No You Won’t Fix it in Post Production, Here’s Why
Post production video editing services can perform a lot of corrective work to fix even some of the worst mistakes that are made during the production process, but relying on a “fix it in post” attitude is NEVER good! While certain errors can certainly be corrected in post production, you absolutely cannot have a constant, I’ll fix it in post production” mindset or else you’re likely to get in big trouble in terms of final film quality. Let’s take a look at why you won’t fix it in post production and instead will find yourself consistently coming back to reshoot if you carry such a mindset.
Auto White Balance, You Won’t Fix THAT In Post
You camera’s Auto White Balance is a great tool, IF it works the way it should–but all too often, it doesn’t work the way it should. The result? You wind up with an estimate of color balance instead of the exact color temperatures that are vital.
How will you fix THAT in post? You won’t! And, if you try, you’re going to spend countless hours and time trying to make sense of the mess. In the end, you’ll reshoot anyway so you might as well just get it right the first time!
Unhappy Clients
What are you going to tell your clients when editing takes twice as long or three times longer than it should, just because you are trying to fix it in post production?
Your clients want a rapid turnaround and they expect that they are paying a professional video production crew that will utilize their top quality production skills throughout the process–not just in the end, fixing all of their mistakes in editing!
If You See it, Fix it!
So often, we realize during production that there is a mishap or problem of some sort that needs to be fixed. On the set, it’s easy to say, “We’ll fix it in post production, no biggie.”
But, if you noticed the issue early in the shoot or immediately after the shoot and it’s possible to correct and reshoot–do it!
If you see the problem while still on the production set, then during production is the time to fix it unless this is just impossible. If you noticed the error too late, and a reshoot is not feasible at all, then consider the idea of correcting it in post production but don’t rely in this for all errors!
Don’t Degrade Your Shots
Production mistakes can often be cropped out in post production, but that doesn’t give your camera crew the right to be lazy! Cropping the shot can result in reductions in resolution leaving the shot to appear poorly on the screen.
This is especially true when the file size is small or the size of the crop is large comparative to the file itself. While cropping is an option to fix errors in post production, this mentality should never be the primary mentality of the crew!
The next time you or anyone on your crew says, “I’ll fix it in post production,” think again! If you know of a problem, during production, fix it then! If you realize you made a mistake, the time to fix it is NOW, not later.
Decisions to fix in post production must be made very carefully with an understanding that post production video editing services, although capable of many things, should not be relied upon to solve the production problems that you knowingly create.