A revision round is one consolidated set of notes on a cut you have already seen, applied once, and returned as a new version. It covers trims, re-ordering, swapping a shot, fixing a title, adjusting music or colour. It does not cover a new script, a new interview, a reshoot or a second deliverable. Those are change orders, and they carry a new scope and a new price.
That distinction is where most video budgets drift. A Project Management Institute survey found that 52% of projects completed in the prior 12 months experienced scope creep or uncontrolled changes to scope. Storimatic’s standard project, described on our video production in Calgary page, includes one revision round and a written scope before any work starts. This article explains what a round includes, where revision ends and change order begins, how to write it into a contract, and how our approval process works.
What is a revision round, and what does it include?
A revision round is a single pass of edits made to an approved cut, based on one written list of feedback delivered by a set date. Everything in that list is applied together, and you receive one new version. If notes arrive in five separate emails over a week, most production companies will count them as one round only if the contract says they must be consolidated. Otherwise each email risks becoming its own round.
A round normally covers changes that work with footage already shot and a structure already approved:
- Trimming or extending shots, tightening pacing, removing a pause or a stumble.
- Re-ordering sections within the approved structure.
- Replacing a shot with another take or b-roll clip from the same shoot.
- Fixing on-screen text: names, titles, spelling, logo placement.
- Adjusting music level, swapping a licensed track for another from the same library.
- Colour and exposure tweaks, caption corrections, export settings.
Here is how the typical review stages map to what can change at each one.
| Review stage | What you are judging | What a round can change | What it cannot change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rough cut | Story order, which soundbites made it, length | Order, soundbite selection, overall length | Interview questions already asked |
| Fine cut | Pacing, b-roll choice, music, titles | Trims, shot swaps, text, music track | The approved structure from rough cut |
| Final / colour and sound | Polish, captions, exports | Colour, audio levels, caption fixes, formats | Story or structure |
Industry data shows why the stages matter. The 2019 In-House Creative Management Report found that 61% of in-house creative teams said a typical project takes three to five rounds of review to reach approval, and 25% said five or more. Most of those extra rounds come from stakeholders joining late and reopening decisions that were already approved. Lock the structure at rough cut and the later rounds stay small.
Revision vs change order: where is the line?
A revision refines what was approved. A change order changes what was agreed. The test is simple: can the editor do it with the footage, script and deliverables already in the scope? If yes, it is a revision. If it needs a camera, a new interviewee, new graphics design, a new length or a new platform version, it is a change order.
Scope creep in video projects rarely arrives as one big request. It arrives as a “quick” addition: a second cut for LinkedIn, a new ending because the product name changed, a drone shot of the yard “while you’re there”. Each one seems too small to argue about. Together they can add days to post-production and push the delivery date.
Use this table to sort requests before you send them.
| Request | Revision or change order? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| “Cut the pause at 0:42 and tighten the intro” | Revision | Same footage, same structure |
| “Swap the music, it feels too upbeat” | Revision | Same library, same length |
| “Can we add a 30-second version for ads?” | Change order | New deliverable, new edit |
| “The site super said something wrong, can we re-record?” | Change order | Needs a new shoot |
| “Add our new logo animation” | Change order | New motion-graphics design |
| “Fix the spelling of the engineer’s name” | Revision | Text fix on approved cut |
When a request lands on the change-order side, the right response is not “no”. It is a short written note: what the change is, how many extra hours or shoot days it needs, what it costs, and how it moves the delivery date. You approve it or you don’t, and the original scope stays intact either way.
How should revision rounds be written into the contract?
The revision clause should state four things: how many rounds are included, what counts as a round, what falls outside a round, and how extra work is quoted. A clause without a definition of “round” is the clause that gets argued about later.
A workable clause covers these points:
- Number of rounds included, per deliverable. State it for the main film and for each cut-down, because a cut-down inherits the approved master.
- Definition of a round. One consolidated list of written feedback from one named approver, delivered within a set number of business days of receiving the cut.
- Exclusions. New footage, new interviews, script changes after approval, new deliverables, new graphics design, changes requested after final sign-off.
- Extra rounds. How they are priced (hourly or per round) and that they are approved in writing before work begins.
- Feedback deadline and silence. What happens if feedback does not arrive by the deadline, so the schedule does not stall.
- Who approves. One decision-maker on your side. Five reviewers with equal votes is where rounds multiply.
Two other contract lines belong next to the revision clause. First, the approval record: each stage is signed off in writing, so the “approved rough cut” is a specific file on a specific date, not a memory. Second, ownership of the final files and the raw footage. In Canada, an assignment of copyright is valid only if it is in writing and signed by the owner, under section 13(4) of the Copyright Act. We cover that in detail in Who owns the footage? Video ownership in Canada.
If you are comparing quotes from several studios, ask each one the same question: “What is included in a revision round, and what is the price of a second one?” A studio that answers in one sentence has done this before.
How Storimatic runs review and approval in Calgary
Every Storimatic project runs through five stages over a standard 3 weeks, and each stage ends with something you approve before the next begins. Week 1 is pre-production: question set or script, shot list, location scout, site orientation and permits. Week 2 is the shoot. Week 3 is edit, colour, sound, captions and delivery. The standard project includes one revision round, applied in week 3 after you review the cut. Testimonial videos run on their own schedule of about 2 weeks (14 days), and other services vary by scope.
At a glance
- Typical length: one hero film up to 2 minutes, plus three vertical cutdowns
- Shoot: one day in Calgary for the standard project
- Timeline: 3 weeks (week 1 pre-production, week 2 shoot, week 3 post-production and delivery)
- Revisions: one revision round on the standard project
- Scope and fixed price in writing before any work starts
Because the script or question set, the shot list and the deliverables list are approved in week 1, the week 3 review is usually about pacing and polish, not direction. Our approval is a shared review link with timecoded comments, so your notes land on the exact frame. We ask for one approver and one consolidated list.
If your team wants more than one round, that is a scoping conversation on the free 15–30 minute call, not a surprise invoice afterward. For a view of where review sits inside the whole schedule, see How long does video production take? Our 3-week process. For what happens inside the edit itself, see our post-production planning checklist.
We shoot across Alberta from 118 Waterfront Ct SW in Calgary. Calgary shoots carry no travel fee, and travel elsewhere in the province is quoted up front, so the written scope you approve in week 1 is the number you pay.
Video revision rounds: FAQ
How many revision rounds are standard in video production?
Practitioner guidance clusters around two to three rounds, with one included round common on fixed-price packages. The number matters less than the definition. Storimatic’s standard project includes one revision round, and the scope states what it covers.
What counts as one revision round?
One consolidated written list of feedback from one approver on one cut, applied together and returned as a new version. Notes sent in separate emails over several days are usually treated as one round only if the contract requires consolidation.
Is a reshoot a revision?
No. A reshoot needs a crew, a location and a day, so it is a change order with its own scope and price. The same applies to a new interviewee or a new ending that requires footage you do not have.
Can I ask for changes after final approval?
You can, but it is new work. Final approval closes the project, and the files are mastered and exported. A post-approval change is quoted as a small change order, which is why we ask for one careful review at fine cut.
What is scope creep in a video project?
Scope creep is work added after the agreement without a matching change in time, cost or resources. In video it shows up as extra cuts, new graphics, late stakeholder notes and “while you’re there” shots. A written scope, a named approver and a defined revision round are the three controls that stop it.
Who should give feedback on a cut?
One decision-maker who collects notes from the team and sends a single list. Timecoded comments on a review link are better than a paragraph of impressions, because the editor sees the exact frame you mean.
Plan your shoot with the approvals built in
Send us the address and the goal of the video, and we will come back with a written scope that names the deliverables, the approval stages and the revision round, with a fixed price before any work starts. Book a free 15–30 minute call at contact us, or read how a standard project runs on our video production in Calgary page. We are at 118 Waterfront Ct SW, Calgary, and we shoot across Alberta.
