The easy half of a video shoot spec, and the one line that changes the footage
Quick Answer
A video shoot spec is the part of a shoot brief that states how footage must be captured and delivered: resolution, frame rate, codec, audio, aspect ratio, handoff. Any competent shooter can meet those lines. The colour decision sitting behind them is what actually changes the footage you get.
What actually belongs in a video shoot spec?
The delivery lines. Resolution, frame rate, codec and bit depth, how audio is recorded, which aspect ratios the footage has to serve, and when the files come back to you. A shooter reads that list once and prices it. There is very little to argue about, which is why this half always gets written.
Some lines carry more weight. Resolution is a decision about what you can still do to the frame months from now, which we covered in our piece on capture resolution. Even there, the shooter meets the number without either of you discussing what the footage will look like.
Why is log versus a ready to cut profile the choice that changes the footage?
Because it decides where the look gets made. Log capture records a flat, low contrast image that holds more information for grading later, and it assumes a colour pass happens after the edit. A ready to cut profile bakes the look in at capture, so what comes off the card is close to what people will see.
A shooter will often ask which you want. If you commission shoots but have never sat in a grade, that question is hard to answer well, because both answers sound professional and only one fits your schedule.
| What you have to know | If you take log | If you take a ready to cut profile |
|---|---|---|
| Who applies the look, and when | A colourist, after the edit. That step needs schedule and budget. | The shooter, on the day, before anything is recorded. |
| What reviewers see in the first cut | Flat images, unless a viewing profile is applied to the review copy. | Something close to final, which is easier to approve. |
| What happens if exposure drifts | More room to bring it back in the grade. | Less room, and the drift may stay in the shot. |
| What the editor receives | Bigger files, and a colour step between the cut and anything finished. | Files that can be cut and posted without a colour stage. |
| What the archive holds | Footage you can regrade later for a different look. | Footage that keeps the look you chose on the day. |
Neither column is the correct answer. It depends on whether a colour pass is a real step in your process with a real person attached to it, or a step you describe because it sounds more serious.
How does framing sit inside the same video shoot spec?
Framing belongs in the spec for the same reason colour does. It is decided at capture and expensive to undo. If the footage has to serve a wide player, a square feed, and a vertical crop, the shooter needs to know before deciding where to put the subject and how much room to leave around them.
That is a composition instruction, which is why it rarely appears on a spec sheet. We wrote about the mechanics of reframing video at capture because the alternative is asking an editor to invent headroom that was never shot.
Colour and framing both get settled in the first hour on set, and neither is a number you can write on a form.
What does a video shoot spec look like once you answer the colour question first?
Say you are commissioning a half day shoot for three product pages, and the footage is going to a marketing team that will cut it themselves. There is no colourist on the account and no grading stage in the schedule.
You write the delivery lines as usual, then add one line above them. Capture in a ready to cut profile, matched to the brand look, set on camera before the first take. That removes a stage nobody was assigned to.
Then a second line, because the hero shots will outlive the campaign. Shoot the two hero setups again in log and deliver those clips separately for the archive. It costs twenty minutes on the day, and a year from now, when the brand look has moved, those shots can be regraded instead of reshot.
The delivery spec underneath stays exactly as boring as it was, which is the point. Written once, it does not come up again after the camera is running.
FAQ
What is included in a video shoot spec? Resolution, frame rate, codec and bit depth, audio method, the aspect ratios the footage must serve, and how files are handed back. Colour profile and framing allowance belong there too.
Should I ask for log footage or a ready to cut profile? Ask who applies the look and when. If a colour pass has a person and a slot in the schedule, log gives them room to work. If it does not, a ready to cut profile avoids a stage nobody owns.
Why does log footage look flat? Log records a low contrast image on purpose, keeping more information in the highlights and shadows for grading. The flat look is the starting point rather than the result.
Can I add a colour pass later if I shot ready to cut? You can adjust it, but the look was set at capture, so there is less room to move. Regrading for a different look is easier with log files in the archive.