One photography channel. Sixty-one videos, 584 minutes — 9.74 hours — to publish a video, on average.
When I searched for the same answer, all I found was noise: vague guesses, conflicting advice, nothing backed by numbers. I needed the numbers.
So I logged every minute of my workflow across the last few years. Every hour: scripting, shooting, editing. Mistakes included. The point is to see them clearly, learn from them, and avoid repeating them.
What follows is the data. Take what’s useful. Leave the rest.
How Long Does It Take to Make a YouTube Video?
The average time to create a YouTube video on my photography channel is 584 minutes — 9.74 hours (9:44).
| MIN | 1.87 |
| MAX | 60.92 |
| MEDIAN | 7.37 |
| AVG | 9.74 |
The range is extreme. The fastest came in just under 2 hours, a quick repurpose of old content. At the other end, one video consumed almost 61 hours. That marathon also turned out to be the channel’s best performer (a story for another post).
To show the distribution, here are two box plots: one with outliers, and one without.
The Multiplier: Time per Published Minute
On average, each published minute of video required 169 minutes of work — a multiplier of 169x.
| MIN | 48 |
| MAX | 359 |
| MEDIAN | 147 |
| AVG | 169 |
To show how inconsistent this ratio can be, here’s a box plot of the multiplier: minutes of work required for each published minute of video.
The spread runs from 48× at the low end to 359× at the high end. This is the key metric to watch if you want to see whether you’re getting more efficient with your time. For now, my data is still inconclusive.
YouTube Video Production Breakdown
Here’s where the hours actually go:
- Pre-Production — ideation, research, planning, scripting
- Production — shooting, voiceover
- Post-Production — importing, editing, thumbnails, show notes
- Publishing — uploads to YouTube and website
- Marketing — promotion (mainly Instagram)
- Other — admin, backups, maintenance
| Pre-Production | 1.33 | 13.7% |
| Production | 2.95 | 30.3% |
| Post-Production | 4.87 | 50.0% |
| Publishing | 0.43 | 4.4% |
| Marketing | 0.12 | 1.3% |
| Other | 0.03 | 0.3% |
| Total | 9.74 | 100.0% |
If you thought YouTube was about filming, the numbers prove otherwise. Only 30% in production, out in the field shooting. Nearly 65% happens behind a desk — planning, scripting, editing.
By comparison, the time spent on publishing, marketing, and other is negligible per video. They do add up, so I track them in monthly reports.
The Bottleneck: Editing Time
Editing is the single largest sink of hours: 60% of post-production and ~30% of total time — almost equal to shooting itself (2.77 vs 2.92 hours).
Editing demands as much time as being out shooting, but without the energy of the field. It is where my enthusiasm drains fastest — and where momentum usually dies.
This is where projects stall. Push it and the schedule slips; keep pushing and the channel breaks.
Time is the true cost. Gear is a one-off purchase. Software renews monthly. Time compounds, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. Ignore it, and the channel pays.
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