Picture lock is the point in post-production where the edit stops changing. The order of the shots, the exact frame where each cut falls and the running time are final.
From then on, the grade, the sound mix, the music, graphics and subtitles are all finished on top of that cut. It’s also called a locked cut. The term comes from film, and on a client job “we’re locked” usually means the client has said yes to the edit.
In short
- Picture lock is the point where the order of the shots, the cut points and the running time stop changing.
- Color, mix, music, graphics, subtitles and exports are all built on the locked cut, so a later trim costs hours from several people.
- One person on the client side signs off the lock, after everyone who needs to see the cut has watched it.
- Write the lock into the proposal, and quote any change that moves a cut before anyone opens the timeline.
Why picture lock matters outside film
On a corporate or commercial project, all the finishing work hangs off the timeline. The colorist grades shot by shot from the timeline the editor exports. The music edit follows the cut points, and the mix is built on top of them.
Subtitles are timed to the frame, a lower third comes in on a specific line, and the end card lands with the last beat of the music. The 9:16 and 1:1 versions for social are reframed from the same cut.
Now say the client asks to trim three seconds at 0:42. Every subtitle after that point is three seconds late. The music jumps where the cut was and has to be re-edited, the mix around it gets redone, the graphics after 0:42 need retiming, and each export is rendered and watched again.
The edit takes ten minutes, and the rest can fill most of a day.
Before the lock, a change to the edit costs the editor a few minutes. After it, the same change costs hours from several people, which is why the lock is worth agreeing on out loud.
Getting to a good cut is the job of the earlier rounds, the rough cut and the fine cut, and our guide to rough cut reviews covers how to run them.
Who signs off on the lock
One person on the client side. Others can comment on the rough cut and the fine cut, but one person says “locked”, and that’s who you point to if someone asks for a recut three weeks later. Agree on who it is at kickoff, before the first cut goes out.
Then ask that person who else has to see the video before they can say yes, such as legal, the executive who appears on camera or the office that needs a Spanish version. All of them should watch the lock candidate.
Legal is the usual late arrival, and a claim they ask you to cut after the mix takes the music, the mix and every export with it.
What to send for lock approval
Send the cut with temporary color and sound, and say so. Put it in the file name and in the message, something like “v4, lock candidate”. A client who doesn’t know the grade is still coming will spend the round commenting on skin tones.
Tell them what this approval covers: the order of the shots, the duration, what each person says on camera and the text on screen, including names, job titles and figures. The look and the sound get approved later, on the finished version. Ask for an answer that leaves no doubt.
Hi Ana, here’s v4 of the launch video, our lock candidate: [link]
This is the cut we’d finish. Can you check the order, the length (1:52), what each person says and the names and titles on screen? Color, music and the mix are still temporary.
If it works, just reply “locked” and we start color and sound on Monday. Any change to the edit after that goes through color, sound and subtitles again, so now is the time to ask for it.
Putting picture lock in the proposal
Write it down before the project starts, in the proposal or the contract. Four things are enough: what picture lock is, who approves it, what’s included after it and how edit changes after it are charged. Here’s a clause to adapt.
Picture lock happens when the client’s approver confirms the cut in writing. After picture lock, the order of shots, the cut points and the running time are final. Finishing fixes that don’t move a cut, such as text corrections in graphics or adjustments to color and sound, are included. Any change that moves a cut is quoted before work starts and includes the rework in music, sound mix, graphics, subtitles and exports.
Price that rework from your own hours, the same way you’d price an extra round, and how much to charge for video production walks through an hourly rate. The clause belongs next to your limit on revision rounds. Have whoever handles your contracts check the wording.
What can still change after lock
A change that leaves every cut on the same frame counts as finishing. Color and sound adjustments qualify, and so do a typo in a lower third or a subtitle, a logo swapped for the final file and a temporary shot replaced by a finished one of the same length.
A change that moves a cut is an edit change. That includes trimming a pause, using a different take of the same line, swapping two shots, adding a product shot or rerecording a line of the voice-over, since a new read almost never runs the same length as the old one.
When the client asks for “just one small trim”
It usually comes after the mix, from someone watching the finished video for the first time. Here are example hours for that three-second trim at 0:42, with four versions already exported.
| What gets redone | Hours |
|---|---|
| Trim in the edit and a new review export | 0.5 |
| Music re-edit around the cut | 1 |
| Mix of the section and new stems | 1.5 |
| Subtitles retimed after 0:42 | 0.5 |
| Graphics checked and retimed | 0.5 |
| Four exports and a full watch-through | 2 |
| Total | 6 |
At $100 an hour, the example rate in our pricing post, the trim costs $600 and pushes delivery back a day. Say yes, and put the cost and the new date in writing before anyone opens the timeline:
Hi Ana, we can take those three seconds out. The cut was locked on v4, so the change also goes through the music, the mix, subtitles and the four exports, about six hours of work. That’s $600, and delivery moves from Thursday to Friday. Shall we go ahead?
Sometimes there’s a cheaper route, like applying the trim only to a social version that isn’t finished yet. And if the problem is yours, say a flash frame or the wrong take of a line, fix it at no charge.
How to mark picture lock in RecReview
RecReview doesn’t have a picture lock switch. The lock lives in the version number and in a column on your board.
Each cut you upload to a task becomes the next numbered version, so the lock has a name everyone can use, as in “the lock is v4”. Once a newer version is up, the older ones close for comments and the comment box points people to the latest.
When v5 comes back from color and the mix, open it next to v4 in the compare view. The two play in sync, so you can see whether the shots change at the same moments.
For a later fix, like the corrected lower third in v6, overlay v6 on v5 and turn on Difference. Identical pixels go black and only what changed lights up.
For the lock itself, add a Picture lock status in the workspace settings and move the card there when the client confirms the cut. An automation can create the finishing subtasks, such as color, mix and subtitles, when a card enters that column.
Keep the client’s Approve button for the finished master. In RecReview, approval is the final sign-off. It records who approved which version and when, sends the delivery email with the download link and, with the default automations, moves the task to Delivered.
With contact roles turned on, only the client’s managers can approve. If the client approves on WhatsApp or in a meeting, someone on your team can log that verdict on the version, along with the channel it came through.
Proof of client approval covers what that record should hold. The version control page has more on comparing versions.
