pricing | color grading

pricing > color grading

This is the question colorists get most often. And the answer is always "it depends".

The best way to estimate how long you need, is by talking to Bruno directly and explaining your project.

However, there are some basics that you can keep in mind and evaluate yourself:

Different goals come with different needs: a TV commercial has a different approach from a documentary or a corporate video.
A 30-second long TV commercial can easily take 3 days to be properly graded, while a 50-minute documentary could also be done in 3 days.
- This is due to the amount of fine-tuning a TV commercial usually receives, which is relatively much higher.
Footage shot for a film is often technically superior to a documentary or corporate video. So it's usually worth it to dedicate more time to it.
A documentary could be graded with as much care as a TV commercial or film, as long as there's enough time for this amount of polishing and the footage allows for it.

How much time you book directly affects the quality of the results. However, time is not the only factor. Keep the following in mind:

The quality of the grade doesn't depend only on the colorist. The following is just as important:
- Quality of the source material (your footage).
- Whether the grade you want to apply makes sense with the footage that was shot.
  - It's usually not ideal to choose for a bright, warm grade when the footage is rainy or cloudy.
- The closer you get to the desired result on set, the less "fixing" is needed in grading.
  - This allows for more time to be spent on cosmetics and fine-tuning.

There is such a thing as "too little time". But there's also "too much time".

Too little time means your footage won't look as good as it has the potential to.
However, every footage has a sweet spot -and booking more time than needed can bring diminished returns.

So advice from a professional is crucial before you pull the trigger!

You're always welcome to watch the grading of your video, but that's not always possible. We get it!

However, the colorist still needs a kickstart in order to bring your vision to life. So you need to be there at least for a bit.

So here's our solution:

You get 2 hours free of charge to work on the look of your video with the colorist on location in Vianen.

These 2 hours go on top of the time you booked and they need to happen before grading starts.
During this time, the director and the colorist work on different scenes of the video for the first time.
The director can freely give instructions and feedback until everyone is happy about the artistic look.
This is an important step, as the colorist can inform the director of what's technically possible in terms of fine-tuning within the booked time.
After the artistic look is established, the colorist will then use all of the scheduled time to apply those creative decisions to the entire video.
The director is welcome to visit again later on, within the scheduled time, to give real-time feedback to the colorist.

Please read the "feedback" tab to understand why this is important.

Forget about the "hour price"!

The starting price is €1150,00 excl. 21% VAT.
The starting price gives you 1,5 days of hands-on grading.
- The hands-on time is guaranteed if you deliver the material in working condition at least 12 hours ahead of the booking.
To make it a full 2 days, there's an additional charge of €650,00 excl. 21% VAT.
- The extra half-day is very useful if you want to come by and check the grade with the colorist.
Extra days (after the second day): €725,00 excl. 21% VAT.

1,5 day? I don't need that much time!

That's all right.

Still, there's a minimum amount of time needed for each grade, to ensure we can handle your material with the care it deserves.

In this case, we can discuss the time, price and conditions for feedback based on your individual project. You may also be requested to be present throughout the grading session.

Very long project?

If your project needs more than 3 or 4 days, a project price can be discussed on an individual basis.

A bit of extra time? No problem!

Picture this: you booked enough time for your TV commercial, but you also need to grade something small, like a few extra shots for the social media videos. That won't take a full day, right?

In cases like that, you can add some extra hours for €80,00 excl. 21% VAT per hour.

In the world of color grading, it's important to understand the differences between Creative and Technical Feedback.

Creative feedback:

The director wants to change or enhance the grade of a scene to achieve a different look

or...

The director wants the colorist to fine-tune the grade to make it better than what is technically achievable within the budgeted time.

Creative feedback is always welcome, but when requested after the budgeted time, it counts as extra time for both scheduling and pricing.

Technical feedback:

Happens when there's a mistake or inconsistency caused by the colorist while grading. Things like: a single shot is too green or a mask isn't properly tracked and looks weird.

You will never pay more for technical feedback, once ruled out the conditions for creative feedback above.

Got a video that needs color? Nice!

Click the tabs above to read about how Color Space has a different approach!

Some extra information:

A color grading day is by standard 8 hours long.
The price includes media management on our side, storage and online delivery. No surprise costs.
Conforming a mixdown of your video is included in the price.
The price does not include conforming of the timeline if you wish to relink to the original footage.
The project files created by the colorist (from DaVinci Resolve) are not included in the price.
- If you wish to receive the project files, it is only possible if requested before the job has started and it will incur extra costs.
We keep the project files in our system for a minimum of 90 days after completion of the job, should you need to revisit the grade or if you wish for a different rendering format.
- We may delete the media files before 90 days without notice, so you would need to send us those again.
- If you want us to hold onto your project and/or media files for longer than 90 days, please inform us about that as soon as possible.

This should cover most of it, but we can't foresee every detail.

Please contact Bruno if you have specific points you'd like to discuss. Thank you!

Next to the information above, our Terms and Conditions also apply.