Most review problems start the moment a cut leaves the edit suite. The file goes out as an email attachment, a WeTransfer link or a shared folder, and it gets there fine.
The notes are what come back in pieces. There’s a reply to the email, two voice notes on WhatsApp, a call with the marketing director, and a PDF of screenshots from someone who paused the video on their laptop.
Sending a file and sending a video for review are two separate jobs, and the tools built for the first one don’t do the second.
In short
- A transfer link gets the file there, but it has nowhere to put the notes.
- A review link plays in the browser, pins each note to a frame and keeps every version on one page.
- Before you send, watch the export once, say what the round is for and give a date for the notes.
- Agree on who signs off on the client side before the first round, not after.
Why file transfer links fail at review
A transfer link only tells you whether the file arrived. It has nowhere to put the notes. The client downloads the video, opens it in whatever player the computer has, and writes “around minute two, the logo” in an email.
The careful ones jot down the timecode by hand. Most people don’t bother.
Then v2 goes out with a new link. Now there are two files with almost the same name in the client’s Downloads folder, and there’s a fair chance the next round of notes is about the old one.
Email and WhatsApp also cap attachment size, so anything longer than a short social cut needs a transfer service anyway.
Shared folders do a better job of playing the video in the browser. They still don’t know that v3 replaced v2, and they have no idea who on the client side is allowed to sign off.
What a review link has to do
Six things, roughly in the order of how much pain they save:
- It plays in the browser, with nothing to install and no account to create. Every step between the email and the play button is a reason to leave the review for tomorrow.
- Each note sits on a frame. The client clicks the moment and types, the timecode comes along with the comment, and the editor never has to work out what “the part with the logo” means.
- Every version lives in the same place. The client opens one page for v1 and v4 and can tell which one is current.
- You control who gets in. Unreleased campaigns and internal announcements shouldn’t sit on an open link forever, and a password plus an expiry date cover most cases.
- The decision is a button. One approves, one asks for changes, and there’s a rule about who is allowed to press the first one.
- It shows who watched. If you have to ask “did you get a chance to see it?”, the tool isn’t telling you enough.
A checklist for the moment you hit send
Run through these five checks before the link goes out:
- Watch the export once, start to finish, full screen. A missing lower third, a flash frame left in the timeline or audio that drops out on one channel will usually show up on a plain watch-through. You’d rather find it than have the client find it.
- Check that you’re sending the version you think you’re sending. It sounds obvious until the day it happens.
- Write two lines about what this round is for. “This cut is about structure and length. Color and the final mix come in the next version.” People review what you point them at, and if you say nothing they review everything, including the temp music.
- Give a date for the notes. “Notes by Thursday so we can deliver on Monday” gets a faster answer than “whenever you can”.
- Agree on who decides. When two stakeholders who disagree both comment directly, every round pleases one of them and annoys the other. That’s how a project ends up in round seven.
What to write in the message
Keep it short enough to read on a phone:
Hi Ana, v2 of the launch video is ready: [link]
This round is about the story and the length (it’s 1:45 now). Color and music are still temporary.
You can comment straight on the video by clicking the moment you want to change. If we get your notes by Thursday, the final goes out on Monday.
If the client still writes “the bit near the end” in an email, it’s worth showing them, once, that a click on the video does the same job with the exact frame attached.
Our guide on giving usable video feedback is a good thing to forward.
How this works in RecReview
In RecReview, sending a version to the client is a button on the review page. It turns on the review link (with comments allowed, if the link wasn’t already shared), marks the task as waiting on the client, emails the people you pick and shows the new version in the client’s portal.
The email carries your company’s name and logo. Send ten videos to the same client in one afternoon and they arrive grouped into a couple of emails instead of ten.
The client doesn’t create an account. The first time they open the link they type a name and an email, and from then on every comment carries their name and sits on the frame they clicked.
In the share settings you choose whether people have to identify themselves before watching, whether they can comment and whether they see earlier versions. You can also set a password and an expiry date on the link. Generating a new link cuts off everyone who had the old one.
Approving and requesting changes are buttons on the same page. By default any identified client contact can do both. If you turn on contact roles, only the client’s managers can approve, reviewers can comment and ask for changes, and an anonymous visitor can never approve.
Downloads are held until the end of the job. From the portal the client gets the file once the task is marked as delivered, unless you allow downloads before approval for that client. An early download is logged and your team gets a notification.
The share window has a Recent activity tab with everyone who opened the link, when and how many times. Clients who have several videos with you also get a client portal with your logo and theirs, where everything you’ve sent them is in one place.
