What is raw footage in UGC? Meaning and pricing

Raw footage: Raw footage is the unedited video a creator films for a project, such as full takes, reaction shots and screen recordings, delivered before cuts, captions or music are added.

Raw footage is the unedited video you film for a project: every take, reaction shot and screen recording, before you cut it, add captions or put a hook on screen. Some brands ask for it on top of the finished video so their own editors can make new versions. Because they can build many ads from it, raw footage is usually priced as an add-on.

How it works

Raw footage usually includes:

Full takes, including the ones you didn’t use.
B-roll: product shots, hands, setting.
Reaction clips and app demos as recorded.
Clean audio without music or sound effects.

You send it as files, often in a shared folder, alongside the edited video. The contract should say which files are included and in what quality.

Example

A brand orders three edited videos at your per-video rate. Then their ad team asks for the raw files. From your footage they could cut many new versions, each with a new hook, each a new ad. So you quote raw footage as its own line, and tie it to the same usage rights term as the edited videos.

Raw footage vs edited video

The edited video is a finished piece, used as is. Raw footage is material. With it, the brand doesn’t need you to make the next ten versions. That’s why raw files are priced on how they’ll be used, not on the minutes it takes to upload them.

Why it matters for UGC creators

It replaces future work. Every edit the brand makes from your files is an edit they didn’t hire you for. Price it that way.
List it in your deliverables. If the brief doesn’t mention raw files, don’t assume they’re included, and don’t send them unasked.
Usage still applies. Ads cut from your raw clips still show your face or voice. The usage term should cover them.
Keep your own copies. Your reaction clips and app demos can be reused across posts for the same client, if your contract allows it.

That last point is how many tech UGC creators keep up with daily posting: film reactions once, pair them with different demos. UGCPoster works from those folders, pairing a reaction with a demo and writing a fresh hook for each video.

Related terms

Usage rights: Usage rights are the permissions a creator grants a brand to use their videos, defining where the content can appear, whether it can run as paid ads, and for how long.
Per-video rate: A per-video rate is a flat fee a brand pays a creator for each delivered and accepted UGC video, regardless of how many views it later gets.
B-roll: B-roll is supporting footage cut between or over a video's main shot, such as product close-ups, hands, screens or settings, used to show what the main shot describes.
Deliverables: Deliverables are the specific items a UGC creator agrees to hand over or publish in a deal, such as edited videos, hook variations, raw footage, posts and deadlines.