Post-production: how to make it easy
The production of clips does not end when you finish filming. Once the footage has been recorded, it is important to proceed to what is commonly called post-production.
In the cinematographic field, post-production is the last phase of film production and deals with a whole series of technical aspects, ranging from image quality and audio insertion to titles, subtitles, etc..
For a clip it is a simpler process than a real film production, not only because of the length of the film, but also because some correctional actions are not required.
However, this does not detract from the fact that even for clips, if you want to create products that can be sold on stock platforms, it is necessary to maintain a high level of quality, working in particular on colors.
Post-production for clips: how it differs from cinema
A cinematographic product requires a series of operations concerning the choice of scenes and editing. Immediately afterwards follows post-production, which consists of several stages:
Choice of frames;
Scene editing;
Creation of visual special effects;
Recording the music;
Creation of sound effects;
Dubbing actors and voice-overs;
Audio track editing, synchronization and mixing;
Color correction;
Creation and insertion of main titles, end credits, subtitles, etc.
Of course, in a clip many of these actions are unnecessary. Especially since a stock footage clip generally lasts less than a minute.
As far as audio is concerned, for example, it is worth considering whether it is necessary or better to exclude it.
Stock footage audio: yes or no?
No doubt in the creation of a marketable clip, color correction is the most delicate and most important step. However, many video makers wonder whether to sell a clip more easily you need to include audio or not.
Working on audio is an extra step in post-production and involves specific skills as well as, if you record audio directly while filming, sufficiently sophisticated equipment.
After cleaning the sound from any noise that may have been created during recording, the audio should also be properly cut and synchronized with the clip.
Is it worth it? If we take into account the likely sellers of the stock clips, we can see that in most cases they are either freelancers or agencies who will also work on the clip and are unlikely to keep it as it is. So, it is very likely that they, in turn, will choose music or sound effects to add.
For most possible buyers, audio in a clip may be more intrusive than useful and may be discarded for this very reason.
How long do stock clips have to last to sell?
Another interesting aspect for those who want to sell stock clips is the duration of the clips. This is a basic aspect because it is one of the requirements according to which a video can be accepted or rejected by the stock footage platform.
Clips must be rather short, also because they are simple clips of video that will be used by the buyer and edited together with other clips for sites, advertisements, TV programs, etc..
Each platform, however, may have different needs and rules: exceeding the maximum duration by even a few seconds may cause the clip to be rejected. In our video course, we examine the ideal duration for clips to make sure that, at least in this respect, they meet the requirements of the various platforms.
Learning how to manage post-production
There are numerous pieces of software for post-production. To make clips, if you are going to carry out a simple post-production, but still create a quality product, you will need to consider 4 basic steps:
starting cut;
final cut;
coloration;
export.
While the first two operations are quite simple and intuitive, coloring and exporting are two more delicate aspects.
Good coloring will undoubtedly increase the quality of the clip and make it more marketable on stock sites, while it must be exported correctly to provide the highest quality without the files becoming too heavy. Generally, agencies accept standard formats: in our video course, we explain what they are and how to upload videos to platforms without problems.
Becoming an expert in easy post-production
Want to learn how to carry out a simple post-production with excellent quality results?
Want to know how to handle audio in clips?
Want to know the ideal duration to create marketable stock clips?
Want to know the best software for post-production and how to use it?
In our video course, we’ll talk about the color correction effects of Premiere and Davinci Resolve and which post-production operations are most important and which you could leave out, guiding you to get the best results with the least investment of time and energy.
