Picture Archival Assets: Folder Structure and File Naming Convention

Folder Structure and File Naming Convention

Below are details of the folder structure and naming convention for image files. Not every field is applicable for every type of asset, see the “Naming Convention Fields” section below for additional details.

Episodic content requires a ‘Season & Episode’ field in the folder and file name. Non-episodic content requires a ‘Segment’ field in the file name. Non-episodic segmented/reel-based content requires a ‘Segment’ subfolder.

Additional subfolders may be included between the folder level and file level detailed below at the fulfillment partner’s discretion as long as it does not exceed the character limitation.

When delivering assets via Snowball a specific additional folder is required.

The full string of folder structure, file names, and file extensions must not exceed 256 characters. In the event that the requested string will exceed this character limit, contact a Netflix Asset Specialist to determine a mutually agreed abbreviated string.

Picture Mastering Deliverables must include their corresponding checksum.txt files created by CHCLI at the same level as the picture file sequence. CHCLI checksums must be labeled "checksum.txt". If you are delivering via Snowball, this is a function of the ‘CHCLI’ (Content Hub Command Line). For instructions regarding How To Create Checksum files, please see the CHCLI Checksum Creation User Guide.

Additional Folder When Delivering Via Snowball

Snowball Folder:

[Snowball Folder]

The proceeding folder structure and file naming should then follow the conventions detailed below. The above should only be used when delivering via Snowball. When delivering via Snowball, multiple asset folders may be placed inside this Snowball Folder. For deliveries directly to Content Hub, utilize only the conventions detailed below.

Episodic

Folder Name:

[Project Title]_[Season & Episode]_[Asset Type]_[Bit Depth]_[Dynamic Range]_[ACES Version]_[Color Space]_[Transfer Function]_[Date]_[Aspect Ratio]_[Resolution]

File Name:

[Project Title]_[Season & Episode]_[Asset Type]_[Bit Depth]_[Dynamic Range]_[ACES Version]_[Color Space]_[Transfer Function]_[Date]_[Aspect Ratio]_[Resolution].[Frame Number].[File Extension]

Non-Episodic Longplay

Folder Name:

[Project Title]_[Asset Type]_[Bit Depth]_[Dynamic Range]_[ACES Version]_[Color Space]_[Transfer Function]_[Date]_[Aspect Ratio]_[Resolution]

File Name:

[Project Title]_[Segment]_[Asset Type]_[Bit Depth]_[Dynamic Range]_[ACES Version]_[Color Space]_[Transfer Function]_[Date]_[Aspect Ratio]_[Resolution].[Frame Number].[File Extension]

Non-Episodic Segmented/Reel-Based

Folder Name:

[Project Title]_[Asset Type]_[Bit Depth]_[Dynamic Range]_[ACES Version]_[Color Space]_[Transfer Function]_[Date]_[Aspect Ratio]_[Resolution]

Sub-Folder Name:

[Segment]

File Name:

[Project Title]_[Segment]_[Asset Type]_[Bit Depth]_[Dynamic Range]_[ACES Version]_[Color Space]_[Transfer Function]_[Date]_[Aspect Ratio]_[Resolution].[Frame Number].[File Extension]

Naming Convention Fields

Project Title

The full title, using lower-case characters, substituting spaces with underscores, and omitting illegal characters.

Season & Episode (Episodic Only)

For episodic content, an abbreviation denoting the season and episode number. The season number should be preceded by an “s”, the episode number should be preceded by an “e”. The season number should be notated in two-digits, the episode number should be notated in three-digits. (Example: season 1 episode 1 would be “s01e101”.) In the event the production order differs from the final viewing order, the episode number should reflect the production order.

Segment (Non-Episodic Only)

For non-episodic content, an abbreviation denoting the segment/reel number or if the content is in ‘long-play format (a continuous sequence not broken into segments/reels). For segmented/reel-based content, the segment/reel number should be preceded by an “r” and the segment/reel number notated in two digits. For ‘long-play content, the abbreviation of “lp” should be used. (Examples: reel 1 of a segmented/reel-based asset would be “r01”, a ‘long-play asset would be “lp”.)

Asset Type

An abbreviation describing the type of asset.

Asset Type	Asset Type Abbreviation
Non-Graded Archival Master	nam
Non-Graded Archival Master: Textless Inserts	nam-txtls
Digital Cinema Distribution Master	dcdm
Digital Cinema Distribution Master: Textless Inserts	dcdm-txtls

Bit Depth

An abbreviation describing the bit depth of the image files contained in the asset. The abbreviation should be a two-digit number followed by a “b”. (Example: 16-bit image files would be “16b”.)

Dynamic Range

An abbreviation describing the Dynamic Range. This abbreviation does not need to be included for the Non-Graded Archival Master (NAM). The abbreviation must be included for the Digital Cinema Delivery Master (DCDM).

Dynamic Range	Dynamic Range Abbreviation
High Dynamic Range	hdr
Standard Dynamic Range	sdr

ACES Version

An abbreviation detailing the version of ACES used (when applicable). The version number should be detailed in three-digits, out to two decimal point places. The notation of the ACES version number should not include a decimal point itself. (Example: ACES 1.1 would be “aces110”, ACES 1.03 would be “aces103”)

Color Space

An abbreviation describing the Color Space of the image. For Non-Graded Archival Masters and Graded Archival Masters, the abbreviation should reference the color space of the file it is describing, not the intended ‘final’ display color space. (Example: If a standard-dynamic-range project was graded in the camera’s Log color space, the abbreviation should reference that scene-referred color space, not ITU-R BT.709 / Rec.709 color space.)

Color Space	Color Space Abbreviation
ACES 2065-1 (AP0)	ap0
ADX	adx
ARRI Wide Gamut	arriwg
BMD Film	bmdfilm
BMD Film 4.6K	bmdfilm46k
Canon DCI-P3+	canonp3dci
CanonCineGamut	canoncine
CFColor	cfcolor
Cineon (printing density)	cineonpd
DaVinci Wide Gamut	dwg
DCI P3	p3dci
DRAGONcolor	dragonc
DRAGONcolor2	dragonc2
Filmlight E-Gamut	egamut
ITU-R BT.2020 (Rec.2020)	rec2020
ITU-R BT.709 (Rec.709)	rec709
P3 D65	p3d65
Panasonic VGamut	vgamut
REDcolor	redc
REDcolor2	redc2
REDcolor3	redc3
REDcolor4	redc4
REDspace	redspace
REDWideGamutRGB	rwg
Sony SGamut	sgamut
Sony SGamut3	sgamut3
Sony SGamut3.cine	sgamut3-cine
sRGB	srgb
XYZ	xyz

Transfer Function

An abbreviation describing the Transfer Function of the image. For Non-Graded Archival Masters, the abbreviation should reference the transfer function of the file it is describing, not the intended transfer function of the ‘final’ display. (Example: If a standard-dynamic-range project was graded in the camera’s Log color space, the abbreviation should reference the corresponding transfer function not ITU-R BT.1886 / 2.4 Gamma.)

Transfer Function	Transfer Function Abbreviation
ACES 2065-1 (AP0)	ap0
ADX	adx
BMD Log	bmdlog
BMD Log 4.6K	bmdlog46k
Canon Log2	canonlog2
Canon Log3	canonlog3
CFLog	cflog
Cineon Log	cineon
DaVinci Intermediate	dint
DCI (2.6 Gamma)	g26
Filmlight T-Log	tlog
ITU-R BT.1886 (2.4 Gamma)	g24
Linear (1.0 Gamma)	lin
LogCv3	logc
Panasonic V-Log	vlog
RedLog3G10	log3g10
RedLogFilm	redlogfilm
S-Log2	slog2
S-Log3	slog3
SMPTE ST-2084 (PQ)	pq
sRGB (2.2 Gamma)	g22

Date

The date the asset was created in year/month/day format (example: “20190102” for January 2nd, 2019).

Aspect Ratio

The aspect ratio of the active image, derived by dividing the active resolution of the width by the active resolution of the height, rounded to two decimal points. The notation of the aspect ratio should not include a decimal point places (example: 1.78 aspect ratio would be notated as “178”). The aspect ratio code should not be included on un-matted Non-Graded Archival Master (NAM). The aspect ratio code must be included on Digital Cinema Delivery Master (DCDM) assets.

Resolution

The resolution of the image notated as [width]x[height]. The resolution should detail the full resolution of the file, not just the active image.

Frame Number

A seven-digit number signifying the Frame Number. If the Frame Number is less than seven-digits, pad out to seven-digits with zeros (example: 0086400). The image sequence must be sequential in numbering and numbered in the order they are intended to be displayed in. The numbering should be consistent between asset types (example: the first-frame-of-action for a Graded Archival Master and a Video Display Master of the same content should be numbered the same).

File Extension

A group of letters and or numbers after a period in a file name, denoting the format of the file.

Snowball Folder

An additional folder is specific to the Snowball device. This folder should be the full title, using lower-case characters, substituting spaces with underscores, and omitting illegal characters. For episodic content, the title should be followed by an underscore, then the season. The season number should be preceded by an “s” and the season number should be notated in two digits. (Examples: non-episodic, “title”; episodic season 1, “title_s01”.)

Legal and Illegal Characters

Legal characters: [ a-z ], [ A-Z ], [ 0-9 ], [ . ], [ _ ], [ - ]
ILLEGAL: spaces or any other symbols/characters.

Textless Notes

Textless assets should include a textless background for any shot/sequence of the content that contains on-screen graphic text.
Textless shots/sequences do NOT need to be provided for on-screen graphic text that appears over black in the texted version.
Textless shots/sequences should be provided cut-to-cut (i.e., the textless insert should not begin or end in the middle of a shot, the entire shot should be provided).
Textless shots/sequences should be numbered to match the numbering of the corresponding texted shot/sequence.
Textless main titles or credits do not require a distinct naming convention from other textless inserts.

Examples

Non-Episodic Segmented/Reel-Based, Digital Cinema Distribution Master, 16-bit TIFF, SDR, DCI P3 color space, DCI (2.6 Gamma) transfer function, 2.39 aspect ratio:
reeltitle_dcdm_16b_sdr_xyz_g26_20190104_239_4096x1716/
r01/
/reeltitle_r01_dcdm_16b_sdr_xyz_g26_20190104_239_4096x1716.#######.tif
/checksum.txt

Episodic, Non-Graded Archival Master, 16-bit DPX, REDWideGamutRGB color space, RedLog3G10 transfer function, un-matted:
episodictitle_s01e101_nam_16b_rwg_log3g10_20190107_3840x2160/
/episodictitle_s01e101_nam_16b_rwg_log3g10_20190107_3840x2160.#######.dpx
/checksum.txt

Episodic, Non-Graded Archival Master (Textless), 16-bit DPX, REDWideGamutRGB color space, RedLog3G10 transfer function, un-matted:
episodictitle_s01e101_nam-txtls_16b_rwg_log3g10_20190107_3840x2160/
/episodictitle_s01e101_nam-txtls_16b_rwg_log3g10_20190107_3840x2160.#######.dpx
/checksum.txt

Episodic, Non-Graded Archival Master, 16-bit DPX, REDWideGamutRGB color space, RedLog3G10 transfer function, un-matted, delivered via Snowball:
episodictitle_s02/
episodictitle_s02e201_nam_16b_rwg_log3g10_20190102_3840x2160/
/episodictitle_s02e201_nam_16b_rwg_log3g10_20190102_3840x2160.#######.dpx
/checksum.txt

Non-Episodic Longplay, Non-Graded Archival Master, 16-bit DPX, REDWideGamutRGB color space, RedLog3G10 transfer function, un-matted:
longplaytitle_nam_16b_rwg_log3g10_20190104_3840x2160/
/longplaytitle_lp_nam_16b_rwg_log3g10_20190104_3840x2160.#######.dpx
/checksum.txt

Episodic, Non-Graded Archival Master, 16-bit EXR, ACES v1.03, ACES 2065-1 (AP0) color space and Linear transfer function, un-matted:
episodictitle_s01e101_nam_16b_aces103_ap0_lin_20190108_3840x2160/
/episodictitle_s01e101_nam_16b_aces103_ap0_lin_20190108_3840x2160.#######.exr
/checksum.txt