Shot naming that survives the pipeline

The template that works

Most working conventions are some arrangement of four tokens plus a frame number:

• {show} - a short show/episode code. Keeps multi-show folders unambiguous.
• {shot} - the shot ID, zero-padded with room to grow: SH010, SH020 - increments of 10 leave space for the inevitable SH015.
• {task} - comp, roto, fx, lighting. One word, lowercase, no spaces.
• v{version} - a literal v plus a zero-padded number (v002, not v2). Padding keeps alphabetical order equal to version order.
• {frame} - 4-digit minimum padding, starting at 1001 by convention (the pre-roll below 1001 exists so handles and slates never need negative frames).

Rules that prevent downstream pain

1. One separator, used one way. Underscores between tokens, a dot before the frame number, nothing else. Mixed separators are why regexes cry.
2. No spaces, ever. Spaces in file names break render farm command lines, rsync scripts and at least one vendor tool per project.
3. Case consistency. Pick a case per token and hold it - SH010 and sh010 are two different shots to half the software on earth.
4. The clip name in the NLE should BE the render stem. When the editor's clip name is NH_SH010_comp_v002, conform is a string match. When it is "harbor wide FINAL(2)", conform is archaeology.
5. Write it down and put it in the bid. A convention that lives in one artist's head is a convention for exactly as long as they stay.

Tools should adapt to your names, not the reverse: Cutlist Tracker takes the convention as a token pattern ({show}_{shot}_{task}_v{version} or your own arrangement) and shows a live preview of every clip name mapping to a shot before you commit to it.