Master File

What this is about

The master exists so that nobody ever has to re-export from the project again. It is finished, graded and mixed, usually written as a high-quality intermediate rather than a delivery codec, and it holds no burnt-in text beyond what belongs in the film. Web versions, social crops and preview copies are all generated from it. Making a new version from an already compressed file is the classic mistake, because compression damage accumulates with every generation and cannot be reversed afterwards.

A term only helps when everyone on set means the same thing by it — so what follows is how it is used, not a dictionary definition.

What runs differently here

In planning terms, that means:

• Write the master as a high-quality intermediate, not as a compressed delivery file
• Derive every further version from the master, never from an already compressed export
• Keep the master clean: no burnt-in timecode, no watermark, no platform-specific bars

With TillyGen

Because the approved version is documented in TillyGen, it is clear which cut the master was written from when a new format is requested months later.

Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.