A producer writes “v3 is the fine cut. We lock after your notes, then it goes to grade and mix,” and the client replies “great!” without knowing what they just agreed to.
Below are the terms clients hear most, in the order a project runs, each with what it means for you. If you run a production company, it’s a page to send new clients before the kickoff.
In short
- A rough cut is for notes on structure and message, and the fine cut is the last round where moving things around is cheap.
- After picture lock the edit stops changing, and color, sound, graphics and subtitles are built on that exact timing.
- Quote the version number and a timecode in your notes, and send them in one batch from one person.
- Settle the deliverables and the aspect ratio before the shoot, and whether you get raw footage or the project file in the contract.
Pre-production
Brief. The client’s description of the job: what the video is for, who will watch it, where it will run, the length, the deadline and the budget. A vague brief tends to come back as extra rounds. There’s a one-page brief template to start from.
Treatment. The director’s written pitch for the look and feel, with tone, visual references and sometimes casting and locations. Approving it means agreeing on the approach before the crew is booked.
Script. The words and the order of scenes, often in two columns with picture on the left and audio on the right. Check names, job titles and numbers here, since fixing a spoken line after the shoot can mean shooting it again.
Storyboard. One drawing or frame per shot, showing the framing and the action. Ads and animation use them a lot. Interviews rarely do, because nobody knows the answers in advance.
Shot list. Every shot the crew has to get, with its framing and scene, so the edit has what the script needs.
Call sheet. The plan for a shoot day, sent the day before, with the address, the schedule, the contacts and each person’s call time, which is when they’re due on set. If you’re on camera, yours will be well before your first scene, to leave time for makeup and a mic check.
Shoot day. One day of filming, the unit most crews and equipment rentals are priced in. Going past the agreed hours usually means overtime, which is why a day with ten videos needs a realistic schedule.
The shoot
A-roll. The footage that carries the story, usually the interview or the presenter talking to camera.
B-roll. Everything that plays over the A-roll, like the office, hands on a keyboard or the product. It covers cuts in the interview and shows what people are talking about. When an editor says there isn’t enough of it, some cuts have nothing to cover them.
Room tone. Thirty seconds to a minute of the location in silence, recorded with everyone standing still. When the editor cuts out a cough, room tone fills the gap so the background sound doesn’t drop out.
Raw footage. Everything the cameras recorded. It’s far larger than the finished video, and whether you get a copy is a contract question to settle before the job starts.
The edit
Selects. The usable takes and the best lines, marked by the editor before cutting. On interview videos this can turn into a paper edit, the story written out from the transcript for you to approve.
Rough cut. The first assembly, with the story in order and roughly the right length. It looks unfinished because it is, so notes here should be about structure and message. The rough cut review guide has more.
Fine cut. The edit tightened after your rough-cut notes. It’s the last round where moving things around is cheap.
Picture lock. The point where the edit stops changing. Color, sound, graphics and subtitles are built on that exact timing, which is why reopening a locked cut costs far more than the trim itself.
Temp music and graphics. Placeholders used during the edit until the final track or animation is ready. If something sounds or looks cheap in an early cut, ask whether it’s temp before writing a note about it.
Lower third. The name and job title on screen when someone speaks. It’s where clients most often find typos, so send names and titles in writing, using this lower thirds checklist.
Voice-over. A narrator recorded separately from the picture, often written VO. A scratch VO is a temporary read used until the final voice is recorded.
Color grading. Adjusting color and contrast shot by shot so the video looks consistent and has the intended mood. Correction fixes problems and grading sets the look, both after picture lock.
Sound mix. Balancing dialogue, music and effects and setting the loudness the platform expects. Rough cuts are usually unmixed, so a jump in volume there isn’t final.
Finishing. Everything after picture lock: the grade, the mix, final graphics, subtitles and exports. When a producer says the video is in finishing, the edit is decided and the team is polishing.
Review
Version. Each cut sent to you for review, numbered v1, v2, v3. Quote the number in your notes, since “the last video” can mean two different files.
Round of revisions. One cycle of notes from you and a new version from the team. Quotes usually include a set number, and notes sent in one batch, by one person, keep revision rounds from multiplying.
Timecode. The video’s clock in hours, minutes, seconds and frames, as in 00:01:32:12. Next to a note, it points the editor to the exact frame. Here’s how to read timecode.
Approval. Your sign-off on a version. The one that counts most is the final approval of the finished video, which releases the delivery and often the final invoice.
Delivery
Master. The full-quality file of the approved video, the source for every other export. It’s large, so you’ll usually get web copies too.
Cutdown. A shorter edit made from the master, like a 15-second version of a 60-second film. Picking which seconds stay is an editing call, so cutdowns usually get their own review.
Aspect ratio. The shape of the frame: 16:9 for YouTube and websites, 9:16 for Reels, TikTok and Shorts, 1:1 or 4:5 for feeds. Decide it before the shoot, because a vertical crop of a horizontal frame keeps only a narrow strip.
Safe area. The inner part of the frame where text is sure to be visible. SMPTE ST 2046-1 puts title safe at 90% of the frame, and on vertical social video the app’s buttons also cover the bottom and the right side.
Closed captions and SRT files. Captions in a separate file that the viewer turns on and off. SRT is the most common format and VTT is the web’s (SRT vs VTT). Closed captions also name speakers and describe sounds, while subtitles carry only the dialogue (the difference).
Burned-in subtitles. Text rendered into the picture, so it shows on every player and can’t be turned off. Social feeds use them because so many people watch on mute, and a typo means a new export.
Deliverables. The list of every file you’ll receive, with lengths, aspect ratios, languages and subtitles. Agree on it before the shoot, since it sets the price and the schedule.
Project file. The editing software’s timeline, from Premiere or DaVinci Resolve. It holds no footage and won’t open properly without the same media, fonts and plugins. Like the raw footage, it’s part of the delivery package only if the contract says so.
How these terms show up in RecReview
In RecReview, each cut uploaded to a task becomes the next numbered version, counted in upload order, and comments stay on the version they were written on. The team can play two versions of the same task side by side, in sync.
A round starts when the team sends a version to the client, which marks the task as waiting on the client. With the default workflows, a request for changes sends the task back to the team’s queue for the next version.
Every comment is saved with the moment it was written on, so nobody has to type a timecode, and a note can cover a stretch marked with in and out points.
The client’s Approve button is the final approval. It records who approved which version and when, sends the delivery email with a download link and, with the default workflows, moves the task to Delivered. Picture lock and other in-between sign-offs belong in a status on the team’s board.
That download is the file the editor uploaded, not the compressed copy the player streams. Subtitles export as SRT or VTT from a version’s transcript, and RecReview doesn’t burn them into the picture. The version control page shows the comparison.
