Video production Gantt chart template: shoot, picture lock and delivery
An editable video production Gantt chart: script and casting, a shoot, an edit that starts as the shoot wraps, review rounds as tasks, a picture lock gate, then sound, grade and delivery, with dependencies and milestones.
What the video production gantt chart template: shoot, picture lock and delivery process is
A video is made in four stages that do not overlap evenly. Pre-production can run several things at once, the shoot is expensive and short, the edit can begin before the shoot ends, and everything after the cut is fixed is a set of jobs that each need the final picture. A timeline shows where the plan can overlap safely, which review is holding up the next stage and how much work sits behind the gate that must not be reopened.
This template has four groups: Pre-production, Shoot, Post-production and Delivery, with 22 tasks and three milestones: "Pre-production sign-off", "Picture lock" and "Delivered". "Agree the brief and approach" (2 working days) is the only starting task. "Write the script" (5) and "Scout and book locations" (5) then run side by side, because the location search can begin from the brief. "Client review of the script" (3) is a task of its own, and both "Draw the storyboard and shot list" (4) and "Cast talent and book the crew" (5) wait for it, since nobody should be booked against a script that may still change. In the illustrative numbers casting, not the storyboard or the locations, is the last to finish, so it decides "Pre-production sign-off", which comes 15 working days into the plan.
The edit does not wait for the shoot to end. "Sync and log footage" (6) is linked start-to-start to "Shoot principal photography" (6) with a lag of 1 working day, so footage is organised from the second day of the shoot and the editor is ready when the camera stops. "Assemble the rough cut" (5) still waits for both "Sync and log footage" and "Shoot pick-ups and inserts" (2), because a cut assembled before the last scene arrives gets assembled twice. "Source and license music" (4) starts 2 working days after the rough cut starts, with a start-to-start link, and has about 10 working days to spare: it ends during the review of the rough cut, while the mix cannot start until picture lock.
Review rounds are tasks, not waiting time you hope for. "Client review of the rough cut" (3) leads to "Revise to the fine cut" (5), then "Client review of the fine cut" (3), and only then "Picture lock", the milestone every later task depends on. After it, "Sound design and mix" (6), "Colour grade" (4) and "Add titles and graphics" (3) run side by side, and the mix is the longest, so it sets the date for "Final client review" (2). That is why a change to the picture after lock is the expensive one: the mix, the grade and the titles all start again, while a change to the script costs only the pre-production tasks that follow it. "Delivered" closes the plan after 50 working days. All durations are illustrative; replace them with your crew's availability, your client's real turnaround and your own edit estimates. If you have a rights or clearance process, put it in the notes of the tasks it affects.
A timeline schedules the work. It does not clear rights or music, secure releases, or make a contract or licence valid. For the method behind creative plans, see /guides/creative-production-gantt-chart; for drawing approvals and rounds of changes, see /guides/review-rounds-gantt-chart; and for a similar plan where the expensive stage is animation, see /templates/animation-production-gantt-chart. A video that is one piece of a wider campaign can be placed in /templates/marketing-campaign-gantt-chart.
What this flowchart covers
In this template
- Four groups, Pre-production, Shoot, Post-production and Delivery, with 22 tasks and three milestones: "Pre-production sign-off", "Picture lock" and "Delivered".
- A script gate: "Client review of the script" comes before "Draw the storyboard and shot list" and "Cast talent and book the crew", while "Scout and book locations" runs beside "Write the script".
- An edit that starts with the shoot: "Sync and log footage" starts 1 working day after "Shoot principal photography" with a start-to-start link, and "Assemble the rough cut" waits for "Shoot pick-ups and inserts".
- Three review rounds as tasks, "Client review of the script", "Client review of the rough cut" and "Client review of the fine cut", ending at "Picture lock", plus "Final client review" after the mix.
- Work that waits for the lock: "Sound design and mix", "Colour grade" and "Add titles and graphics" run side by side, then "Export and check the deliverables" leads to "Delivered".
When to use this template
- You are planning a corporate film, an advert, a documentary or a series of short videos and need one plan for pre-production, the shoot and post-production.
- You want to see whether casting, the review rounds or the mix decides the delivery date, and which late change would cost the most.
- You work with a client who reviews in rounds and you want each round to be a task with a length, not an unscheduled wait.
- A premiere, an airing or a launch date is fixed and you want to check whether the plan fits before it.
The plan, task by task
Every task in the chart with its length in working days and what it waits for. A dependency is a step number; SS is start-to-start, FF is finish-to-finish, and +n is a lag in working days.
| # | Task | Group | Working days | Depends on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agree the brief and approach | Pre-production | 2 | |
| 2 | Write the script | Pre-production | 5 | 1 |
| 3 | Client review of the script | Pre-production | 3 | 2 |
| 4 | Draw the storyboard and shot list | Pre-production | 4 | 3 |
| 5 | Scout and book locations | Pre-production | 5 | 1 |
| 6 | Cast talent and book the crew | Pre-production | 5 | 3 |
| 7 | Pre-production sign-off | Pre-production | Milestone | 4, 5, 6 |
| 8 | Shoot principal photography | Shoot | 6 | 7 |
| 9 | Shoot pick-ups and inserts | Shoot | 2 | 8 |
| 10 | Sync and log footage | Post-production | 6 | 8SS+1 |
| 11 | Assemble the rough cut | Post-production | 5 | 9, 10 |
| 12 | Client review of the rough cut | Post-production | 3 | 11 |
| 13 | Revise to the fine cut | Post-production | 5 | 12 |
| 14 | Client review of the fine cut | Post-production | 3 | 13 |
| 15 | Picture lock | Post-production | Milestone | 14 |
| 16 | Source and license music | Post-production | 4 | 11SS+2 |
| 17 | Sound design and mix | Post-production | 6 | 15, 16 |
| 18 | Colour grade | Post-production | 4 | 15 |
| 19 | Add titles and graphics | Post-production | 3 | 15 |
| 20 | Final client review | Delivery | 2 | 17, 18, 19 |
| 21 | Export and check the deliverables | Delivery | 3 | 20 |
| 22 | Delivered | Delivery | Milestone | 21 |
How it works
Set the length of each review
Set "Client review of the script", "Client review of the rough cut" and "Client review of the fine cut" from how long your client actually takes to respond, not from how long you would like them to take.
Fit pre-production to your bookings
Set "Cast talent and book the crew" and "Scout and book locations" from the availability you are quoted, and check which of them is the last to finish before "Pre-production sign-off".
Keep the overlap on the edit
Keep "Sync and log footage" as a start-to-start link from "Shoot principal photography", and change the lag to the number of working days before the first footage is ready to log.
Protect picture lock
Keep "Picture lock" as the milestone that the mix, the grade and the titles follow. If your client can still ask for changes after it, add a task for that round before the lock instead of after it.
Compare with the date you need
If the video has to be live by a fixed date, give "Agree the brief and approach" a fixed Start and give "Delivered" a fixed Start on the date you need. The plan starts on the earliest fixed Start and is scheduled forward, so read the conflict flag and the earliest date it names rather than expecting the plan to be worked backwards.
Add owners, share and export
Put the person responsible for each task in People, share the chart as a link with the client and the crew, and export a PDF or PNG for the production schedule.
Frequently asked questions
Why is picture lock a milestone in a video plan?
Because "Sound design and mix", "Colour grade" and "Add titles and graphics" all depend on the final picture. In the template they all follow "Picture lock", so a change to the cut after it moves all three and the "Final client review" behind them. Keeping it as a diamond makes the gate easy to point to when a client asks for one more change.
Can the edit really start before the shoot ends?
Yes. "Sync and log footage" is linked start-to-start to "Shoot principal photography" with a lag of 1 working day, so it begins on the second day of the shoot. "Assemble the rough cut" still waits until the logging and "Shoot pick-ups and inserts" are done. The lag is illustrative: replace it with the day your first footage is actually ready.
How should I plan client revisions?
Draw each round as a task with a length, as the three client review tasks and "Revise to the fine cut" do here. The chart does not know how many rounds you will need. If you allow for two more, add a review and a revision task after the first ones, and the dates after them move.
My premiere or air date is fixed. How do I check the plan against it?
Give "Agree the brief and approach" a fixed Start on the day you begin, then give "Delivered" a fixed Start on the date you need. The plan starts on the earliest fixed Start and is scheduled forward: if the work cannot be finished by then, "Delivered" is flagged with a conflict naming the earliest date its dependencies allow. Then shorten a duration or move a gate and read the flag again.
Can I use it for a short social video or a longer film?
Yes. For a short video, delete tasks you do not need, such as "Cast talent and book the crew", and shorten the rest. For a longer one, increase the shoot and post-production durations. The numbers are illustrative either way, and the gates keep the same order.