Finishing Survival Kit

Written By Keith Jenson

What Does “Finishing" Actually Include:

  • Conform: Assembling your final cut at full resolution from original camera files.

  • Color Grade: Bringing a unified, cinematic look across your entire film.

  • VFX Cleanup: Fixing shots, wire removals, sky replacements, etc.

  • Delivery: DCP, ProRes, H.264, captions, festival-ready masters.

When Should I Start Thinking About Finishing?

  • Now. Planning ahead saves time and budget. 

  • Contact a finishing house by the end of the rough cut stage at the latest.

    • The sooner you get a finishing house on board, the better. We can help during pre-production to already have workflows and pipelines set up ahead of time.

  • Budget at least 5–10% of your total production cost for finishing.

Keith Jenson
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