What Goes Into a Video Production Budget

Understanding the different cost components of a video production budget is crucial for effective budgeting.

Stephanie

If you’ve been trying to figure out how much your video production idea will cost, you may have become lost in a maelstrom of numbers. That’s okay, AM Visuals, a Sydney-based video production company, offers custom quotes based on your video production needs. But, before you start a conversation with a Sydney video production company like us, let’s take a look at what goes into a video production budget.

What Makes Up a Video Production Budget?

There are many different aspects to consider when building your video production budget. Here are the elements that make up the bare bones of a video production budget.

Pre-Production

Developing the Concept: Concept development is a key part of pre-production and can include location scouting, scriptwriting, storyboarding and general planning. If you’re employing a video production service in Sydney, they’ll provide a quote for their pre-production work as part of their overall quote.
Equipment Rental: If you hire a video company in Sydney, chances are they’ll bring their camera gear. But, if you need to rent equipment like cameras or lighting, these expenses add up quickly.
Permits and Location Fees: Beware that you may not necessarily just be able to film everywhere and anywhere. Check the laws and bylaws surrounding filming for commercial uses and be sure to pay any fees. Bear these fees in mind when building your pre-production budget.

Production

Crew Costs: Depending on what is in your contract with the video production company of your choice, you may be required to cover certain crew costs. Costs for a crew for most video productions can include actors, sound technicians, lighting technicians and videographer fees.
Travel and Accommodation Fees: If you’re shooting your video anywhere other than in your local area on a single day, you may be expected to pay for travel and accommodations for the video production company of your choice. These costs can be high, so ensure they’re within your budget, or re-think the ‘exotic location’ aspect of your video production.
Location Rental: Location rental fees vary, depending on the venue, how long you plan to use the location and additional amenities required. Make sure you discuss any specifics with the video production company and factor these costs into your budget.

Post Production

There’s also a cost associated with post-production that isn’t always accounted for. These post-production costs can include:

Editing: After a video production is complete, professional video editors will spend hours or days editing the footage. This is a large chunk of your overall video production budget, but is often necessary to ensure the best-looking footage!
Motion Graphics and Animation: If your video production requires motion graphics or other animations, it may require the attention of a professional animator. This can greatly increase the production value of your video, but does come at a cost.
Music Licensing and Sound Design: If you’re not scoring your own music, or aren’t shooting a music video, chances are you’ll need to license your music from somewhere. Depending on the length and type of music, this can increase your production costs significantly. Similarly, if any funky sound design needs to take place, your production costs may increase.

Factors Affecting a Video Production Budget

Several factors can affect your video production budget, ensure that you plan for these possibilities and subsequent additional costs.

Video Length

The first question that a video production service will ask is: “How long do you want your video to be?” This will tell them how many crew members they need to employ (and for how long), how much equipment they need to bring (and for how long it’ll be out of commission for other projects) and how much editing they need to do in post-processing.

A quick tip: most marketing companies and departments don’t produce videos that are longer than a minute or two. Try and stick with a sub-three-minute video to hold the viewer’s attention.

Video Complexity

If your video is just a few takes with a couple of different angles, then your costs will be relatively low. However, if you’re incorporating elements like aerial videography, tracking shots, or multiple angles. Or, if your needs are complex in post-processing, you will incur additional expenses.

Location

Are you planning to shoot your video in Sydney on public land? Or are you planning to fly the crew to an exotic location, or shoot your video production outside of Australia? If so, you’ll need to factor in the cost of a ‘destination’ shoot that professional videographers will offer as part of their pricing. If you can, it may be best to rent an office space for the duration of the production, or find a free place to shoot (if possible).

Number of Crew Members

A professional video production company could run your project with a skeleton crew of between 3 and 4 people, keeping your costs relatively in line with typical budgeting. However, the more complicated your project, the more crew members the video production may require, significantly increasing your costs.

Equipment Needs

You may discover that your video production requires specialised equipment to pull off your desired shots. Things like gimbals, camera mounts, lenses and much more add up quickly and can increase your production costs.

Cost-Saving Tips for Your Production

If your budget for your video production isn’t quite stretching as far as you’d hoped, here are some ways that you can save money.

Set a Clear Goal For The Production

Narrowing your focus for your video production is the best way to save time when talking with a video production company in Sydney. Writing out your plans in detail is a huge time-saver and in an industry where time is money, setting these goals clearly to begin with will save you both time and money.

Break Out The Storyboard

Using a storyboard is a great way to save time and resources during or before the filming process.

Consider Using Stock Footage and Music

Stock video footage and music can be found online for free, or for low cost. This is a great supplemental option to save money on your video production. Even if you just use stock music but hire a professional video production company, you can still save a fair bit of money.

Explore DIY Options

If you’re trying to save money, DIY options may well be the way to go. While you can’t match the production value of a professional video production service in Sydney, you may still be able to produce ‘good enough’ to save some money to put toward a bigger, more professional production.

When Should You Bring in the Pros?

DIY video production has a place in the marketing world, but there are times when you should hire a video production company like AM Visuals.

High Production Value

It’s all well and good to shoot Instagram Reels on your iPhone (they do have fantastic cameras). However, professional video production companies bring a level of production quality with them that’s unparalleled. They have access to specialised lighting, camera gear, and audio and video processing software that brings the production value up by orders of magnitude.

Highly Complex Production Needs

You may find that the specific goals of video production quickly become too technical or complicated for your production capabilities. At that point, it’s time to turn the production over to a company that specialises in executing complicated video productions.

Your Time and Resources are Limited

As a business owner or member of a marketing team, you may not have the time or resources to develop a video production and oversee the entire process from start to finish. Professional video production companies like AM Visuals have the equipment and other resources to produce videos of the highest quality. If your time or resources are limited: hire a professional.

Brand Consistency

Sometimes it can be difficult to capture your brand in the same way in every video. Whether you’re producing short-form content for Instagram Reels or 3+ minute marketing content as a Public Service Announcement, obtaining consistent video production results is critical in marketing your brand. Consistency is key in video production.

Get in Touch

AM Visuals has been producing videos of the highest quality for brands and businesses in the Sydney area for many years. Our goal is to deliver a beautiful video production for your business or brand that showcases the very best of your company.

If you want a Sydney video production company that’s a master of storytelling, with the equipment to create stunning visuals and the experience to tie that all together in one awesome video production, contact us at AM Visuals today.

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What Goes Into a Video Production Budget

Understanding the different cost components of a video production budget is crucial for effective budgeting. Here’s what you need to know.

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What Goes Into a Video Production Budget

Table of Contents

What Makes Up a Video Production Budget?

Pre-Production

Production

Post Production

Factors Affecting a Video Production Budget

Video Length

Video Complexity

Location

Equipment Needs

Cost-Saving Tips for Your Production

Set a Clear Goal For The Production

Break Out The Storyboard

Consider Using Stock Footage and Music

Explore DIY Options

When Should You Bring in the Pros?

High Production Value

Highly Complex Production Needs

Your Time and Resources are Limited

Brand Consistency

Get in Touch

Ready to stop telling and start showing?

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