In short
- Pin every note to the exact frame, or mark the start and end of a stretch.
- One change per note, and say why.
- Show anything visual on the picture: draw, box it, or suggest the edit itself.
- Keep mistakes (typos, black frames) apart from matters of taste.
Put every note on the exact frame
“The bit in the middle drags” costs the editor a rewatch. A note pinned to 04:12:08 does not. Pause on the frame you mean and write the note there, so the timecode travels with the words.
When the note is about a stretch rather than a moment (a slow section, music that runs long), mark where it starts and where it ends. A range tells the editor how much you mean, not just where.
One change per note
A note that asks for a new music cue, a tighter pause and a spelling fix gets one of the three done. Split them. Each note can then be ticked off on its own, and nothing hides inside a paragraph.
Say why, not only what
“Cut this” leaves the editor to guess what you were reacting to. “Cut this: we already said it at 01:20” lets them find a better fix than the one you thought of, and stops the same problem coming back somewhere else.
Show it on the picture
For anything you can see (a logo to blur, a caption to move, a face to push in on), draw on the frame or drag a box over the part you mean. The editor sees exactly what you see, at the moment you saw it.
Even better, suggest the edit itself: a cut, a zoom on a box you draw, a blur, a speed change, a swap shot. The editor sees the change played back on the cut and decides whether to keep it.
Separate taste from mistakes
A typo on screen, a black frame or a clipped line of audio are not opinions. Raise them as their own notes so they never get lost among the creative ones, or let an automatic check find them before anyone watches.
A note template that works
- Where: the frame, or the start and end of the stretch.
- What: the one change you want.
- Why: what you felt as a viewer, or the rule it breaks.
- Show: a drawing, a box, or the suggested edit itself.
Questions
Should I write feedback while watching or after?
Watch once all the way through for the overall feel, then a second time stopping to leave notes on the frame. First-watch reactions are worth noting as they happen too: they are what a viewer feels.
How do I give feedback without an account?
Ask for a review link. On post-prod.io a reviewer types a name and email and leaves frame-accurate notes, drawings and approvals without signing up.