What 'Current Version' Really Means on a Video Project
A plain-words explanation of the term current version, why editors disagree about it, and the simple rule that stops a team exporting the wrong cut.
Marcus Delgado · · 6 minutes to read
The phrase everyone uses and nobody defines
Ask three people on a production which file is the current version and you may get three answers. The editor means the latest sequence saved on their workstation. The producer means the cut sent for review on Friday. The client means whatever they approved last, which may be two rounds back. Each answer is reasonable, and each leads to a different export.
In the Version Tracking module I begin with this problem because it is a vocabulary problem before it is a software one. A team that cannot say what current means cannot track it. Folders, suffixes and review links all depend on agreeing what the word points to.
So the first job is to write one sentence that every person on the project can repeat. Once that sentence exists, the naming and storage rules almost write themselves, and arguments about files become short conversations instead of long searches.
This article takes that single term and explains it in plain words, without special tools, so you can apply it to your next project drive.
Three meanings hiding inside one word
In practice current can mean three separate things. The working version is the one being edited right now, changing hour by hour. The review version is a frozen copy shown to someone for comment. The approved version is the cut that a responsible person has signed off, which may not be the newest by date.
Most mix-ups happen when these three get blended. A file called final that is really a review copy will be treated as approved by the next person who sees it. A working file with a recent date gets mistaken for the approved one simply because it sorts to the top of a folder.
Separating the three is not paperwork for its own sake. It lets you answer a direct question quickly: which file would we deliver if the client called this minute? That file is the approved one, and it should be easy to point to.
Keep the meanings apart in your notes and in your file names, and you remove the most common cause of an export going out from the wrong cut.
- Working: changes constantly, owned by the editor
- Review: frozen, shared for comments
- Approved: signed off by a named person
Why dates and the word final let you down
Modified dates feel trustworthy, but they only record when a file was last touched. Opening a project to check a setting, or copying a drive, can change the date without changing the content. Sorting by date then puts an old cut above a newer one, and nobody notices until it is too late.
The word final fails for a different reason: it is a hope, not a state. Projects rarely have one final. They have final, final2 and final_reallyfinal, each added by someone sure the last change was the last. Those names tell a later reader nothing about order or approval.
A better habit is to number versions in sequence and keep the approval status separate from the number. Version 12 can be approved while version 14 is still a draft, and that is perfectly clear when the two facts are recorded in different places.
I ask teams to retire the word final from file names entirely. It is a habit that costs almost nothing to drop and removes a surprising number of duplicate exports.
A simple rule for numbering cuts and revisions
The rule I teach has three parts. First, every cut gets a version number that only goes up and is never reused. Second, a major step such as a new client round moves the leading number, while small corrections move the trailing one. Third, the number sits in the same position in every file name, so a sorted folder reads in order.
For example, a project might move from v1.0 to v1.3 through internal tweaks, then to v2.0 when the client returns notes. Anyone looking at the folder can see the story of the edit without opening a single file, and no one needs to ask what happened between round one and round two.
Keep the format boring and the same on every project. The value of a numbering rule comes from repetition, not cleverness. A new team member should be able to learn it in a minute and apply it correctly the same day.
Write the rule on one page and store it with the project, so it travels with the files rather than living in someone's memory.
- Numbers only increase and are never reused
- Major step changes the first number
- Small fixes change the second number
Recording who approved what, and when
A version number tells you the order of cuts. It does not tell you which one a person with authority accepted. For that you need a short approval note, kept beside the files: the version, the name of the approver, and the date they agreed. Three lines are enough.
This note is what turns a pile of exports into a defensible record. If a question comes up months later about which cut aired or shipped, you can answer from the note rather than from memory or from the dates on a drive that has since been copied twice.
Keep the note in a fixed place, such as a small text file in each project's delivery folder. Do not bury it in a long email thread that only one person can search. Anyone taking over the project should find it without asking.
When the approved version changes, add a new line rather than overwriting the old one. The history of decisions is as useful as the decision itself, particularly when a client reverses an earlier choice.
Putting the term to work on your next project
Start small. Before the next edit begins, write your one-sentence definition of current, decide the numbering format, and create the approval note file. That takes a few minutes and costs nothing in software.
Then check it against reality after the first review round. Ask whether a colleague who was absent could find the approved cut in under a minute. If they could not, adjust the wording or the folder, not the people.
In the course we practise this on a sample project drive, so you meet the awkward cases, such as a late fix to an approved cut, before they happen on live work. The aim is a habit your team keeps without thinking about it.
Done well, the term current version stops being a matter of opinion. It becomes a fact anyone can check, and that is the whole purpose of tracking versions in the first place.
Current version sounds simple, but it hides three different meanings, and most export mistakes come from blending them. Define the word once, number your cuts in a way that only moves forward, and keep a short approval note beside the files. None of this needs special software. It needs agreement and a little repetition, and a team that has both will always know which file to send.
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