Design
Video Editing
Working with footage that exists. Animation created from scratch is motion graphics, and the two often appear in the same piece.
Video editing turns footage you already have into finished pieces: cut, graded, captioned and versioned for each platform. The Nexclick works from a brief about where it will play, because the same footage needs different treatment for a feed advert and a landing page.
Is this you?
What usually prompts the call
- You have hours of footage from a shoot and nothing finished from it.
- Your videos are one length and one aspect ratio and perform badly everywhere but one place.
- Nothing you publish has captions, so most viewers see it silent and confused.
- Editing is done internally by whoever has time, and it shows.
What we do
The actual deliverables
Things that appear on an invoice, not adjectives.
- Start from the placement
- A fifteen-second feed advert and a ninety-second landing page video are different edits from the same footage, not one edit trimmed. The brief decides the cut.
- Story and structure
- What order the material goes in and what gets cut. Most raw footage contains a much shorter and better piece than the person who filmed it expects.
- Colour grading and audio cleanup
- Consistent grade across shots and clean, levelled audio. Poor audio is noticed far more than poor picture, and it is usually fixable.
- Captions as standard
- Burned-in or as a caption file, on every piece. Most social video is watched muted, and captions are an accessibility requirement rather than a nice addition.
- Versioning per platform
- Aspect ratios composed rather than cropped, lengths cut to each platform’s constraints, and file specifications met so nothing is re-encoded badly on upload.
- Graphics and lower thirds
- On-brand titles, name captions and end cards, consistent across a series rather than reinvented each time.
- Source project files supplied
- So a price change, a new offer or a rebrand does not require re-editing from raw footage by whoever comes next.
Checklist
What to capture on a shoot so it can actually be edited
Most editing problems are shooting problems. Give this to whoever is filming — following it costs nothing on the day and prevents the reshoot conversation afterwards.
- 01Film in landscape and frame the subject centrally, so vertical versions can be composed later.
- 02Leave headroom and space around the subject for on-screen captions.
- 03Record clean audio on a separate microphone, not the camera.
- 04Record thirty seconds of room tone for audio repair.
- 05Shoot far more cutaway and b-roll than feels necessary — it is what covers edits.
- 06Get the same action from two angles where possible.
- 07Hold each shot several seconds longer than you think you need.
- 08Keep lighting and white balance consistent between shots.
- 09Film any on-screen text or product close-ups separately and sharply.
- 10Capture a version with and without background music playing on set.
- 11Note the timecode of anything you know you want to keep.
- 12Get a signed release from anyone identifiable on camera.
- 13Check the licence on any music before it is edited in, not after.
- 14Shoot an alternative opening — the first three seconds decide social performance.
- 15Back up the footage in two places before leaving the location.
How it works
Step by step, with timeframes
Timeframes are typical rather than guaranteed, and they assume we get account access and approvals when we ask.
- 01Days 1–2
Brief and review the footage
Where it will play, what it must say, and an honest assessment of whether the footage supports it.
- 02Days 3–7
First cut
Structure and pacing before grading or graphics, so changes happen while they are cheap.
- 03Days 7–10
Finish
Grade, audio, graphics and captions, with one revision round included.
- 04Days 10–12
Version and deliver
Every aspect ratio and platform specification, plus caption files and the source project.
What you get
Reporting and ownership
- Every aspect ratio composed rather than cropped, so nothing important is cut off.
- Caption files as standard on every piece, not as an extra.
- Audio cleaned and levelled, which viewers notice more than picture quality.
- Files delivered to each platform’s codec and size specification.
- The source project supplied, so future edits do not start from raw footage.
Tools and platforms
- Adobe Premiere Pro
- After Effects
- DaVinci Resolve (grading)
- Audio cleanup and levelling
- Caption and subtitle tooling
- Platform delivery specifications
Timeline
How long this actually takes
Ten to twelve working days for a substantial piece with versions, less for short social cuts. The first cut comes before any grading or graphics deliberately — changing structure is cheap at that stage and expensive after finishing. One honest note: editing cannot rescue footage that was not filmed for the purpose. If the material lacks the shots the story needs, we will tell you what is missing rather than assembling something weaker and hoping. Occasionally the right answer is a short reshoot.
Pricing model
Project, then retainer
Per project by duration and versioning, or a monthly retainer where you publish regularly. Retainers are cheaper per piece because the brand setup is done once.
Questions
Video Editing questions
Can you edit footage we filmed on a phone?
Yes, and modern phones are genuinely capable. The usual limitation is audio rather than picture — phone microphones pick up the room. Where the audio is poor we can improve it substantially and not entirely, and we will tell you what the ceiling is before starting.
How long should a video be?
It depends entirely on the placement, which is why the brief starts there. Six to fifteen seconds for a feed advert, sixty to ninety for a landing page explainer, longer only for genuinely engaged audiences. The same footage should produce different lengths rather than one compromise.
Do we need captions?
Yes, on everything. Most social video is watched muted, so an uncaptioned piece is often not watched at all. It is also an accessibility requirement — video without captions excludes deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers entirely. They are included as standard rather than priced separately.
Can you use music we found online?
Only if it is properly licensed for commercial use in your territory and platform. Music rights are the most common way businesses get videos muted, taken down or issued with a claim. We will use licensed library music unless you can evidence the rights to something else.
What if the footage does not support the story we wanted?
We will say so rather than assembling something weaker and hoping. Usually there is a shorter, stronger piece in the material than the one originally planned. Occasionally the honest answer is a short reshoot of specific missing shots, which is cheaper than it sounds.
Do we get the project files?
Yes. So a price change, a new offer or a rebrand can be handled without re-editing from raw footage. Studios that withhold project files are creating a dependency, and it is worth checking that term with anyone you commission.
Last reviewed 28 July 2026.
Tell us what you are trying to fix
A 20-minute call, no pitch deck. The Nexclick will tell you what we would do, roughly what it costs, and whether we are the right people for it.