Week 1
Brief and the buy
What the ad has to change, which channels it runs on and for how long. The media plan shapes the creative here rather than receiving it later.
Videography · TV and video ads · Sydney
Video ad production in Sydney
An ad is the only video with a scoreboard attached. It runs against money, it is measured, and it is replaced when it stops working. That changes how it should be made: for the first three seconds, in every shape the buy needs, and with the clearances sorted before anyone films.
Grab the snowball. Give it a spin, and watch it grow as you scroll. Just like your reach.
3seconds that decide whether it works
4aspect ratios from one shoot
Clearedmusic, talent and claims, in writing
Sydneycrew, studio and edit suite
The short answer
What is video ad production, and how is it different?
Video ad production is making video that runs as paid advertising: a television commercial, a YouTube pre-roll, or paid social. It differs from every other kind of video in three ways. It is measured against spend, it has to work in the first three seconds, and it needs clearances that other video does not.
That third point catches more campaigns than the first two. Music, talent, any on-screen claim and any comparison all need to be cleared for the channels and the period you intend to run, and broadcast has its own approval process with its own lead time. Sorting that after the edit is where a keen quote becomes an expensive one.
We build ads to be measured, using the same analytics and paid advertising work that sits behind the buy, so the creative and the reporting are not two separate conversations. Because our Snowball SEO platform automates the search heavy lifting other agencies bill by the hour, more of your budget goes into production. It sits inside our wider Sydney video production service.
The difference
How many shapes does your ad need to exist in?
Four, usually, and they are not crops of each other. A face framed for a wide television master has nowhere to go when the same moment has to fill a vertical phone screen, which is a decision made on the day rather than in the edit.
Decide before the shoot
- Every channel the ad will run on, including the ones added later
- The lengths the buy needs, because a 15 is not a trimmed 30
- Whether it must work with the sound off, which most of them must
- Whether the brand appears early, since most viewers never reach the end
The mistakes that cost the most
- Saving the brand and the offer for the final frame
- Clearing the music for social and then deciding to run it on television
- One length filmed, then asking an editor to invent the other three
- A claim on screen that nobody checked against the substantiation
If the piece is not running as paid media, it is probably a social video or a brand film, and both are briefed differently and cost less.
The cost
What drives the price of a video ad?
Talent, clearances and the number of versions, more than the shoot itself. A one day ad shoot and a one day brand shoot cost similar amounts to film. Everything around an ad is what makes it an ad.
Social and digital ads
One shoot day
A set of paid social and YouTube ads from one day, filmed in every ratio and cut to several lengths. No broadcast approval, and usually no hired talent.
A campaign with talent
One to two days
Cast talent, a location or a studio, a scripted idea and a full set of versions. Clearances written into the talent agreement from the start.
Television commercial
Full production
A TVC with the broadcast approval process, the mandatory technical delivery standards and the longer lead time that comes with them.
We quote a fixed price for the production after a free consult, separate from any media spend, so you can see what you are paying to make and what you are paying to run. For indicative Australian ranges, see our guide to what video production costs.
What moves the number, in order
The shoot is rarely the biggest line, which surprises people who have only commissioned brand video before.
- Cast talent, and the usage period and territory their agreement covers
- Music, whether it is licensed, commissioned or from a library
- Broadcast approval and the technical delivery standards, for a TVC
- How many versions: ratios, lengths, and any localised variants
- Shoot days, crew and whether a studio build is needed
- Motion graphics, an animated endframe and any legal supers
Usage is the line that surprises people
Talent and music are not bought outright. They are licensed for a set of channels, a territory and a period, and when that period ends the ad has to come down or the licence has to be renewed at a price agreed when you have no leverage.
The fix costs nothing at the right moment: agree the widest usage you can foresee at the point of casting and licensing, not twelve months later when the campaign is working and you want to keep running it.
We put usage in writing before anyone is booked, and we tell you plainly what it would cost to extend, so the decision is yours while it is still cheap.
The scope
What you receive from an ad production
Every version the buy needs, plus the paperwork that lets you actually run them.
The master and the cutdowns
The hero length plus every shorter version the buy calls for, each cut as its own piece rather than trimmed, because a 15 is a different edit and not a shorter 30.
Every aspect ratio
Sixteen by nine, one by one, four by five and nine by sixteen, framed at capture rather than cropped afterwards, with captions where the platform expects them.
Endframes and legal supers
The brand endframe, the offer, and any mandatory text sized and timed to the standards each channel actually enforces.
Clearances in writing
Talent agreements, music licences and the usage terms for each, with the expiry dates written down so nothing lapses while a campaign is still running.
Variants for testing
Alternate openings and endframes so the buy has something to test against, which is the cheapest performance gain available on any campaign.
Broadcast delivery
For a TVC, delivery to the technical standards broadcasters require, handled by us rather than handed to you as a problem.
The return
Where does a video ad lose its audience?
Almost all of it in the first few seconds, before any story has begun. That single fact should shape the script more than any other, and it is the one most often ignored in favour of a slow build.
Put the point at the start, not the end
The traditional shape of an ad builds to a reveal. That shape was designed for a captive audience who could not skip, and almost nobody has one of those any more.
So the useful discipline is to assume most people will see the first three seconds and nothing else, and to ask what those three seconds are worth on their own. If the answer is nothing until the punchline lands, the ad is built for an audience that has left.
That does not mean no story. It means the brand, the subject and a reason to stay all appear early, and the story rewards the people who do. We test alternate openings against the same body for exactly this reason, alongside our conversion work.
The process
How a video ad gets made
Five to eight weeks for digital, longer for broadcast because the approval process has its own clock that nobody controls.
Week 2
Script and idea
Built around the first three seconds and around every ratio the buy needs. You approve it before anything is cast or booked.
Week 3
Casting and clearances
Talent, music and any claim, with the usage period and territory agreed in writing at the point of booking rather than after the edit.
Week 4
The shoot
Filmed for every ratio in the same setups, with alternate openings captured while the crew and cast are already there.
Weeks 5 to 6
Edit and versions
The master, then every length and ratio cut as its own piece, plus endframes, supers and captions.
Week 7
Approval and delivery
Broadcast approval where it applies, technical delivery to each channel's standards, and the clearance paperwork handed over with the files.
The brief
What to ask before you commission a video ad
An ad that cannot run is worth nothing regardless of how good it looks, and most of the reasons an ad cannot run are decided before the shoot.
What usage are the talent and music cleared for?
Channels, territory and period, in writing, before anyone is booked. This is the single most common reason a working campaign has to come down.
Are we filming for every ratio, or cropping later?
Framing for four shapes is a decision on the day and costs nothing. Cropping a wide master into a vertical afterwards is visible, and everyone can tell.
What happens in the first three seconds?
Ask to see them described specifically. If the answer is about the overall idea rather than the opening, the ad is built for an audience that will have gone.
Who handles broadcast approval and technical delivery?
For a TVC these are real work with real lead times. If nobody names themselves as responsible, it will land on you at the worst possible moment.
We are happy to answer all four before you commit. If the buy is part of the brief, our paid advertising service and this one are usually quoted together.
Start here
Ready to make something that runs?
Tell us the channels, the period and what the ad has to change. The free consult is a working session, not a sales call, and you leave with three things whether or not you book us.
- The first three seconds, described specifically enough to argue with
- The full version list your buy needs, in every ratio and length
- A fixed production price, separate from media, with clearances itemised
Good questions
Video advertising FAQs
What is video ad production?
Video ad production is making video that runs as paid advertising: a television commercial, a YouTube pre-roll or paid social. It differs from other video because it is measured against spend, it has to work in the first three seconds, and it needs talent, music and claim clearances that other video does not.
How much does a TVC cost in Sydney?
We do not publish a single figure. For advertising the shoot is rarely the largest line: cast talent and their usage terms, music licensing, broadcast approval and technical delivery, and the number of versions and ratios usually move the number more than the filming does. We quote a fixed production price after a free consult, kept separate from media spend.
How many versions of an ad do we need?
Normally four aspect ratios and two or three lengths, so eight to twelve finished pieces from one shoot. They are cut as separate edits rather than trimmed, because a fifteen second ad is a different piece and not a shortened thirty.
Why does the first three seconds matter so much?
Because the largest single drop in audience happens there, before the idea has begun. An ad that saves its brand and its offer for the final frame is showing them to a small fraction of the people who started watching. The practical discipline is to assume most people see only the opening and to make it worth something on its own.
What clearances do we actually need?
Talent, music, and any claim or comparison that appears on screen, each cleared for the specific channels, territory and period you intend to run. Agreeing the widest usage you can foresee at the point of booking costs very little; extending it later, once the campaign is working, costs whatever the other side decides.
Can the same shoot cover broadcast and social?
Usually yes, and it is the sensible way to do it, provided the ratios and lengths are planned before the shoot and the clearances cover both. Deciding to add broadcast after an edit cleared only for social is where budgets go.
Do you handle the media buy as well?
The buy sits with our paid advertising service and we quote the two together when you want them joined up. Keeping creative and buying in the same conversation is the reason ads get tested and improved rather than run once and abandoned.
How long does an ad take to produce?
Five to eight weeks for digital and paid social. Longer for a television commercial, because broadcast approval and technical delivery have their own timelines that nobody on either side controls. We build those dates into the schedule at the start.