The Premiere Pro handoff checklist.

When a cut locks, the editor moves on. The project doesn’t. It still has to travel: to a colorist, to an online or conform editor, to a sound mixer, often to all three at once. Each of them opens your Premiere Pro project expecting something different, and each loses time when what they need is missing, mislabelled, or buried in a working timeline.

Good prep comes down to one test. Can the person on the other end open what you sent, confirm it conformed correctly, and start working, without emailing you a list of questions first? If yes, you handed off well. This guide splits the handoff into the three packages you actually deliver, and ends with a checklist to run before you send.

What “handoff-ready” actually means

A ready delivery does three things. It explains itself, so whoever opens it can see what it is and what spec it sits at without having to ask. It conforms, meaning the interchange file and the media agree and the receiving tool rebuilds your edit frame for frame. And it stays in its lane: the colorist gets picture, the mixer gets audio, neither inherits the other’s leftovers.

Most of what goes wrong is mundane. A missing frame rate. An offline clip. A sequence called Final FINAL v3 copy. A reference render that runs two frames longer than the timeline it is meant to describe. The checklist at the end is built to catch that kind of thing.

Before you start: lock the cut and confirm the specs

Don’t send anything until the cut is genuinely locked. Changes made after handoff don’t stay small: one trim now becomes a re-conform in online, a re-grade in color and a re-sync in sound. If the picture is still moving, it isn’t ready, however close the deadline is.

Once it is locked, pin down the spec in writing, ideally with the facility or the freelancers themselves, before you export anything:

• Frame rate and timebase, including whether the project is true 23.976 or 24, and whether timecode is drop-frame or non-drop.
• Resolution and working space. The finishing resolution may be higher than your offline.
• Timecode start. A clean reference such as 01:00:00:00 is common. Stray offsets are a frequent cause of conforms that look right but sit a few frames off.
• Audio sample rate and bit depth, which the AAF should match. 48 kHz / 24-bit is the usual.
• Which interchange format each department wants. If you are unsure what each tool expects, the companion guide on FCP XML vs. AAF vs. EDL covers what each format carries.

The color package

The colorist works from picture, nothing else. They need every shot in the cut, in editorial order, each clip back in its native state, conforming against your source media at full quality. For a Premiere → DaVinci Resolve handoff the format is FCP XML, exported from File → Export → Final Cut Pro XML…

Getting to a clean XML takes real work: flattening to a single video track, stripping effects with Remove Attributes, resetting speed ramps, turning off Scale to Frame Size. That has a guide of its own, on preparing a Premiere Pro timeline for color grading. The package you hand over is three things:

• The FCP XML of a flattened grade sequence, named to match the project, for example Acme_GRADE_v01.xml.
• The source media, or confirmed access to the same storage so the colorist’s paths resolve. Resolve conforms against the original files on disk; if they are unreachable, every clip arrives offline.
• A reference video: a flat H.264 of the locked cut with timecode and clip-name burn-in, matched to the XML in sequence and duration. The colorist checks the conform against it shot by shot. If the reference runs 14:32 and the conformed timeline reads 14:34, something dropped on import, and they spot it before grading.

The online / conform package

Online, or conform, is where the offline edit gets rebuilt against full-resolution media and finished off: titles, graphics, VFX shots and the grade all come together into a master. If you cut against proxies, this is the stage that reconnects to the camera originals, so the conform editor’s first job is to rebuild your exact edit at full quality.

Hand them an interchange file that describes the cut precisely. FCP XML carries more; an EDL is the lowest common denominator and still turns up constantly in finishing. Premiere writes an EDL from File → Export → EDL with the Timeline panel active. Mind the format’s limits: Premiere’s EDLs are CMX3600, which hold one video track and up to four audio channels each, so a multi-track timeline needs one EDL per video track.

Alongside the interchange file, the online editor needs the things the camera media doesn’t contain:

• Graphics and titles as separate, editable elements where you can manage it, rather than baked into picture, with fonts or font references included.
• VFX shots identified by source timecode, with a pull list: an EDL or a spreadsheet of the in and out points the VFX team needs.
• The reference video, again with burn-in, so the conform can be checked against your locked picture.
• Any speed ramps or repositions noted in writing. These are the edits most likely to need rebuilding by hand.

The sound package

Sound is mixed in its own session, and the format for a Premiere → Pro Tools handoff is AAF, exported from File → Export → AAF. The export settings matter more here than anywhere else in the handoff (the dedicated guide on exporting an AAF for Pro Tools covers the dialog in full):

• Embedded or separate media. Embedding writes the audio into the AAF as one self-contained file; separate audio renders the files into a folder beside it and keeps more metadata. Ask the mixer which they prefer; either works as long as the media travels with the AAF.
• Handle frames. What gives the mixer room to work is the handle, not the embed choice. Copy complete files, or trim with a handle of several seconds. Sixty frames is a common minimum and plenty of mixers ask for more, so there is room to extend, crossfade and smooth around every edit.
• Breakout to mono for Pro Tools, so each channel lands on its own track instead of as interleaved stereo.
• Sample rate and bit depth set to the confirmed spec, typically 48 kHz / 24-bit.

Send the AAF with the same reference video everyone else gets. The mixer lines the session up to picture and uses the burn-in to confirm sync. A guide track, a stereo mixdown of your editorial audio, gives them a quick way to check that nothing drifted on import.

Folder structure and a manifest

Packaging is part of the job. A flat pile of files with cryptic names just makes work at the other end. Use a structure that names itself, with the project and version at the top and a folder for each department:

• Acme_HANDOFF_v01/
  • GRADE/ — XML, source media (or a path note), reference video
  • ONLINE/ — XML or EDL, graphics, VFX pull list, reference video
  • SOUND/ — AAF, guide track, reference video
  • MANIFEST.txt

The manifest is a plain-text file that lets the package speak for itself. Put the project name and version in it, the frame rate, resolution and timecode start, the audio spec, the duration of the master sequence, what each folder holds, and a name to contact with questions. Two minutes of typing, and most of the usual follow-up emails never get written.

The printable checklist

Run this before every delivery. It is short on purpose; the detail is in the sections above.

Before you send

• Cut is genuinely locked, with no pending changes.
• Frame rate, timecode (drop / non-drop), resolution and timecode start confirmed in writing.
• Audio sample rate and bit depth confirmed.
• Interchange format each department wants is confirmed.

Color

• Flattened grade sequence, single video track, effects and ramps reset.
• FCP XML exported and named to match.
• Source media included, or storage access confirmed.
• Reference video with burn-in, duration matches the XML.

Online / conform

• XML or EDL exported (one EDL per video track if using CMX3600).
• Graphics and titles supplied as editable elements, with fonts.
• VFX shots identified, with a pull list by source timecode.
• Speed ramps and repositions noted.
• Reference video with burn-in.

Sound

• AAF exported, embedded or separate media as the mixer prefers.
• Handles set (complete files, or trimmed with several seconds of handle).
• Breakout to mono enabled for Pro Tools.
• Sample rate and bit depth match the spec.
• Guide audio track and reference video included.

Package

• A named folder for each department.
• Consistent [project]_[department]_[version] naming throughout.
• MANIFEST.txt with specs, contents and a contact.
• Delivery location confirmed: drive, server path or share link.

None of it is hard, but any one item left undone tends to come back as a day of emails. Run the list before you send, and the project leaves your desk ready for the next person to pick up.