Most of the delays and disputes on outsourced VFX work trace back to the turnover: a missing frame range, plates in the wrong colour space, a brief that says “clean up the shot” without saying what clean means. A well-prepared package lets the vendor quote accurately, start immediately and deliver work that drops straight into your pipeline. This guide covers what to include, and ends with a printable checklist you can use on every turnover.
What a turnover package contains
A complete turnover has five parts:
- Plates — the source footage for each shot, at full quality, with handles.
- A shot list — every shot with its name, frame range, task and priority, usually as a spreadsheet or an export from your tracking system.
- A brief per shot — what needs to be done, to what standard, and what to leave alone.
- Reference — annotated frames, approved shots, editorial reference and any temp comps.
- Technical data — colour pipeline, delivery specifications and, for 3D work, camera and lens information.
If you send all five, a vendor can usually start without a round of questions. If you send only plates, expect questions — and a slower start.
Plate specifications
Send plates at the quality your final deliverable needs. Work done on a compressed proxy may not hold up when it is applied to the full-resolution plate.
Resolution and format
Send the full camera resolution, or the resolution your pipeline works at, and say which. Image sequences (one file per frame) are common for VFX because individual frames can be re-sent and they carry metadata reliably. EXR and DPX sequences are both widely used; EXR is common in linear pipelines because it handles high bit depths and multiple channels.
Colour space and transfer
This is the most common source of trouble. State clearly:
- Whether plates are in the camera’s log encoding (as shot) or converted to scene-linear.
- Which colour space and gamut they are in, and which colour-management configuration you use, if any.
- Which viewing transform or LUT the vendor should use to review the work, so it looks the same on both sides.
- What colour space the work should be delivered in. Normally this matches the plates exactly, so that untouched pixels come back unchanged.
Send a sample frame with your viewing LUT applied as a reference, so the vendor can check that what they see matches what you see.
Frame rate
State the project frame rate (for example 23.976, 24 or 25 fps) and flag any shots that were shot at a different rate, such as overcranked slow motion.
Clean plates and supporting elements
If the shoot captured clean plates, reference passes, HDRIs, chrome and grey ball passes or witness camera footage, include them and say which shot each belongs to. A clean plate can turn a difficult paint job into a straightforward one, but only if the vendor knows it exists. Label supporting elements clearly so they aren’t mistaken for the hero plate.
Check before you send
Before uploading, open a few frames from each shot and confirm the frame count matches the shot list, nothing is missing or duplicated, and the files open with the expected colour. Re-sending a corrupted or incomplete shot costs a day across time zones.
Naming conventions
Consistent naming is what lets hundreds of files move between facilities without being lost. A common pattern is:
show_seq_shot_task_version — for example abc_010_0040_roto_v003, where abc is the show code, 010 the sequence, 0040 the shot, roto the task and v003 the version.
- Use the same shot names in the plates, the shot list, the notes and the deliveries.
- Zero-pad numbers so files sort correctly, and keep the frame number padding consistent across all shots.
- Avoid spaces and special characters in file and folder names.
- Send your naming convention with the first turnover, and ask the vendor to deliver to it.
Frame ranges and handles
For each shot, give the cut-in and cut-out frames and the number of handle frames either side. Handles — typically a few frames each end — give editorial room to adjust the cut without sending the shot back. Say whether the vendor should work the handles to final quality or not; working handles costs time, but re-opening a shot later costs more.
If the cut is still moving, say so. Vendors can plan around a shot that might extend; they can’t plan around a surprise.
Reference and notes
Words are ambiguous; pictures are not. For each shot, include:
- Annotated frames showing exactly what to isolate, remove or key, drawn over a still from the plate.
- The edge quality you want. For roto: are hair strands to be broken out, or is a soft edge acceptable? Should motion blur be built into the matte? A reference frame from an approved shot answers this better than a description.
- What to leave alone. Elements that look like they need fixing but don’t, such as intentional lens flares or practical effects.
- Editorial reference — a QuickTime of the cut with burnt-in shot names and frame numbers — so the vendor sees the shot in context.
- Downstream use. Tell the vendor what the work is for. A matte for a background replacement needs a different edge from one for a subtle colour correction.
Lens and camera data for matchmove
For matchmove and rotomation, the camera data is as important as the plate. Send whatever you have:
- Camera body, sensor size or recording format, and any crop or resize applied.
- Lens type and focal length per take, and whether it zoomed during the shot.
- Focus distance and, if available, lens metadata embedded in the files.
- Lens distortion grids for each lens used.
- Camera reports, set measurements, survey data, LiDAR scans or set photography.
- For rotomation: photographs of the actor in costume or tracking suit, and any scan or rig available.
Missing data doesn’t make a shot impossible, but it makes it slower and less certain, which affects cost. See roto vs keying vs rotomation vs matchmove for more on what each technique needs.
Delivery specifications
Tell the vendor what you want back as clearly as you describe what you are sending. A delivery spec should state:
- File format and bit depth for each deliverable — mattes, cleaned plates, comps — and any compression setting your pipeline expects.
- Colour space. Normally the same as the plates, so the work can be dropped over the original without a shift.
- Channels and layers. For roto, whether each element arrives as a separate file or as named channels in one file, and whether alpha is premultiplied.
- Frame range. Whether to deliver the cut range only or the full range including handles.
- Folder structure and naming, matching your convention.
- Review media. The QC renders or review files you want alongside the deliverables, and their format.
- Delivery cadence. Shot by shot as each is finished, in agreed waves, or as a single package.
If you have a written delivery specification from the studio or distributor, share the relevant parts. It is easier for the vendor to meet a requirement it has read than one it hears about at final delivery.
The brief template
Use this checklist for every turnover. The downloadable PDF has the same items, laid out for printing.
- Project name, show code and your main contact, with their time zone
- Shot list with shot names, frame ranges, handles and priority
- Task per shot: roto, paint, keying, matchmove, rotomation or comp
- Written description of the work for each shot, and what to leave untouched
- Annotated reference frames and an example of the required edge quality
- Plate format, resolution, bit depth and frame rate
- Colour space, transfer and the viewing LUT or transform for review
- Naming convention and version numbering
- Delivery specifications: format, channels, colour space, folder structure
- Camera, lens and survey data for any 3D work
- Deadline per shot or per wave, with date and time zone
- Transfer method, access details and security requirements
- Review process: who gives notes, in what format, and how often
File transfer and security
Agree how files will move before the first turnover. Use a secure, access-controlled transfer method, and send login details separately from the files themselves. Tell the vendor about any security requirements in your contract with the studio or distributor — watermarking, restricted access, or rules about where the footage can be stored — so they can confirm they meet them before you send anything.
Make sure an NDA is in place first. RotoEdge works under NDAs with secure workflows and controlled access; see our security page for details.
Review and feedback conventions
Good notes are specific, numbered and tied to frames.
- Reference frame numbers in every note: “frames 1012–1030, edge chatter on the left shoulder”.
- Attach annotated stills for anything visual.
- Note the version you reviewed. Notes on v002 sent after v003 has been delivered cause confusion.
- Consolidate notes from the supervisor, editor and director into one list before sending, and resolve contradictions on your side.
- Separate fixes from changes. Make it clear whether a note is a correction against the brief or a new request.
- Approve clearly. A short “approved as v004” per shot avoids work continuing on finished shots.
Version every delivery, never overwrite a previous version, and keep a simple log of which version is current for each shot.
Common mistakes
- Sending compressed review files instead of full-quality plates.
- Not stating the colour space, so returned work doesn’t match untouched frames.
- Frame ranges in the shot list that don’t match the files sent.
- “Clean up the shot” with no annotated frame showing what to clean.
- No lens data for a matchmove, or distortion grids shot for the wrong lens.
- Changing the cut after work starts without telling the vendor.
- Deadlines given without a time zone.
- Notes from several people sent separately, with conflicts unresolved.
On a new vendor relationship, send one complete shot before the full turnover. Check the delivery in your own pipeline — naming, colour space, channels — then send the rest. It takes a day and can save weeks.
If you are preparing your first outsourced turnover, our guide to outsourcing VFX to India covers the wider process, and the pricing guide explains how the brief affects your quote. Terms used here are defined in the VFX glossary.