What Files Should You Receive
After an AI Film Project?

1. Start with what the receiving team needs to do.

A finished video is only one possible handover item. Your social team may need a ready-to-upload vertical export. An editor preparing next quarter’s campaign may need the timeline and its media. A regional team may need a version without baked-in English titles. These are different deliverables, even when they originate from the same approved film.

Agree the handover before production begins. Ask who will publish, who will adapt and who will keep the archive. Then specify the files each person needs. Requesting “all the files” is less useful than naming the future tasks they must support.

For a straightforward launch, the core package might contain approved exports, a clearly identified master, captions where commissioned, a delivery manifest and usage notes. Editable projects, separate audio layers, clean versions and selected generation assets should be agreed explicitly. This article is a commissioning guide, not a statement that every Nightwolf project includes every item listed.

The distinction matters across conventional and AI production. Vidico’s post-production service description separates editing, sound, grading, graphics, captions and channel formatting. Its examples show why “finished video” can involve several disciplines; those are the agency’s own service claims, not an independent performance comparison. Our recommendation is to turn each relevant discipline into a named handover requirement. Source: Vidico’s post-production workflow.

2. Separate the master from channel exports.

Use “master” carefully. Define the approved picture, sound and text state, plus its resolution, aspect ratio, frame rate, colour treatment and file format. A filename containing MASTER is not enough if nobody knows whether it includes the final grade, captions or current end card.

A channel export is the version prepared for a particular destination. Record the receiving platform’s requirements rather than assuming one file suits every placement. A vertical social cut and a landscape website film may differ in edit, framing and text, not just dimensions. Our campaign adaptation guide covers those creative choices.

Keep a clean version only when it has a defined purpose. “Clean” might mean no captions, no graphic titles, no logo or no voice-over; those meanings are not interchangeable. Name the removed elements in the manifest. A textless picture is useful for localisation, but removing embedded lettering after delivery can be a separate production task if it was never preserved as a layer.

For every supplied file, record whether it is approved for publication or provided only as an editing source. Keep review copies and superseded exports outside the final-delivery folder so a hurried upload does not select the wrong version.

3. Use a small delivery matrix.

Here is an illustrative package for a fictional fifteen-second outdoor brand film. It is a planning example, not a completed commission or a default technical specification. The actual codec, dimensions, frame rate and audio requirements must be agreed with the receiving team.

Notice what this does not promise: every rejected generation, every software subscription or unlimited future revisions. If the receiving team needs unused shots, extended handles around edits or alternate takes, list those items and their purpose while the scope is still being agreed.

4. Keep sound and captions tied to the exact edit.

A final mixed soundtrack is different from separate dialogue, music and effects files. If later voice-over replacement is likely, ask whether those components can be supplied separately. Agree their start point and duration so they line up in the receiving editor’s timeline. Clearly label silent versions and versions containing guide audio.

Captions also belong to a specific edit. A caption file from a landscape cut may not match a shortened vertical version. Identify language, edit version and whether text is supplied as a separate file or permanently visible in the picture. Avoid delivering two files both called captions-final without explaining which film each matches.

Check the words, timing and playback in the intended publishing workflow. A readable preview is not proof that the receiving platform will use the same styling or position for a separate caption file. Our caption briefing guide explains the choices in more detail.

Ask for a usage record covering supplied music, voice and third-party assets, including any restrictions the supplier identifies. Having a file does not by itself tell the receiving team how it may be reused. Resolve missing permissions with the relevant supplier rather than treating the archive as blanket permission.

5. Define what editable actually means.

A project file can describe an edit while depending on media stored elsewhere. It may also depend on fonts, effects, plug-ins or another application. Ask for the application and version, a dependency list and a package containing the agreed media. If a dependency cannot be transferred, agree a rendered replacement or document the remaining limitation.

Adobe’s Premiere documentation describes collecting files and copying them to a new location through Project Manager, producing a new project linked to the selected media. It also allows unused clips to be excluded. That makes the selected sequences and collection options important: the recipient should not assume a collected project includes every asset from development. Source: Adobe’s project-copy guidance.

For an AI-generated shot, editable may mean the selected video can be trimmed, graded and composited. It does not automatically mean every object exists as a separate controllable layer. Similarly, a prompt record is not the same thing as a reusable 3D scene or a deterministic reconstruction of the original output.

The best acceptance check is practical: the intended editor opens the package, relinks the agreed media if needed and confirms the required change is possible. A project that opens with offline clips is an incomplete handover for a task that requires those clips, even if the project file itself is present.

6. Preserve useful generation records without oversharing.

When generation records are part of the agreement, include the selected asset filename, the tool and model when known, available settings, relevant input references and documented finishing steps. Mark unknown values as unknown. Do not reconstruct missing settings from memory and present them as a production record.

Keep this record proportionate to future use. A client who needs to publish a film may not need every exploratory prompt. An editor extending the visual direction may benefit from the selected references and approved source assets. Decide what is useful, permitted and within scope.

Runway’s asset-sharing guidance says a shared generated asset can expose inputs, seeds and other generation details as well as the viewable file. Review what the recipient can see before using a share link as the handover mechanism. A downloadable final export and a platform share page can disclose different information. Source: Runway asset sharing.

Do not include passwords, API keys or account credentials in the package. Where access to an account or workspace is genuinely required, agree the appropriate access arrangement separately. The deliverable record should explain the work without requiring someone to inherit an individual producer’s login.

7. Download, verify and assign an archive owner.

A link is a delivery method, not necessarily a lasting archive. Runway’s API documentation states that generated-output URLs are temporary and expire within 24–48 hours of accessing the API, and instructs developers to save the output to their own storage. This specifically concerns API output links; it should not be generalised to every Runway sharing feature. Source: Runway API output documentation.

Agree who downloads the package, where the retained copy lives and how long the studio will retain its own copy. Test the download before a transfer link expires. For a large handover, a file manifest with sizes or checksums can help identify missing or corrupted files; it does not replace watching the actual film.

Use a filename structure that explains the file, such as Campaign_15s_9x16_EN_Captioned_v04_Approved.mp4. This is an illustrative naming pattern, not a codec specification. Avoid private client information in names if files will later be placed on public storage.

A good handover lets the next person publish or adapt the work without guessing. Bring these requirements into the production scope, resolve outstanding changes through a clear revision brief, and connect the final package to the intended use. Explore Nightwolf’s production and finishing capabilities when planning the work.

Sources checked 14 October 2026. The delivery matrix and filename are fictional planning examples. Explore images are independent discussion references, not one campaign or evidence of a supplied project archive. No tool use, generation test or client outcome is claimed.