Pricing 2026 | Color Space

pricing

First off:

Saying "we have 8 hours per episode in the budget" doesn't say much by itself.

You calculated 8 hours based on what? Pricing? Schedule? Something else?

If you absolutely need the grade to be done within a timeframe, that's something we'll take into account.

However, if your time calculation is based on budget, we had better discuss how much time we can book for your full budget without talking about "hours per episode". It will likely be more time than you had in mind, which means a better end product for you.

For TV shows, the minimum is 2 days (4 time slots) per episode.

Only if your schedule is too tight for 2 days, it can be shorter. But this is not our recommendation for most projects.

The maximum time is whatever your project needs!

The minimum time is merely an indication based on average, which is usually:
- Between 35 and 60 minutes long episodes for TV shows, edited with a "normal" pacing (250 to 500 cuts/shots).
- If your TV show demands more quality or is technically more challenging, that needs to be taken into account.
- For projects other than TV shows, there's no easy formula. We'll have to talk about it.

Also:

Delivery is within 24 hours after the last scheduled day for each episode.
- Example:
  - Monday: Loading/Defining the look/Grading
  - Tuesday: Grading/Checking/Finalizing
  - Wednesday: Exporting - link for download by the end of the day

TV directors are always very busy and can't be in the grading suite all the time. We get it!

But color is a very personal thing and the colorist needs a kickstart in order to bring the director's individual vision to life.

So the presence of the director* before the first grading session is required -at least for a couple hours.

* It is not mandatory for this person to be the director, as long as they have the final word for the creative decisions made during this stage.

Here's why:

At Color Space, the suite has professional lighting and Hollywood-quality equipment in order to ensure the colors are 100% correct.
The director needs to be looking at the same screen as the colorist in order to make decisions and creative choices.
- Therefore, a briefing by e-mail or phone is not enough.
By making creative decisions before the first episode is graded, there's a smaller chance of creative feedback, which brings the costs and delays down...

So here's our solution:

You get 2,5 hours free of charge to work on the look of the show with the colorist on location in Vianen.

These 2 hours go on top of the time you booked.
- And they need to take place before the grading of the first episode.
During this time, the director and the colorist work on different scenes of the show for the first time.
The director can freely give instructions and feedback until everyone is happy about the artistic look.
The colorist will 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.
You won't pay more unless the creative* feedback adds hours of work. The cost in that case is €95,00 excl. 21% VAT per hour.

* Please read more about what we mean by "creative" feedback on the next tab.

What if the director really can't be there?

If the director really can't come by, that's okay.

However, the colorist will have do their best to grade the show using their own taste and individual vision. If there's a lot of feedback after that, this time will be billed.

For any given project, a time slot (5 hours) costs €485,00 excl. 21% VAT. Each day has a maximum of 2 time slots.

You get a complementary 2,5 hours free of charge for setting the look, which needs to be booked ahead of the first day of grading, subject to availability. The client needs to be present for this*.

* The person who is present for this step needs to be the one who has the final word for the creative decisions of the entire grade.

TIP: An average TV show is 35-50min. long and has around 250-500 shots (cuts).

If your footage is aligned with the look you want to achieve and there are no big technical problems, the grade can usually be done within 2 days for a technically satisfactory result.

But keep in mind that, if your project is more demanding, like a beautifully shot documentary or a TV show about art, you should consider booking more than the minimum. It's worth it!

A bit of extra time? No problem!

Picture this: you booked all the episodes, but you also need to grade something small, like the leader of the show or an extra scene for episode 4.

That won't take a full day, right?

In cases like that, you can add some extra hours for €95,00 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.

Example: a single shot is too green or a simple 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.

You have a video or a TV show that needs grading? Nice!

Color Space has a different approach.

The goal is to get the absolute maximum quality out of your footage while remaining realistic towards your budget.

Some extra information:

If the project has tight deadlines and the episodes need to be graded in less than 2 days due to scheduling, that can be discussed on an individual basis.
A day has a maximum of 2 time slots.
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.