Verification Issues
If verification discrepancies occur, productions can choose to resolve the issue by reuploading the problematic files with the correct MHL or checksums. It is, however, the production’s responsibility to determine whether remediation is needed in case of any discrepancies between what was delivered to Netflix and the original manifest created on set as Netflix will not be auditing this process.
Should you ever have questions about data management best practices and how to prepare your media for upload, you can find a complete user guide here.
When uploading my media, I got notified of extra files in a roll, what do I do?
What does this error mean?
If you got this error, be sure that your upload and archive has completed. Extra files were found in the upload directory that were not in the MHL. This could be due to files being added, moved, or renamed after the initial checksum creation.
How will I be notified?
You will be notified in multiple ways if you have missing files in a roll.
In the Footage Ingest application when pre-upload validations are ran you will be notified that there are extra files compared to the MHL that was created when the roll was first offloaded.
Figure A
Automated emails will alert you if any files are extra compared to the MHL created when the roll was first offloaded.
Figure B
Lastly, within the Content Hub application after your upload has completed, you will be able to see that there are extra files compared to the MHL that was created when the roll was first offloaded.
Figure C
Should I fix it? How?
Netflix's primary role in the footage ingest process is to inform the user if the ingested footage presents with issues when compared against the original checksum manifest (MHL) to ensure no data was modified from the original offload.
If the extra files are unimportant (e.g., system files, metadata, or reports), you can choose to disregard this warning. However, if the files are original camera, sound, or image files, and the issue arises from renaming or moving files in the upload directory, Netflix would prefer the production to take the following steps: recreate the MHL to reflect the changes, or reorganize the files to match the structure described in the MHL. Once corrected, redeliver the affected rolls.
We understand that production dynamics may sometimes prevent re-uploading data. In such cases, we trust production's expertise to evaluate the situation and make the best decision based on the available information. If production determines that accepting the risk of not having the surfaced files verified is the most appropriate course of action, Netflix respects and defers their decision.
Additionally, please also note that, currently, there's no way to remove the warning from the Content Hub Footage Ingest page when deciding not to reupload.
When uploading my media, I got notified of missing files in a roll, what do I do?
How will I be notified?
You will be notified in multiple ways if you have missing files in a roll.
In the Footage Ingest application when pre-upload validations are ran you will be notified that there are missing files compared to the MHL that was created when the roll was first offloaded.
Figure D
Automated emails will alert you if any files are missing compared to the MHL created when the roll was first offloaded.
Figure E
Lastly, within the Content Hub application after your upload has completed, you will be able to see that there are missing files compared to the MHL that was created when the roll was first offloaded.
Figure F
Should I fix it? How?
When this error surfaces, the upload was finished completely without technical issues, and only after the media delivered is compared against the original MHL form set, it is apparent that some files are missing. In this case, Netflix's primary role in the footage ingest process is to inform the user if the ingested footage presents issues when compared against the original checksum manifest (MHL) to ensure no data was modified from the original offload. Netflix will not actively monitor the failures and is not going to actively request a redelivery, this is a decision to be made by the production.
If the missing files are unimportant (e.g., system files, metadata, or reports), you can choose to disregard this warning. However, if the files are original camera, sound, or image files, the immediate priority is to identify where in the data management chain the files went missing—whether they were not copied, were they renamed, or moved from their original location.
If any original media is missing, it is critical that production redelivers the package, including the missing files, especially if the warning appeared before the upload began. If the missing file was renamed or moved, production should recreate the MHL to reflect these changes or rename/move the files to their original location and redeliver only the affected rolls. If the media is lost and cannot be redelivered, we understand that production dynamics may sometimes lead to this outcome. In such cases, we trust production's expertise to evaluate the situation and make the best decision based on the available information.
If production chooses not to re-upload the roll with the missing data, please note that any future issues accessing this material will likely result from the files not being delivered to Netflix. If production determines that accepting this risk is the most appropriate course of action, we respect and defer their decision.
Please also note that, currently, there's no way to remove the warning from the Content Hub Footage Ingest page when deciding not to reupload.
When uploading my media, I got notified of a checksum mismatch, what do I do?
How will I be notified?
As your media moves through the verification process if there is a checksum mismatch you will be notified via automated email.
Figure G
Additionally you will see in the archive column of the Footage Ingest page in Content Hub a red error warning. You can then select the upload to view further details about the checksum mismatch.
Figure H
Should I fix it? How?
Netflix's primary role in the footage ingest process is to inform the user if the ingested footage presents issues when compared against the original checksum manifest (MHL) to ensure no data was modified from the original offload.
If the mismatched files are unimportant (system files, metadata or reports), you can choose to disregard this warning. However, if files are original camera sound or image, the immediate priority is to identify where in the data management chain where the issue was introduced. This is most likely during one of the copies between the original offload and the final transfer, but it may also have occurred during the transfer from production to Netflix. To discern when the issue happened, the best course of action is to compare the MHL against the files uploads using some tool like MediaVerify, SealVerify, or the official ASCMHL command line tool.
Once the root cause of the problem is identified, it's important to fix the local copy (usually copying again from the source) and reupload the affected roll after addressing the issue. We strongly recommend production to always reupload in such cases to avoid future complications. However, we understand that production dynamics may sometimes make this redelivery impossible.
If production chooses not to re-upload the roll with the mismatched data, please note that any future issues accessing this material will likely result from the files not being delivered to Netflix. If production determines that accepting this risk is the most appropriate course of action, we respect and defer their decision.
Additionally, please also note that, currently, there's no way to remove the warning from the Content Hub Footage Ingest page when deciding not to reupload.
I got an email that there was a discrepancy between my media at the Netflix Data Center and the Netflix Cloud, what do I do?
As long as your media passes verification when it enters the archive phase on the Netflix Cloud you do not need to re-upload. Please remember it is imperative to follow the data management best practices found here.
MHL Issues
There are two MHLs contained in my roll folder, what do I do?
How will I be notified?
If you are using MHL V1, you will be notified in the Footage Ingest Application.
Figure I
How can I fix the issue?
For MHL V1, please remove the extra MHL from the roll containing folder. Then select Re-Scan to rescan your directory. Should you ever have questions about data management best practices and how to prepare your media for upload, you can find a complete user guide here.
Figure J
My ASCMHL wasn’t formatted correctly, what do I do?
How will I be notified?
You will be notified of the ASCMHL errors in the automated emails.
Figure K
How can I fix the issue?
Please undo any changes you might have made to the ASCMHL and reupload any flagged rolls. Should you ever have questions about data management best practices and how to prepare your media for upload, you can find a complete user guide here.
Other Commonly Known Issues
In the Content Hub application I see that the media library status is grayed out, what do I do?
If you notice that your media library status is grayed and the error message of Metadata extraction failed is shown once your media has passed archive validation, please know that the archive integrity or security of your media is not at risk. Should you have further questions please contact our support team for further assistance.
My upload is too slow, can’t I use my entire network?
If you feel like your upload is progressing to slow, please check the following:
Ensure that you are using SSD or NVMe drives due to their higher random read speeds and ability to mitigate network throttling. Avoid using mechanical drives or RAID arrays as transportation drives. When checking the speeds of your source drives avoid using tools that do sequential readings, because they’re not representative of random read behaviors, which is how our app works.
Make sure that no other applications or processes are running on your computer when you are uploading. We strongly recommend that this computer is only used for Netflix Footage Ingest uploads.
Ensure that your upload facility has not placed any limitations on upload bandwidth, or has any other services/processing running that could affect upload bandwidth, and that your facility has all of the required IP addresses and domain names on your allow list. A full list can be found here.
Additionally, please note that if you are transferring file per frame media it could take longer than single files due the number of files adding overhead to the reads.
My upload is stuck on preparing to upload?
Given the large amount of data the Netflix Footage Ingest Application has to scan please wait at least 5 minutes before retrying your upload. If you are still unable to proceed with your upload, please contact support through the Netflix Footage Ingest Application. When you submit a support request through the Netflix Footage Ingest Application, key details about your upload are automatically sent to our support team.
Figure L
When I attempt to resume an upload it doesn’t appear to start, why is this?
When you click "Resume" on an upload, the Netflix Footage Ingest app verifies the integrity of previously uploaded files by scanning each one to ensure they haven’t changed since the initial upload. This process is particularly intensive if you're working with frame-based media, as each file must be scanned. Once the verification is complete, the upload will automatically resume where it left off.
When I go to download items from the media library or during a conform pull it cannot find all of my clips, what do I do?
If you are having trouble downloading items from the media library or during a conform pull you notice missing clips, please contact our support team for further assistance.