With the demand for Video marketing at an all-time high, it’s important to understand the steps and timeline involved in the video production process. A steady video production timeline is crucial in order to maintain the video’s reliability as a useful marketing tool. It’s always important that this video asset is ready to go, exactly when it’s needed for a marketing strategy. 

As a Video Production company -‘’So, how long does it take to produce a video?’’ is a question that we often get asked before we commence a video production project. The answer often is: ‘’it depends”. The reason the timeline can sometimes be vague is because it will rely on some of the following: How responsive is the client? What is the length and complexity of the project? Is there an approval process that requires input from multiple stakeholders? And many other factors that may be outside of our control. 

This doesn’t mean we can’t work with specific timelines and deadlines, it just means that while we can estimate a rough timeline and turnaround time for each Video project we acknowledge that no project is the same, and timelines can vary. In this blog our aim is to give you an understanding of the average delivery time for typical animated and filmed projects so you can best prepare for your next Video production project. 

An Animated Project Timeline

Pre Production/ Scoping 

The minimum time for scoping is at least one conversation often over the phone to figure out what the deliverables for the project are. This will be followed by a quote by our team, which in most cases can be done in 1 or 2 days. Some projects can be more complex and need multiple conversations with clients to get an in-depth understanding of where our animators spend their time. We recently created a blog to help simplify this process – “How to Create a Video Brief” as well as as a handy video brief template to streamline details of your next animated video project. 

Duration of this stage: 1-3 days

Pre-Production/ Storyboarding

From the initial briefing it all starts with the Animation Storyboarding session, where we brainstorm with clients to determine the storyboard and script, this session takes about 1 – 2 hours. After this session our team drafts up official storyboards, which our clients review and we revise until final approval. It’s important that in this stage the voice over gets finalised as after this stage we have a professional voice over artist record a voice over.

Average Duration of this stage: 5 – 10 days

A Draft Storyboard Example for one of our clients – Murdoch University:

Production

This stage includes designing of assets, recording the voice over, animating the graphics, internal project reviews, sound effects followed by delivery of the first draft to our clients. 

Average duration of this stage for an average project length (60-90 seconds): 10 working days 

Revisions/Final Delivery

Once the first draft is delivered, we go through up to two rounds of revisions with our clients. These revisions include any visual, music and sound effect changes. 

Average duration of this stage: 5 – 10 working days 

A Filmed Project Timeline

Now that we’ve established a timeframe for an animation project, let’s look at the timeline for a filmed project. They are similar in ways, but there are a few key differences. 

Scoping 

Similar to Animation, the minimum time for scoping is at least one conversation often over the phone to figure out what the deliverables for the project are. This will be followed by quoting by our team, which in most cases can be done in 1 or 2 days. Some film projects can be more complex and need multiple conversations with clients to get an in-depth understanding of many project variables. I.e How many days of filming are required? Do we need to hire a location to film in? etc.  Again, we recently created a blog to help simplify this process – “How to Create a Video Brief” as well as a handy video brief template to streamline details of your next filmed video project. 

Pre-Production

From the initial briefing, it all starts with the planning session, where we brainstorm with clients to determine the basic structure and script. This session takes about 1 – 2 hours. 

Unlike animation, a film plan is often not as specific. There are a lot of variables that can only be determined during the filming process. I.e un-scripted piece to cameras, b roll footage that is captured on the day etc. However, this can vary based on type of project, especially when it comes to things like a Television Commercial, or a shoot with paid actors for example. There can be a lot of liaising and planning that needs to take place in some instances which might take longer. 

The duration of this stage for an average film project length (60-120 seconds): 5 – 10 working days 

Production

This stage includes any filming of the project itself, recording a voiceover, editing the project, internal project reviews, and sound effects followed by the delivery of the first draft to our clients.  

Average duration of this stage for an average video length (60-120 seconds): 10 working days 

Revisions/Final Delivery

Once the first draft is delivered, we go through two rounds of revisions with our clients. These revisions are any visual, music and sound effect changes.