Updated August 2026
Video editing charges in Chennai
Quotes for the same footage swing from ₹800 to ₹15,000 in this city. The gap is rarely skill — it's what the quote silently excludes. Here's my full rate card and the four things that actually move the number.
Quick answer
- Reel or short₹1,500
- YouTube video₹3,000
- Corporate video₹8,000
- Wedding, full₹25,000
Starting rates. Editing only — shooting is billed by your videographer.
Full rate card
Retainers: 4 videos ₹10,000/mo · 8 videos ₹18,000/mo · 12 reels ₹12,000/mo · corporate volume ₹35,000/mo.
What actually moves the price
Not the length of the finished video. A 60-second reel can cost more than a ten-minute podcast edit, and these four things are why.
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FACTOR 01
Footage in, not video out
Fourteen hours of wedding footage cut to four minutes takes far longer than a ten-minute podcast from two clean camera files. The editor's time goes into watching and selecting, and that scales with what you send, not what comes out.
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FACTOR 02
Cut density
A fast reel has a cut every second and a half. A corporate interview has one every eight. Same duration, five times the decisions — this is why short-form is not automatically cheaper.
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FACTOR 03
Graphics and motion
Lower thirds and captions are part of the base rate. Animated charts, product callouts and anything built in After Effects is separate, because it is design work rather than editing.
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FACTOR 04
How many people approve it
One decision-maker means two revision rounds. A committee means six, half of them contradictory. Corporate rates are higher partly because of this, and a single named approver genuinely lowers your cost.
What a ₹800 quote leaves out
Very low quotes are usually real prices for a smaller job than you think you're buying. Check for these before comparing.
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Revisions billed separately
The first cut is cheap; every change after costs. Two rounds are included in my rates.
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Copyrighted music
A film song gets your video claimed or muted within a day. Licensed tracks are included in mine.
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No colour or audio work
Clips assembled in order with no grading or level matching. It shows immediately.
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One aspect ratio only
A horizontal export squeezed into a vertical frame rather than reframed properly.
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Auto-generated captions
Unchecked machine captions mangle names and Tamil words. Mine are corrected by hand.
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Template edits
The same preset applied to everyone's footage. Cheap, fast, and identical to fifty other channels.
Common questions on charges
Why is a 60-second reel sometimes more than a 10-minute video?
Cut density. A reel has a cut every second and a half plus captions timed to speech; a podcast edit may have one cut every eight seconds. The finished duration tells you very little about the work involved.
Do you charge by the hour?
No, fixed price per video, agreed before I start. You know the number in advance and I carry the risk if it takes longer than expected. Hourly billing rewards slow work, which helps nobody.
How many revisions are included?
Two rounds on everything. Beyond that it is ₹800 a round for short-form and ₹2,000 for long-form. Most projects never reach it — structural feedback at the rough cut stage prevents almost all of it.
Is there a discount for regular work?
Yes, retainers work out roughly a third cheaper per video. Four YouTube videos a month is ₹10,000 against ₹12,000 billed singly, and you get a fixed slot in my schedule rather than joining a queue.
Do you charge extra for rush jobs?
25% if it displaces other scheduled work. Often it does not — ask before assuming, especially for reels and event recaps where speed is normal anyway.
What about GST?
Rates listed are exclusive of GST. Invoices are issued properly with PO references for companies that need them.
Rates by service
Comparing quotes?
Tell me how much footage you have and what the finished video is for. You'll get a fixed number, not a range.