Post Plan (Start Here)
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Ten checks before post starts
- Make two verified copies before formatting a card. Otherwise footage can be erased.
- Name the person responsible for the image pipeline. Otherwise departments repeat incompatible work.
- Count and break down VFX before bidding. Otherwise missing work becomes a change order.
- Approve one round trip before shots leave. Otherwise every shot may need another render.
- Lock one Camera RAW decode. Otherwise plates and finals will not match.
- Prove frame rate end to end before photography. Otherwise picture and sound can drift.
- Prove the editorial relink before dailies arrive. Otherwise the DI rebuilds it manually.
- Set the change-list process before turnover. Otherwise DI and sound reconform blind.
- Hold the deliverables list before booking the DI. Otherwise incompatible masters must be remade.
- Fund the archive tier before anyone wraps. Otherwise the film may not restore.
Use these 27 actions when one or two people manage post. Assign every action. Complete Critical work before its dependency, or record an Exception and Waiver Record. Each action appears as one card. Read the action first. The smaller lines record who is responsible, when it happens, what proves completion, and its current state.
| Field | Production entry |
|---|---|
| Handbook checklist version | 2.0 |
| Production | [PROJECT] |
| Checklist coordinator | [NAME / ROLE] |
| Backup or successor | [NAME / ROLE] |
| Working revision | [REVISION] |
| Updated | [DATE] |
| Approved by and date | [NAME / DATE] |
| Issued to | [PEOPLE / VENDORS] |
| Review cadence | [WEEKLY / AT EACH MILESTONE / OTHER] |
| Next review | [DATE] |
Use these states:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Not started | No work recorded. |
| In progress | Assigned and active. |
| Blocked | Record the blocker, next action, and escalation date in Evidence. |
| Done | Link or name the evidence. |
| N/A | Record why it does not apply. |
| Waived | Record who authorized proceeding, the accepted risk, mitigation, target date, and next review. |
Planning Milestones
Reopen affected rows when a camera, facility, master, delivery assumption, or approval authority changes.
| Priority | Responsible | Action | If skipped | Due | Cadence | Evidence | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critical | Producer | Name the checklist coordinator and backup. If unstaffed, book post consultations for planning, active post, and delivery. | Nobody maintains the plan or escalates blocked work. | When the production budget is first assembled | Schedule: names and consultation dates | Not started | |
| Critical | Producer | List the people who approve picture, sound, cost, and scope. Record any contractual final-cut authority. | Conflicting approvals reopen paid work. | Before vendor bids | Post-Production Roles List | Not started | |
| Standard | Producer | Set one notes, approval, change, waiver, and escalation process. | Before the first creative review | Note: review and change policy | Not started | ||
| Critical | Producer and director | Record the aspect ratio, frame rate, exhibition goals, deliverables, and possible accessibility work. | The intended exhibition may become impossible. | Before post bids and camera tests | Note: master and exhibition brief | Not started | |
| Critical | VFX supervisor or VFX producer | Break down the VFX shots, methods, complexity, assumptions, and clearance work. | Missing work becomes a change order. | Before requesting the first VFX bid | Spreadsheet: VFX breakdown | Not started | |
| Critical | Producer | Obtain current post bids and reconcile them with the available budget before approving production. | Required post exceeds the budget. | Before committing the production budget | Email: budget reconciliation and approved response | Not started | |
| Standard | Producer | Publish post dependencies, review cadence, and the next review. | Before crew and vendor commitments | Schedule: post schedule and review dates | Not started | ||
| Critical | Producer | Name a qualified image-pipeline lead and backup. Contract a specialist when production cannot staff the role. | Departments repeat incompatible image work. | Before camera prep | Email: named lead and backup | Not started | |
| Critical | Image-pipeline lead | Issue and revise the Image-Pipeline Specification. | Vendors re-render under a corrected pipeline. | Before camera and dailies tests | After every revision | Image-Pipeline Specification and email acknowledgment | Not started |
| Critical | Director, cinematographer, colorist, and image-pipeline lead | Approve a camera-to-DI round trip on the intended display. Verify recording, playback, editorial, conform, sound, and master rates. | Every affected shot needs reprocessing. | Before photography | Log: approved round-trip and frame-rate test | Not started | |
| Critical | Editor, assistant editor, dailies lead, and DI | Set editorial timebase, timecode, proxies, sound sync, metadata, and relink. Prove a relink to camera originals. | The DI manually rebuilds the edit. | Before editorial receives production dailies | Log: editorial setup and relink test | Not started | |
| Standard | Producer and image-pipeline lead | Define the primary master, derivation order, and internal standard when no recipient is known. | Before the DI bid is finalized | Note: mastering strategy | Not started | ||
| Critical | VFX supervisor and producer | Plan on-set VFX data. Review vendor capability, specifications, closeout terms, and the round trip before awarding shots. | Missing reference adds reshoots or VFX labor. | Before VFX production | Note: data plan, executed scope, specifications, and approved test | Not started | |
| Critical | Editor, assistant editor, VFX supervisor, sound supervisor, and DI | Set turnover, change-list, reel-change, re-pull, and synchronization procedures. | DI and sound bill another conform. | Before the first turnover | Note: turnover and change policy | Not started | |
| Standard | Image-pipeline lead and affected department leads | For pickups or reshoots, test the camera, lenses, decode, dailies, and sync against the established workflow. Document deviations and corrections. | Before the pickup or reshoot | Log: pickup test or approved deviation | Not started |
Recurring Checks
Create a record for every card, turnover, final, master, and exhibition.
| Priority | Responsible | Action | If skipped | Due | Cadence | Evidence | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critical | Producer and data manager | Require two verified copies, reconciled camera reports, and custody before formatting a card. | The card is erased too early. | After every offload | Log: offload log and verification report | Not started | |
| Critical | VFX supervisor, editorial, and plate-pull operator | Identify cut, source frames, handles, specification, context, references, manifest, and checksums. | The vendor restarts from correct frames. | At every turnover | VFX Turnover Count Sheet | Not started | |
| Critical | Assistant editor | Send the DI and sound teams the identified edit, interchange, reference, effects information, and current change list. | DI or sound repeats the turnover. | At every turnover and accepted picture change | Files: DI and sound turnover packages | Not started | |
| Critical | Assistant editor | Compare every DI conform against editorial with a frame-accurate method and zero-frame tolerance. | Finishing restarts the conform. | After every conform or major revision | Log: conform check report | Not started | |
| Critical | VFX vendor or artist and VFX team | Return the complete logical shot. Check zero net change, corrupt or missing frames, CG noise, NaN or infinity values, channels, and color before approval. | DI returns or rebuilds the final. | At every final VFX delivery | Log: VFX delivery and QC record | Not started | |
| Critical | Producer and QC provider | Run file and playback QC. Assign failures, corrections, and re-QC. | The master is rejected or screens defective. | For every deliverable revision | Delivery Acceptance Record | Not started | |
| Critical | Producer, DCP author, and projection contact | Validate and play the DCP on cinema equipment. Leave two business days for correction. | The screening fails without repair time. | Before every exhibition | Log: playback report and correction buffer | Not started |
Standing Controls
Keep these active until vendors close and the archive is accepted.
| Priority | Responsible | Action | If skipped | Due | Cadence | Evidence | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critical | VFX producer or coordinator and DI | Maintain the current shot tracker and drop-in list with editorial use, intended revision, approval state, cost, and delivery date. | DI inserts or pays for the wrong revision. | After every VFX delivery or decision | Spreadsheet: current tracker and drop-in list | Not started | |
| Standard | Producer | Schedule titles, captions, subtitles, audio description, color, sound, mastering, and their required approvals. | Review at least weekly during finishing | Schedule: finishing schedule and approvals | Not started | ||
| Critical | Producer, DI, and mastering team | Maintain the deliverables matrix, master lineage, text and audio requirements, recipient specification or internal standard, and correction buffer. | The masters must be remade. | From final-grade planning through delivery | Note: current mastering and QC plan | Not started | |
| Critical | Producer or post supervisor | Fund working storage through the complete post schedule. Record vendor retention and purge dates, maintain recoverable DI and editorial backups, and move material before a vendor deletes it. | Deleted media needs recovery or recreation. | Review at least monthly and before every purge | Schedule: storage budget, retention schedule, and backup log | Not started | |
| Critical | Producer and archive custodian | Preserve the funded archive content, manifests, checksums, dependencies, custody record, and restore instructions. Keep two verified copies in separate locations and test representative restores. | The film cannot be restored. | Before vendors and post staff wrap | DI Archival Documentation | Not started |
Use Full Checklists by Department when crew and vendors need separate rows for their assigned work.