Post-production schedule planner
Start from the delivery date and work backwards: editorial, VFX, conform, grading, sound, mastering and deliverables in working days, with a Gantt timeline and exportable milestones.
Project
The chosen date falls on a weekend: moved to 23 Apr 2027.
Timeline (Gantt)
Axis in working days (weekends skipped, public holidays not handled). Sound editing, conform and titles start at picture lock; VFX start during editorial and grading ends after the last VFX shots arrive.
Phases and durations
Ranges are orders of magnitude commonly seen for a 90-min feature film, adjusted for runtime, VFX, sound, review rounds and delivery targets. They are typical ranges, not norms: every production, crew and facility has its own pace.
Milestones
- Start of post-production4 Nov 2026
- First VFX turnovers13 Jan 2027
- Picture lock9 Feb 2027
- Final VFX shots delivered23 Feb 2027
- Grade approved5 Mar 2027
- Final mix approved (printmaster, stems, M&E)5 Apr 2027
- Master approved & QC passed12 Apr 2027
- Delivery23 Apr 2027
Related tools
About this tool
The post-production schedule planner builds a backwards schedule from a delivery date, or a forward one from a start date, for a feature film, documentary, TV episode, short, commercial or music video. It lays out the usual phases of post: ingest and dailies wrap-up, assembly and editorial, VFX, conform, color grading, sound editing, mix, titles and credits, mastering and QC, then deliverables. Each phase gets a duration in working days taken from typical ranges for the project type, scaled to the runtime and adjusted for the amount of VFX, the sound complexity, the number of cut review rounds and the delivery targets (DCP, streaming, broadcast, festival). The dependencies follow common practice: conform, sound editing and titles start at picture lock, VFX begin during editorial, grading finishes after the last VFX shots and mastering waits for both picture and sound. Weekends are skipped. Producers, post supervisors and post coordinators use it to sanity-check a delivery date, brief vendors and share a first calendar. The ranges are orders of magnitude, not norms: override any duration with your own figures, then export the plan as CSV or as an .ics calendar.
How to use it
- Choose the project type and runtime; the review rounds reset to a typical value for that type.
- Pick whether you plan from the delivery date (backwards) or from the start of post (forwards) and set the date.
- Set the VFX amount, sound complexity, number of cut review rounds and the delivery targets.
- Read the start and delivery dates, the Gantt timeline and the milestone list; adjust any phase duration in the table to match your quotes.
- Export the schedule as CSV for a spreadsheet or as .ics to import the phases and milestones into a calendar.
Frequently asked questions
How long does post-production take for a feature film?
For a 90-minute independent feature with light VFX and a standard 5.1 mix, five to seven months of working time from the end of the shoot to delivery is a common order of magnitude, with editorial alone often taking 10 to 16 weeks. Heavy VFX, many review rounds or several delivery formats push it further. These are typical ranges, not norms: each production and facility works at its own pace.
What is picture lock and why does the schedule hinge on it?
Picture lock is the point where the cut is approved and no more edits change the duration or the order of shots. Conform, sound editing, music and titles are built on the locked timeline, so any change after lock ripples into every department, costs money and usually delays delivery. That is why the planner starts those phases at lock.
Why do the VFX start before picture lock?
VFX shots take weeks or months, so vendors usually receive turnovers of shots that are unlikely to change while the cut is still evolving. The final shots often arrive after lock, and the grade is finished once the last VFX are dropped into the conformed timeline. The planner models this overlap.
Does the planner account for public holidays?
No. It skips Saturdays and Sundays only. Add margin around holiday periods, or increase the affected phase durations in the table, and remember that facilities and crews may close for part of the summer or the end of the year.
What is in the .ics export?
One all-day calendar event per phase, from its first to its last working day, plus one event per milestone (picture lock, final VFX, grade approved, final mix, master approved and delivery). The file is generated in your browser and can be imported into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook.
Calculation method and sources
Builds a post-production schedule in working days from typical phase ranges, scaled by runtime and complexity, then places it on a calendar from a delivery or start date.
- Runtime factor
f = clamp((runtime / reference_runtime)^0.7, 0.4, 3); ingest uses sqrt(f)- Phase duration
d = max(1, round(base · f · m + extra)), m = sound multiplier (0.7 / 1 / 1.5) for sound edit and mix- Editorial
editorial = round(base · f + rounds · days_per_round)- Review extra (grade, mix)
extra = round(rounds · 0.5 · review_session)- Deliverables
deliver = base + sum over targets of max(1, ceil(target_days · delivery_factor))- Dependencies
conform, sound edit and titles start at picture lock; mix follows sound edit; grade ends at least 2 days after the last VFX; mastering starts after grade, mix and titles; delivery follows mastering- VFX window
end = max(lock + post_lock, editorial_start + 0.5 · editorial + vfx); start = max(editorial_start, end − vfx)- Calendar
total working days counted Monday to Friday; delivery mode: start = delivery − (total − 1) working days
- Base ranges are planning orders of magnitude, not industry norms.
- Weekends are skipped; public holidays are not.
- A delivery date on a weekend is moved to the previous Friday.