Post-production occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, videos, audio recordings, photography and digital art.  It includes all stages of production occurring after the completion of shooting and/or recording of the work.

The various processes in post-production are editing the picture / television program, writing, recording, and editing the soundtrack, adding visual special effects and computer-generated imagery, creation of digital copies, and transfer of film to Video or Data with a telecine and Color grading.

Usually, the post-production process takes more time than the actual shooting of the film.  After post-production, the film is distributed or marketed.

In post-production, the film or video is assembled by the film editor by using entirely film, or using a mixture of film and video.  The original camera film is developed and copied to a one-light workprint (positive) for editing with an edge code or time code recorded onto the film to locate the position of picture frames.  Once the fine cut has been screened and approved by the director and producer, the picture is “locked,” meaning no further changes are made.   A negative cut list or an edit decision list is created by the editor.  These edit lists identify the source and the picture frame of each shot in the fine cut.

The locked picture is then passed on to the hands of the post-production supervising sound editor of the sound department for building up a sound track.  Then, the voice recordings are synchronized and the final sound mix is created by the rerecording mixer.  The sound mix combines dialogue, sound effects, background sounds, ADR, walla, foleys and music after which the sound track and picture are combined together, resulting in a low quality answer print of the film.

After the whole process, the film is previewed by a target audience who may suggest any further shooting or editing.