Agency video work comes in uneven waves. Three clients deliver in one month and none the next. Keeping a full post team for the peaks is wasteful, and hiring strangers each time gives no control over quality. A common answer is one or two regular post-production partners who take editing, grading, subtitles and versioning, while the agency concentrates on strategy, the client and the shoot. Chipscat does post-production only and doesn't film, which suits this arrangement.
Work that suits a post partner
- Ad versions: lengths and sizes after the master is approved; see cutting 6, 15 and 30-second ads and ad videos in multiple aspect ratios.
- Events and launches: teasers, on-screen content and highlights; see the videos a corporate event needs.
- Regular social output: a set number of short videos a month; see short-form video editing.
- Subtitles and language versions: see multilingual versions of a corporate video.
- Motion graphics and packaging: openings, name straps, charts, logo animation.
- AI visuals: concept films at pitch stage, or scenario shots that weren't filmed; see AI video production.
Handover: say it once
The time in outsourcing goes on communication, not production. At the start of each project, supply:
- The client's brand guidelines: logo, typefaces, colours, prohibited uses.
- The approved script or storyboard, and wording the client has signed off.
- Footage and shoot notes: originals, good takes, separate audio.
- The version table: length, ratio, language, platform, file specification.
- The schedule: your internal review, the date for the client, the go-live date, with review time on both levels included.
- References: the client's past videos or the style to match.
See the corporate video brief template.
Managing revisions and versions
Agency projects have two review levels: yours and the client's. Feedback arriving in pieces from several people tends to contradict itself and grow beyond the agreed scope. We suggest:
- Review the first cut internally and consolidate comments before it goes to the client; consolidate the client's comments before returning them to us.
- Comments with timecodes; see how to give revision feedback.
- File names carrying version number and date, so everyone refers to the same file.
- Revision scope written into the quote. One round of minor adjustments is included, within the scope set out in the quote; changes of direction and added versions are assessed separately. See how many revisions are included.
When volume varies
- Single projects: each assessed and quoted on its own. Right for a first collaboration.
- Recurring work of a fixed kind: specifications and process agreed once and repeated, which keeps communication lightest.
- Rush jobs: tell us the date early. Whether we can take it depends on the schedule at that moment and whether material is complete; see rush video editing.
For a first collaboration, start with a project of moderate size, confirm process and quality on both sides, then expand.
FAQ
We have many videos at once. Can they be commissioned together?
You can enquire about them together. Send the version table and the date each is needed; whether it can be taken on depends on the material and the schedule at the time.
Can you work in our project files and templates?
We can discuss it. Tell us the software and version, and the licensing of the templates, fonts and plug-ins involved.
Can the crew send footage straight to Chipscat after the shoot?
Yes. Have them upload in the agreed folder structure, with your contact confirming the contents. See footage is shot and only post-production is needed.
