Video Proofing Best Practices

[Angie_Forsythe]

Our creative team has been using proof for various different file types, primarily PDFs, for ~2 years now. Our video team is just now starting to use it as well. Average upload specs for video are from 200-600Mb in mp4 form (depend on time length of video).

They are experiencing 20 minute or longer upload and proof generation times on videos, which is a pain point for a very busy video production team.

Is this normal? They discussed compressing the files, but that could degrade the quality of the video.

[SarahWilkersonCA]

We want to start using Proof for videos soon so I'm interested in any responses as well.

[JenniferMiklasz]

Hi,

We've been using the Proof tool for reviewing videos for over 2 years now. We don't usually have any long upload times. Our team finds it easier to go to Workfront outside of their company environment and have noticed increased upload speeds that way.

Hope that helps,

Jennifer

[Angie_Forsythe]

We will try this - thank you! It's not the most ideal solution, but definitely worth trying.

[RandyRoberts]

We have always created a Pro res video and a lo res proof. The pro res files can easily top 1GB. So we create a lo res proof at about 20MB and that's the one we send for approval through Workfront. Since they both have the same name, it's not confusing. If you name them the same, you keep them in separate folders.

[Angie_Forsythe]

I have passed this along to my team. Thank you so much!

[ScottCr]

Hi, Angie! Mind if I ask what the average total run time of your videos are, and what the compression specs are for the videos?

We're a cable network, so we proof 4-5 promo stringouts (about 1.5 to 3 minutes TRT) per day, not including revision proofs.

Our post-production editors also output the proofs as high bitrate mp4s, 1920x1080, with stereo mixed audio AAC tracks.

A 1.5 minute video at around 240mb takes about 8-10 minutes to upload, and 2-4 minutes to generate the proof, but could take longer depending on network traffic. In order to combat the downtime, they upload the proofs and move on to other projects while the proofing happens in the background (we produce a LOT of promos, so there's no shortage of relatively "small" projects on their plates.

We produce, on average, 5 or 6 versions of the same spot with different graphic and voiceover tune-in info, so we keep the proofs on a single file. The editors don't export the individual air version ProRes files (around 300mb EACH) until after receiving the final approval from me (Director-level) or above, in order to save time and space.

Your upload speed sounds about right, but you may want to talk to your IT department to check bandwidth, and ask if there are solutions to increase the speed of your connection.

I'm including a screenshot of the specs for one of our proofs. Forgive me, I'm at home, and using a free version of Switch, so the inspector info isn't as comprehensive as the version at work.

We've gotten to be old pros at the video proofing process now (and found some pretty good workarounds for pain points), so I'm always glad to hop on a Zoom or phone call if you or anyone else have questions!

Scott

[Angie_Forsythe]

@Scott Craven‚ this is incredibly helpful, thank you. I think my team would love to take you up on the offer of a Zoom call. I'm checking with them now and will get back to you. Thank you!

[ScottCr]

Not a problem! Happy to help!