Sending files

How to get useful client feedback on video cuts

By Hein de Wilde·Updated ·3 min read

Key takeaways

  • Send a browser-friendly review copy, not the master; the master goes out once, after approval.
  • One version per link, named with version and date, and notes as timecode plus change.
  • Check download receipts before the deadline, not on it.
Contents
  1. Send a preview, not the master
  2. One version per link, named properly
  3. Ask for notes in a format you can use
  4. Where the notes should live
  5. Know whether they watched it
  6. Delivering the approved master
  7. A review round that runs itself

The quickest way to get useful client feedback on a video cut is to send a watchable preview in the browser, one version per link, with a clear deadline and a simple rule for notes: timecode first, then the change. Keep the master out of it until the cut is approved. Most slow feedback rounds are slow because of the delivery, not the client.

I run Yungle, and I will be specific below about what it does and does not do for review. Where a dedicated review tool is the better answer, I say so.

Send a preview, not the master

A client reviewing a cut does not need a 40 GB ProRes master. They need something that plays immediately on whatever they are holding — often a phone, between meetings.

Export a review copy: H.264, a sensible bitrate, 1080p. It is a fraction of the size, it plays in any browser, and it is honest about its purpose. The master travels once, after approval. Making a video file smaller covers the export settings; the principle is that compression is a decision about the preview, never about the deliverable.

Most feedback confusion is version confusion. "In the one you sent Tuesday" is not a reference anyone can find a month later.

  • Name the file with the version and the date: Brand film — v4 — 2026-09-22.mp4.
  • Send each version as its own upload, or put each in its own folder.
  • Never overwrite a version the client has already seen.

The client then comments on v4, not on "the latest one", and when they ask why a shot changed, you can open v3 and show them.

Ask for notes in a format you can use

Tell the client how to give notes, in one line, when you send the cut:

That single instruction turns "the middle bit feels slow" into something you can act on in the edit.

Where the notes should live

Notes by email scatter across replies and colleagues. Notes on the file itself stay with the version they are about.

On Yungle, cuts in a collection play in the browser, and the client can favourite a version and leave comments on it without an account. What it does not do is frame-accurate, timecoded annotation — you cannot click on a frame and pin a note to it. The "timecode first" rule above is how you get most of the benefit anyway. If your projects live or die on frame-level review with dozens of stakeholders, a dedicated review platform is the better tool, and Yungle is the better place to deliver the masters afterwards.

Know whether they watched it

"We haven't had a chance to look yet" is the most common reason a deadline slips, and you usually find out on the day. A download receipt tells you earlier.

With a transfer on Yungle you can see who downloaded it and when, and you get an email when they do. If Thursday arrives and nobody has opened v4, you know to nudge on Tuesday rather than wait.

Delivering the approved master

Once the cut is signed off, the master goes out once, in full quality, with the audio and any deliverables alongside:

  • The master in the agreed codec and resolution.
  • Stems or an M&E mix, if contracted.
  • Subtitles and captions as separate files.

At this size the upload will take a while and something will interrupt it. Use a service that resumes a dropped upload rather than starting again — it is the single property that decides whether big deliveries work. How to send 4K and RAW video goes into the numbers.

A review round that runs itself

  1. Export a browser-friendly review copy, not the master.
  2. One version per upload, named with version and date.
  3. Ask for notes as timecode + change.
  4. Keep notes on the file, not in email.
  5. Check receipts two days before the deadline.
  6. Send the master once, after approval.

If this is your daily work, the page for video production follows an editor through a week of it.

Hein de Wilde

I build and run Yungle, and I write everything here. Comparisons name competitors and credit them, every claim about another company comes from that company’s own documentation, and where we fall short it says so. More about who is behind this.

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