Versioning

What this is about

Naming is the whole discipline. A file called film_final_v3_really_final tells nobody what changed or when, and a project with four such files reliably produces feedback on an outdated cut. A convention with project, version number and date fixes most of it, provided every export follows it and old versions are kept rather than overwritten. Language versions and platform cuts multiply the problem, since a change to the main cut has to be traced through each derivative before anyone can claim the set is consistent.

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

Where this differs from the general case:

• Use one convention: project, version number, date — and never the word final in a file name
• Keep old versions instead of overwriting them; comparing two states settles most disputes
• Note per version what changed, so approvals refer to something specific

With TillyGen

TillyGen keeps review rounds attached to their version, so a comment stays connected to the cut it was written about even after three further revisions.

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.