Why a written delivery spec matters
Every client emails a spec sheet - resolution, colour, compression, naming, frame handling. Read once, half-remembered by the third shot, it becomes tribal knowledge that drifts between artists and between jobs. The rejections that follow are almost never creative; they are mechanical and repetitive (see why deliveries bounce). Turning that sheet into a written, checkable spec does two things: it makes the rules unambiguous, and it lets a tool enforce them so no one has to remember. A spec you can run is a spec that stops repeating the same failure.
What a spec preset encodes
A spec preset is the sheet expressed as pass/fail rules a checker can apply to every file in a delivery:
| Rule group | What it pins down |
|---|---|
| Format | Allowed containers - EXR, DPX, TIFF, PNG, QuickTime - and which are valid for this deliverable. |
| Image | Resolution, pixel aspect, bit depth and channels (e.g. 16-bit half RGB). |
| Encoding | Allowed EXR compression (ZIP/PIZ/none) or the codec / ProRes flavour for movies. |
| Colour | Requirements like ACES AP0 linear or DPX 10-bit log. |
| Frames | Padding, start frame, contiguity (no gaps), one version per delivery. |
| Naming | A token pattern such as {show}_{shot}_{task}_v{version} the filenames must match. |
Using the built-in presets
Rather than build from scratch, start from a preset that matches your deliverable and adjust. Shot Delivery Preflight ships six generic, date-stamped presets modelled on publicly documented requirements:
- Streamer EXR pull - 16-bit half EXR, lossless compression, contiguous frames: the common episodic-VFX shape.
- ACES EXR - AP0 linear EXR delivery with the colour attributes checked in the header.
- DPX 10-bit log - 10-bit DPX with a log transfer characteristic, for plate and DI work.
- UHD 16-bit - 3840×2160 at 16-bit for high-resolution image deliveries.
- ProRes review - a review QuickTime pinned to 422 HQ or 4444, resolution and fps.
These are generic starting points, not any specific studio's confidential sheet - we are not affiliated with any streamer or studio. They get you most of the way; the client's exact numbers come next.
The custom spec editor
Presets cover the shape; a real client sheet has specifics - a particular start frame, an exact naming token pattern, a resolution or pixel aspect that is not the default. The custom spec editor lets you pin every one of those and save the result as a named spec you reuse each time that client sends work. Encode it once, and next delivery is a one-click scan.
Export, import, share one ruleset per studio
The multiplier is sharing. A spec is only as good as the version everyone actually uses - if three artists each keep their own slightly different idea of the client's rules, you are back to drift. Export a spec as JSON and import it on every seat, and the whole studio preflights against the identical ruleset. The export round-trips exactly, so a saved client spec becomes the single source of truth: the lead maintains it, everyone imports it, and "which version of the spec are we on?" stops being a question.