Complete guide
Video post-production, from rushes to delivery
The technical backbone of an edit in five steps, each a deep-dive guide: organise your rushes, lock the sound to picture, hand the audio off to the mix, and subtitle to standard.
By Hanna Eng·Audio engineer, Abbey Road Institute Paris
A clean edit is built on a clean workflow. Log your rushes well and the cut comes together fast. Lock sync early and nothing drifts later. Conform the sound properly and the mix engineer starts from a usable session. Subtitle to the right spec and the file passes on the first delivery. This guide maps that chain and links to a focused, factual deep-dive for each step.
The workflow, step by step
- 1Log and organise your rushesDérushage: how to watch, select and label your footage so the edit starts from an organised, searchable project.Read the guide→
- 2Sync sound to pictureLine up dual-system audio with the camera, from clap and waveform to timecode, and verify the result on a sharp transient.Read the guide→
- 3Conform the audio for the mixExport an AAF or OMF with handles so the sound engineer opens a clean, fully conformed session, not a flat bounce.Read the guide→
- 4Subtitle to standardReading speed, line length and timing per the Netflix and ATAA norms, so subtitles read comfortably and pass QC.Read the guide→
- 5Choose your subtitle formatBurned-in or a separate SRT file: which one fits your platform, your languages and your delivery, and why.Read the guide→
What is video post-production?
Video post-production is everything that turns footage into a finished film: sorting and organizing the footage (logging), syncing sound to picture, conforming the audio to the mix, and subtitling to spec. It is the phase where the shoot becomes an edit worth watching.
This guide follows that chain, from logging to delivery, and links to a detailed guide for each step.
Why the order matters
Each stage prepares the next. Well-logged footage makes a faster edit. Well-synced sound conforms without drift. And subtitles to spec read without fatigue. You don't skip a stage without paying for it later.
When I handle both picture and sound, everything stays in the same hands, from logging to conforming, with no loss between apps.
A few video post-production benchmarks
| Benchmark | Value |
|---|---|
| Subtitles, reading speed | 14 to 15 characters per second |
| Subtitles, line length | 36 to 42 characters, 2 lines maximum |
| Audio turnover (AAF) | handles of at least 6 seconds |
| Sync | timecode, clapperboard, or waveform |
Sources: ATAA (subtitling); audio conform conventions.
Frequently asked questions
What is video post-production?
It is all the work after the shoot that turns footage into a finished film: logging, syncing sound to picture, conforming the audio to the mix, and subtitling to spec.
What are the stages of video post-production?
Log (sort and organize the footage), sync sound to picture, edit, conform the audio to the mix (AAF), then subtitle to spec. Each stage prepares the next.
What is logging (dérushage)?
It is sorting and organizing the footage before the edit: watching, labelling, marking the best takes. Good logging speeds up the entire edit that follows.
How do I sync sound and picture?
By timecode, by the clapperboard, or by waveform. Waveform sync, in DaVinci Resolve, needs no timecode box and works as soon as there is a reference sound on the camera.
What is audio conform (AAF)?
It is the handoff from the picture edit to the mix: you export an AAF with handles of at least 6 seconds so the mixer keeps sync and has room around every cut.
Rather have the post handled for you?
If you would rather shoot and let someone else edit, conform and finish the video to spec, that is what the video editing service is for.
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