How long does video editing actually take?

Nobody asks this until the shoot is over. Then it becomes the only question that matters, usually because someone upstairs has already promised the video to somebody else.

So here are real numbers, from the side of the desk where the work actually happens.

Typical turnaround by job

• A single social cut (15 to 60 seconds, one camera): 1 to 2 working days.
• A corporate film (2 to 3 minutes, interviews and b-roll): 5 to 8 working days.
• An event highlight reel (2 minutes from a full day of coverage): 4 to 6 working days.
• A multi-part series or anything with heavy motion graphics: 2 to 4 weeks.
• Same-day social cut from a live event: possible, and I do it, but it has to be planned before the shoot, not asked for at 6pm.

Those are working days from the day I have everything, which is not always the day after the shoot. More on that below.

Why the first cut takes the longest

People assume editing is a steady grind from start to finish. It is not. The shape of it looks like this:

• Ingest and review. Every card copied, checked and watched. On a full day of multi-camera coverage this alone is hours, and skipping it is how you miss the one take that actually works.
• The assembly. Finding the story in the material. This is the slow, invisible part, and it is where the film is either good or ordinary.
• The first cut. What you see first. By the time it reaches you, most of the work is already done.
• Revisions. Fast, if the notes are clear.
• Finishing. Colour, sound, graphics, export. Usually a day.

This is why a two minute film is not twice the work of a one minute film, and why a rough cut appearing quickly does not mean the job is nearly over.

What genuinely slows it down

• Scattered feedback. Four people sending separate notes over three days is the single biggest delay in this industry. One consolidated list, once, and we move.
• Contradictory notes. If marketing wants it shorter and the MD wants their full answer left in, someone has to decide, and until they do the edit waits.
• Late assets. Logos, fonts, the correct strapline, the music licence. I can start without them; I cannot finish without them.
• Changing the goal. Turning a recruitment film into a sales film after the first cut is not a revision. It is a new edit.
• Approval chains. Legal review adds a week. Plan for it rather than discovering it.

How to get your video back faster

• Name one decision maker. Everyone else feeds notes through them. This alone usually saves several days.
• Send assets before the shoot day, not after the first cut.
• Give timecoded notes. "At 0:42, cut the pause" is actionable. "It feels a bit slow" costs a round trip.
• Agree the number of revision rounds up front. Two is normal and almost always enough when the first two points are in place.
• Say the real deadline early. If it is tight, I will build the schedule around it. Finding out on day four helps nobody.

Does AI make it faster?

In places, genuinely yes. Transcription, rough selects, noise cleanup and a first pass at colour are all quicker than they were two years ago, and that time comes straight off the front of the schedule.

What it does not speed up is the judgement: which take carries the message, where the film should breathe, when a cut lands. That is still the slow part, and it is the part worth paying for. I wrote about where the line sits in AI video production: when it works.

When you need it yesterday

Rush turnarounds are real and I take them, with two conditions. Tell me before the shoot, so the day is filmed in a way that edits quickly, and accept fewer revision rounds. A 24 hour delivery with three rounds of committee notes does not exist.

Got a date you have to hit? Send me the deadline and the brief and I will tell you honestly whether it fits, before you commit to it. If you want to see how the shoot day itself runs, read what actually happens on a video shoot day.