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Video Production Budget & Hourly Estimator

Shoot budget from crew hours, day rate, gear, and edit hours.

Page updated 2026-09-14.

Video Production Budget & Hourly Estimator visual
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Calculator

Default 8.

Default 3.

Default $85.

Default $350.

Default 10.

Default $70.

Calculated Results

Production total

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Shoot labor

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Edit labor

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Shoot labor, edit labor, and gear, added together

An 8-hour shoot with a 3-person crew at an $85 blended hourly rate costs $2,040 in shoot labor (8 x 3 x $85). Adding $350 in gear/studio cost and 10 hours of editing at $70/hour ($700 in post labor), the full production total comes to $3,090.

Shoot labor is the largest single line item here (66% of the total), which is typical for video production -- crew time on shoot day is usually the biggest cost driver, ahead of both gear and post-production, especially as crew size grows.

The blended hourly rate ($85) is meant to average across different crew roles (DP, gaffer, sound, PA) at their different individual rates into one simplified per-person, per-hour figure -- useful for quick budgeting, though a detailed line-item budget would break out each role's actual rate separately.

What a simple labor-plus-gear model leaves out

Simple labor plus gear. Location, insurance, and talent are extra lines. Location fees (permits, venue rental), production insurance, and on-camera talent fees are all common video production costs that don't fit into a crew-labor-plus-gear framework and need to be budgeted as separate line items.

Shoot hours (8 here) typically means time on set, not total project time including pre-production planning, scouting, or client revisions -- those hours, if billed, belong in a separate pre-production or revision line.

Edit hours (10) for a single project can vary enormously by footage volume and complexity -- a multi-camera shoot with extensive color grading and motion graphics needs far more edit time than a simple single-camera interview edit.

Pricing the pieces around this production

If transcription of the raw footage or interview audio is also needed, the Audio/Video Transcription Cost Estimator prices that separately.

If this video is being produced specifically for a sponsored placement, compare the production cost here against the expected sponsorship revenue using the Influencer Sponsored Post Rate Estimator.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How is the $3,090 production total calculated?

Shoot labor (8 hours x 3 crew x $85 = $2,040) plus gear/studio ($350) plus edit labor (10 hours x $70 = $700) = $3,090.

What does 'blended hourly rate' mean?

It's a single averaged rate meant to represent the combined cost of a mixed crew (different roles at different individual rates) simplified into one per-person, per-hour figure -- useful for a quick estimate, though a detailed budget would itemize each crew role's actual rate.

Does this include location fees or talent costs?

No. Simple labor plus gear. Location, insurance, and talent are extra lines. Permits, venue rental, production insurance, and on-camera talent fees are all common additional costs that need to be budgeted separately from this crew-labor-and-gear model.

Are pre-production hours (planning, scouting) included in the shoot hours field?

No, this models time on set during the actual shoot. Pre-production planning, scouting, and casting time, if billed, should be added as a separate line item outside this calculator.

Why might edit hours vary so much between similar-length videos?

Edit time depends heavily on footage volume, number of camera angles, and post-production complexity (color grading, motion graphics, sound design) rather than just the final video's length -- a heavily produced short video can take more edit hours than a lightly edited long one.

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