brand asset, for an approval, for a decision about which of three angles to use.

Complexity affects the estimate more than length. A ninety-second talking-head cut with clean audio is faster than a thirty-second edit with motion graphics, licensed music clearance and three text overlays that need brand approval. The estimator weights graphics load and approval chain accordingly.

Batch position matters too. The fifth asset in a batch is faster than the first because the grade, caption style, lower thirds and export preset already exist. This is why per-asset turnaround improves through a month even when nothing else changes.

Send complete source in one drop. Footage arriving in instalments is the single most common cause of a missed estimate, and it is entirely within the client's control.

Consolidate feedback. Two rounds of collected, timestamped notes are faster than five rounds of individual messages, and they produce a better result because contradictory notes get resolved before they reach the timeline.

Pre-approve the format, not each asset. Once a template is signed off, individual assets can ship on a single reviewer's approval instead of a committee's.

Name your non-negotiables early. Legal disclaimers, claim restrictions and brand rules discovered in revision round two cost more than the same rules stated in the brief.

Rush delivery is genuinely useful for reactive content — a news moment, a competitor's announcement, a launch date that moved. In those cases speed is the value and a slightly rougher edit is the correct trade.

Rush is rarely worth it for evergreen content, because the asset will be published for months and the compression in quality outlasts the deadline that caused it. For retainer clients we schedule rush slots rather than charging for them, which keeps the rest of the batch from slipping.