The Editing Process
So what exactly happens to your wedding footage once the videographer leaves the venue and heads back to his studio? Although there are many different types of software that a videographer and editor can utilize to produce the masterpiece you are waiting for, in most cases, the process is usually ubiquitous throughout the industry.
The first step will always be the same. Backup, backup, backup!
At 25 Weddings and Studio 25, we have several backup locations where we store your special memories.
- The first one is on our two main editing suites. Each of our editing suites has an internal storage capacity of 30TB, so there is always enough space available for the projects we are currently working on.
- Secondly, we have developed a custom script specific to our company needs that automatically backs up and stores all new files to our dedicated, online, uncapped server.
- As our third and final backup solution, we have an offline, offsite backup server that stores incremental backups of our online server, dating back up to three months.
Videography
Once this is completed, our editors will start preparing your project file for editing. We believe in building a solid foundation before plunging into the bulk of the editing, so this process can be quite time-consuming. It includes loading all footage into our editing software, creating proxies for all the clips, and from here, the editor will start the arduous process of picking the best shots filmed on the day.
Once this has been completed, the editor will use a very special plugin called Automator Plus to build a rough timeline of your day.
For the ceremony and speeches, the editor will synchronize the footage and the audio that was captured on your day and manually cut between the various camera angles.
Once all of this is completed, the editor will go through several music libraries to find the songs best suited to your wedding and license these songs. This is where the fun really begins. The editor can finally go through your wedding with a fine-toothed comb and start building the essence of what your video will be. They match shots using unique cuts and will sometimes even alter these shots in After Effects to create specialized speed ramps and transitions.
Once the core of your wedding has been put together, the editor will then spend an enormous amount of time going through the film; adding sound effects, stabilizing footage, adding slow-motion effects and color grading shots to look their best.
The final step in the editing process is to render out all the various videos that were created, from the highlights video to the ceremony and speeches, through to the extended cut.
Photography
The process for photography is slightly less complex, but nevertheless, takes a similar amount of time. There are two main components that our photo editor needs to complete, namely:
Shot selection: On the average wedding day, we capture around 6500 – 7000 photographs. The culling process generally takes a few days as we have to compare different shots to each other and make sure that we choose the most flattering photographs to be edited.
Preset creation: Our next step is to create various presets that will be applied to your photographs. A new preset needs to be created for every part of your day, especially when the lighting has changed. This process ensures that photographs all look the same across your album, instead of looking like an assortment of photographs taken on different days.
Advanced editing: While the presets can be a great tool to do basic color corrections, it lacks the needed flair that we add to each and every photograph. Advanced editing is the process of refining photographs to look the best they can. These techniques include sky replacements, skin retouching, removing unwanted background and foreground objects, frequency separation, adding lens flares, etc. This is definitely the most time-consuming part of the editing process.
Rearranging photographs: The next step is to rearrange the photographs into an order that makes sense. Photos sometimes get mixed up when more than one camera is used and we need to ensure that the order of events is correct.
Exporting: The final step in the editing process is to export all of your edited photographs into two specific formats. One format that allows you to easily upload your photographs to social media, and another to use for printing purposes.
Some final considerations:
Once all of the editing is complete, we still need to create your branded USB flash drives, photo albums and package it all together. We pour our hearts and soul into your special day so that you can relive it forever and always. 100
