What features should a video review tool have?

What are the must-have features of a video review tool?

The must-have features of a video review tool are the ones your clients notice on every project. Each one saves a particular moment of pain.

• Notes on the exact frame. Every note is pinned to its moment, so “at about 1:20” emails and screenshots with arrows disappear.
• No account for reviewers. Clients who won't sign up, or can't work out a review tool, come up again and again in editors' threads. You never want to add friction here: every extra step is a reason for a client not to leave their notes. The best tools ask for a name and nothing else.
• Works on a phone as well as a computer. You never know how a reviewer will open the link. Often it's a phone, on the train, between meetings.
• Every version on one link. Each new cut goes on the same link, so nobody watches last week's version by mistake.
• Approval with a record. “Looks great!” in a chat isn't a sign-off. You want a name and a date against the version that was approved.
• A password, if confidentiality matters. For unreleased work, or anything under NDA, only the people with the password should be able to open it.
• Replies and @mentions. Feedback isn't a one-way street. Reviewers and editors need to talk things through under the note, especially when a decision has to be made.

Which features are nice to have?

The nice-to-haves decide how easy the review is for your clients, and how much tidying up is left for you.

• Drawing on the frame, for “this thing here”.
• Voice notes, for reviewers who'd rather talk than type.
• Polls, to turn an open question into a decision.
• Range notes, for a whole stretch rather than one moment.
• A way to manage feedback, like a private board that turns notes into a to-do list.
• Compare two versions, with a wipe or side by side.
• Email alerts, and replies by email that land back in the project.
• View-only links, for people who should watch without commenting.
• Transcripts of uploaded video and audio, so you can search for a word instead of scrubbing through an hour.
• Viewer activity, so you know who's watched and when.
• Custom branding, with your logo and colours, or your client's, on the review link.
• Image sets, for stills, thumbnails and posters, reviewed the same way as the video.
• Notes out to your editing software, as markers on your timeline or a list you can sort, so you can work through the notes where you edit.

What happens to your footage?

Before you upload anything, find out what the tool may do with your footage and your clients' feedback, and look for a plain answer on AI training. Unreleased work and client footage deserve a clear promise.

We take this seriously. In SceneNote, footage and feedback exist only to serve the project. SceneNote never uses or sells them for AI training, and the Terms say so.

How should you judge the price of a video review tool?

Judge the price of a video review tool by how it grows with your work, not just the monthly figure. A few questions tell you most of what you need.

SceneNote's review tools are a curated set, shaped by years of real-world post-production experience. It has a free plan with unlimited link projects and reviewers, and Pro is one price, $9 a month, with no seats.

A checklist before you choose

Run one real project through any tool you're considering, and check:

• A client can leave a note without making an account.
• The note lands on the exact frame, on a phone and on a computer.
• A second version goes on the same link.
• The client can approve, and you can see who approved and when.
• Drawing, voice notes and polls work the way your clients will want.
• The terms say plainly what happens to your footage.
• The price still makes sense with your real number of projects and reviewers.

How does SceneNote answer each one?

Here's how SceneNote covers each feature, including the limits.

What does this look like on a real project?

Kiril DobrevDocumentary filmmaker and editor, 15+ years · SceneNote team

A lot of review tools fall short on usability, and not only for the filmmaker. From the reviewer's side, there was often friction, or just confusion about how the tool worked, and clients ended up not wanting to use it. That always bugged us. We knew a review tool makes everything better, but something was stopping clients from using the ones out there.

So we built SceneNote on many years of post-production experience, and focused on making it as easy as possible for the client to use. If the client doesn't want to use it, it isn't a very useful tool. It was years of frustration with what was available that led us to build something for ourselves.

We're biased, of course. But we've looked closely at how other tools do it, and with our experience and care for the craft, we've built something that's usable and powerful, and built around the way post-production really works.

FAQ

What's the simplest way to choose a video review tool?

Start with the must-haves: notes on the exact frame, no account for reviewers, phone review, versions on one link, a recorded sign-off and replies, plus a password if the work is confidential. Then weigh the nice-to-haves, the privacy terms and the price, and run one real project before you commit.

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Kiril Dobrev

Filmmaker · part of the team behind SceneNote

Kiril Dobrev is a filmmaker with 15 years of experience and a passion for documentary and travel. He’s spent a lot of that time in the editing room, obsessing over how to make his workflow better, and the feedback loop has always been a big part of that. Post-production still hasn’t had a good enough answer to it. SceneNote was born from that, with one simple idea: make feedback better.

More guides by Kiril →