edit-delivery-qa

Edit Delivery QA

Overview

Use this skill before presenting a video edit as finished. The expected output is a concise QA readout: technical specs, timeline health, visual review notes, and any fixes needed before delivery.

Required Checks

1. Probe the final render:
   • duration
   • resolution
   • frame rate
   • video codec
   • audio stream presence
   • delivery container
2. Generate a contact sheet if one does not already exist.
3. Review the contact sheet for:
   • active, intentional frames
   • no title cards/interviews/blank frames unless deliberate
   • no watermarks or stock-preview overlays
   • readable subject/action after crop
   • accents that look intentional, not random filler
4. Inspect the timeline CSV if available:
   • segment count
   • average/min/max segment duration
   • source mix
   • kind/category mix
   • priority-hit usage
5. Compare the result to the target format and creative brief.
6. State whether the edit is ready, needs a small revision, or needs a rerender.

Beat-Synced Montage Targets

For dense social montage cuts:

• Duration: usually 30-40s.
• Vertical: 1080x1920; landscape: 1920x1080.
• Frame rate: 30fps minimum.
• For a 35s high-energy montage, 70-90 segments is healthy if the footage can support it.
• Average segment length: about 0.35-0.50s.
• Audio should be present and clean.
• Contact sheet should show mostly active/intended footage.

Integrated-FX & Craft Checks (2026-07 additions)

For edits with effects or text layers, add these to the required checks:

• Cohesion / sticker check: does any composited element read as an untracked sticker rather than an object in the scene? Does any segment read as a cutaway to a different video? Does one shot break the shared grade (a one-off look among naturals)? Any yes = revision — these are the highest-frequency rejection causes.
• Text-sync check: if a hook line is meant to land on a beat, measure the actual offset between the text-appearance frame and the audio accent; |offset| > 100ms = re-render.
• Loop check: replay the ending into the start; loop-seam edits must be invisible.
• Phone-scale check: inspect at full size AND phone scale; save review frames at mandated timestamps (e.g. 1/4/8/12/14s of a 15s piece) plus a late-frame spot check alongside the QA report.
• Cheap-proof stage (before full builds, not after): render a low-res skeleton of the first 3-5 seconds and watch it at scroll speed before committing to the full/VFX render — kill criteria are cheap at this gate and expensive after VFX.
• QuickTime deliverable: when the review happens in Apple players, also produce and separately QA a QuickTime-compatible .mov.
• For anything going public, run five independent gates: technical, visual, narrative, originality/rights, platform package. Automated QA supports but never replaces watching the render at normal speed. Grain is fine (viewers prefer it); blockiness, banding, upscale blur, watermarks, and borders are the real penalties.

Failure Patterns

Send the edit back for revision when you see:

• no audio stream or wrong audio excerpt
• wrong aspect ratio or unintended crop
• empty frames, title cards, interviews, stock watermarks, or price overlays
• action hidden by the vertical crop
• too many weak crowd/laser/nature inserts replacing the main premise
• priority musical hits served by low-motion footage
• timeline CSV and final render disagree materially

Script

Run scripts/qa_video_edit.py against the final video. Add --timeline and --contact-sheet when available:

python3 scripts/qa_video_edit.py final.mp4 --timeline final_timeline.csv --contact-sheet final_contact_sheet.jpg --out final_qa

The script writes JSON and Markdown. It can also create a contact sheet with FFmpeg when --make-contact-sheet is set.

Human Review

The script catches specs and timeline problems; it does not replace watching or inspecting frames. Always pair automated QA with at least a contact-sheet review, and watch the final render when the edit is high stakes or visually dense.

For the Conteto Machino standard, read references/edit-qa-standard.md.

Optional references:

• references/qa-thresholds.md: adaptable thresholds by edit type.
• references/example-prompts.md: reusable final-QA prompts.
• references/gui-vision.md: product vision for a visual QA and delivery panel.