RAW Video

RAW video footage is our most common videographer deliverable. Here, we explain what’s included with those original clips.

When you receive your RAW files, they’ll include footage you need now, footage you don’t need, and footage you might use one day.

This RAW footage is sometimes called unedited footage, source footage, and original footage.

RAW footage is an unprocessed camera output that’s initially saved and written to video camera memory cards. That content hasn’t been trimmed, color-corrected, or reviewed.

In most cases, if you want to open the files, you’ll need specialized software and a powerful computer. And when you do open the files, the footage won’t be pretty.

That’s where corrections and editing come into play. We use powerful computers and specialized software to transform the RAW file materials into something amazing. Or, if we don’t do those corrections and edits, you, someone on your team, or an external professional video editor can do that work.

The RAW files can be quite large, depending on the footage length. To manage those files, you’ll need good download bandwidth and significant storage.

The color on RAW footage appears dull and flat. But that’s because editors can more easily apply color corrections or filters that make your videos pop. Don’t let that throw you when you’re working with original RAW footage. Your final edited video won’t look like that—at least when you receive edited video from us.

RAW footage also includes the original RAW audio. Depending on our team’s preferences and technical needs, audio may be embedded in the footage, stored in separate files, or include both embedded and separate audio files. Synching audio with the video is part of the editing process and that service isn’t included with RAW capture only.

Although hours of RAW footage may exist, only a few seconds or minutes are usually included in a final edited video. Certain clips are omitted when they don’t fit the story, the footage is already covered by retakes, or video runtime restrictions require excluding less important footage.