How Long Does Audio Post-Production Take (And Why Does it Often Take Too Long?)
When it comes to answering the question: “How long does the audio post-production process take?”, we are actually facing a more complex question: “What does the audio post-production process entail?”
What does the audio post-production process entail?
The audio post-production process encompasses a series of stages related to sound recorded and synchronized with a moving picture. It entails sound design, Foley, ADR, sound editing, sound mixing and more.
Thus, it is safe to say that depending on the complexity of the film and its soundtrack, the audio post-production process can take either more or less, which will determine the time needed for each stage of the process.
It’s also important to note that the vast majority of sound professionals work a little differently; however, there are some common steps and some common ground where all of their methodologies connect with each other when working on an audiovisual project.
Be that as it may, it is clear that post-production is more than just editing the recorded sounds. In fact, all the details we hear on a movie represent hours of hard work, whether it is a commercial release or a film. So what’s the true difference?
Depending on the experience of the director and the film crew, and certainly on the “on-location” sound individual, the audio post-production process can vary a bit in its scope. Remember: it all comes down to the details.
Setting the timeline
Sound professionals who are familiar with mixing five-minute songs know how many hours they can spend tracking and mixing all the instruments until they get the final product. So how can we set a timeline for a whole film? One thing we know for sure is that there will be a lot more than just mixing.
Think of audio restoration, dialogue clean up, Foley, ADR, and sound effects design. The vast majority of small budget films (or indie films) run around the 40-minute mark, so we’ll use that as a measure to base the timeline on.
Based on our own experience we can tell you that mixing audio, and taking care of the other audio post-production elements, for a 40-minute film can take up to 160 hours of work — or even more. There will always be room for adding extra tweaks, but there will also always be a deadline. In fact, most projects can also benefit from an extra 160 hours or so.
Following the aforementioned example, a 40-minute film can take up 160 to 320 hours of work, depending on its complexity, but most importantly, on the quality of the audio. If the project has major audio problems and poorly recorded dialogue lines, completing the project will definitely take more time than expected, but if the audio is of optimum quality, then we may be able to trim that timeline down a bit.
If the film is an hour-long film, the number of hours can go up to 300 to 600 hours. Now, this is of course just one case. If the director has the budget, the vision, and the desire, the audio post-production process can definitely take much longer. Remember: ‘Star Wars’ spent a whole year working on audio post-production. More time equals higher quality.
The audio post-production workflow
What does the audio post-production workflow look like? This process would be much easier if mixing audio for a film was just that: mixing. Major Hollywood films get that lucky: the editor provides audio professionals with the most perfect dialogue track, the music director hands all the soundtrack songs within the established deadline and the composer drops the most emotional piece of music on their laps.
But that’s Hollywood, right? In all fairness, the vast majority of the time both the composer and the director do their jobs on time. Dialogue is where audio professionals spend most of their time. If the editor is experienced and good at audio restoration, then sound professionals may actually get pristine dialogue tracks with good levels and cleaned up, otherwise, chances are they’ll spend more time working on this.
This is what the audio post-production workflow looks like:
- Import session files
- Checkerboard the dialogue
- Normalize the dialogue
- Audio restoration
- ADR
- Foley and sound design
- Mixing
If you happen to be a filmmaker and have been reading this article to figure out how much it will take to get high-quality audio post-production for your film, drop us a line with all the questions you may have.
If you’re looking for sound mixing or sound design, feel free to reach out with the details of your project and we’ll find a way to work together. You can see our previous work here.
