Welcome to the Netflix Footage Ingest workflow. This guide gives you a high-level overview of how footage moves from set to Netflix’s archive and some of the main considerations when choosing to use it. If you're looking to understand the full process and what’s expected of your team — you’re in the right place. For step-by-step guidance or troubleshooting, you’ll find links to detailed documentation throughout.
Table of Contents
- What Is the Footage Ingest Workflow?
- What’s Expected From Production?
- Prepare Media & Validate
- Upload to Netflix (Data Center Storage)
- Archive (Netflix Cloud Storage)
- Day Completeness Check
- Where Should You Upload From?
- Getting Footage to Your Dailies Vendor
📸 What Is the Footage Ingest Workflow?
The Footage Ingest (FI) workflow is how original camera and audio files (OCF/OPA) move securely from set into Netflix’s long-term archive — fully verified and ready for post.
This workflow is designed to give Productions more flexibility, reduce dependency on physical storage like drives or LTO, and provide faster, safer delivery of materials — without sacrificing data integrity or accessibility to the media.
Footage Ingest starts when media is offloaded on set and ends when the footage is safely archived in the cloud. Once archive and Day Completeness are confirmed, there's no need for LTOs or long-term backup — Netflix has you covered.
Figure A
🎬 What’s Expected From Production?
Here’s a high-level checklist you can use across your shoot to stay on track:
- ✅ Prepare one shoot day at a time for upload following our guidelines
- ✅ Follow 3:2:1 backup before upload to data center completes
- ✅ Upload contents of every shooting day across units and blocks
- ✅ Keep at least one copy of the media until archive completes.
- ✅ Monitor uploads for verification warnings (notifications, tool)
- ✅ If needed, investigate and remediate any issues that may have arisen (extra, missing or mismatching files)
- ✅ Confirm cloud archive is complete and perform a Day Completeness Check to ensure all footage is in Content Hub
- ✅ Only then: clear or reuse all local storage
Test Heading
In the following sections we’ll go over what that process looks like more in-depth, what to expect from Netflix and what you’re responsible for alongside with some tips to ensure a smooth ingest experience. In summary:
✅ Netflix provides tools to upload and verify what was delivered.
🎯 But confirming that everything expected to be archived was uploaded and it’s in a good state? That’s always in Production that must confirm nothing is missing before completely clearing local storage.
1. Prepare Media & Validate
After footage is captured on set, it’s copied from source camera media (e.g., camera/sound cards) to transit drives.
Your responsibilities at this step:
Upload to Netflix
- Follow a 3:2:1 backup strategy (3 total copies, 2 media types, 1 offsite)
- Use a professional offload tool that creates an ASCMHL (or compatible MHL) manifests for every camera or sound roll. Ensure each roll a manifest correctly placed.
- Prepare only one shoot day per folder directory.
- After the offloading too creates the roll’s manifest don’t modify files, folder structure or ASC MHLs.
- Validate your media before sending the shoot day directory to the upload facility to ensure no remediation will be needed when files are uploaded.
- Download app to validate your package on-set
📘 Learn more: Preparing Your Media for Upload, Validate your media using Netflix Footage ingest app
2. Upload to Netflix (Data Center Storage)
Using the Footage Ingest app, media is uploaded to Netflix’s secure infrastructure and verified against the ASCMHL manifests delivered in every roll. You’ll receive a notification when upload completes.
You’ll receive a notification when the upload to data center and initial verification of the media completes.
Figure B
What Netflix verifies here after upload completes :
- That each uploaded file matches its corresponding checksum in the MHL delivered on the roll (ensuring that there is no corruption or unexpected changes to the original offload of the materials)
- That the folder structure and roll format follow ingest requirements
Your responsibilities at this step:
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Upload footage to the Netflix ecosystem. Download app to upload your package (see next section to determine how)
- When preparing the footage, ensure that each upload represents a single shoot day so that metadata attributes are assigned properly.
- If there are more shoot dates to upload, or the package is too large to be uploaded at once, you may queue all uploads one after the other.
- Monitor uploads to ensure nothing is paused, canceled, or missing
- Confirm that all expected rolls were successfully uploaded
- If there are verification issues, ensure they are reviewed on the Footage Ingest platform to assess whether remediation or redeliveries are needed. If redelivery is required, coordinate with data manager or uploading team.
- Retain at least one local backup until archive confirmation is received
📘 Learn more: Using the Footage Ingest App, Data Management & the 3:2:1 Strategy
📍 Where Should You Upload From?
Netflix supports multiple ingest workflows to match the realities of your production — whether you're on set, in a studio, or working with a post vendor. If you’re unsure which upload path is right for your production, check with your Netflix production contact early — we’ll help make sure your setup is covered.
Archive
- From stages: Best suited for productions shooting at Stage or locations with reliable high-speed internet (3gbps+). Upload footage directly from the stage each day using the Netflix Footage Ingest app.
- Content Hub Ingest Centers: Ingest Centers are available in 15+ global cities, offering fast turnaround, minimal setup and are completely free of charge for productions.
- Ad-hoc Ingest: Upload from anywhere with a good internet connectivity, post houses, vfx studios, or any other remote setups using the Netflix Footage Ingest app. Any M1+ Mac with a stable internet connection (~1 Gbps) can be used once approved and onboarded in advance by a Netflix representative. Download the app here to get started
👉 For more in-depth guidance on getting footage to your dailies vendor quickly, see Getting Footage to Your Dailies Vendor section.
3. Archive (Netflix Cloud Storage)
Once files are verified in the data center, Netflix transfers and archives them into long-term cloud storage and verifies the rolls again to ensure they were successfully transferred.
You’ll receive a notification when the archive and final verification of the media completes.
Figure C
What Netflix verifies here after upload completes :
- That each file archived in the cloud matches its corresponding checksum in the MHL delivered on the roll (ensuring that, in the cloud, there is no corruption or unexpected changes)
Day Completeness Check
Your responsibilities at this step:
- Do not clear or repurpose the remaining copies in local storage until both archive and verification are complete
- Do not rely solely on the green check in the Footage Ingest UI and emails to clear storage — it means files passed verification, but does not confirm that everything was delivered since Netflix cannot determine if something was missed or never uploaded.
📘 Learn more: Troubleshooting article
🧮 4. Day Completeness Check
Once your media has been archived using the Footage Ingest application, you will want to ensure day completeness. This is the process of confirming that all footage from a shoot day was delivered to Netflix and is in a good state in Content Hub.
This final check is always your responsibility, it ensures that everything that was shot actually made it to Netflix.
For example: We can confirm that files are unaltered, but we can’t tell if Roll A002 was supposed to exist but was never delivered.
That’s why the final check for day completeness is always your team’s responsibility. This step ensures that everything intended to be shot, offloaded, and delivered — actually made it to Netflix.
Your responsibilities at this step:
- 🧩 Investigate surfaced issues - Investigate surfaced issues - Investigate surfaced issues - If verification warnings exist, determine whether the issue impacts completeness or requires remediation (e.g., missing files, skipped cards, naming mismatches). (see Verification Issues & Remediation section)
- 📥 Confirm delivery of all expected rolls - On the footage ingest pages, validate that every roll shot on a given shoot day has been archived, verified, and is visible.
- Do not clear all remaining local copies from your storage until you’ve performed this final check.🔒 Retain backups until confirmed -
When using footage ingest as your sole archive copy, the above is specially important, therefore proper due diligence is needed before repurposing all local storage to ensure no media is ever lost.
📘 Learn more: How to download a report of an entire day?
⚠️ Production is fully responsible for delivering all expected footage, verifying day completeness, and retaining sufficient backups until archive is finished. Final confirmation that the day is complete must come from your production team.
🔧 Verification Issues & Remediation
If Netflix shows a warning during upload (like a missing file, extra file, or checksum mismatch), it means something uploaded doesn’t match what was originally offloaded on set. If this happens, Netflix will:
- Surface the specifics of the found issue in the tool and via email
- Provide details about what was detected, where and how to remediate the issue.
Netflix will not:
- Request redelivery
- Remove verification warnings
- Audit or confirm resolution of the issue
Your responsibilities at this step:
- Locally review the copy that was uploaded to ensure that it wasn’t a transfer issue.
- If the issue is also on the local copy, then assess the flagged issue using on-set records or backups or reaching to the DIT directly.
- Decide whether to:
- Reupload affected rolls
- Recreate the MHL to reflect intentional changes
- Accept the risk if relevant media is not affected or if it can’t be recovered
If you choose not to remediate:
- The ingest system will retain the warning
- Netflix will consider the delivery final as-is
- Any downstream issues related to that footage are your production’s responsibility
📘 Learn more: Troubleshooting Verification Errors
🎞 Getting Footage to Your Dailies Vendor
If you’re uploading from a location that’s not your dailies vendor (e.g., on set, an Ingest Center, or a hotel), it’s important to plan how the vendor will receive the media quickly for next-day processing.
🎯 Ask your Netflix contact which option is best for your setup and vendor — especially if you're using a remote ingest workflow for the first time.
Here are the supported options:
- ✅OCF Auto-Download (Preferred)
- Your dailies vendor can automatically start downloading rolls as soon as you begin uploading via the Netflix Footage Ingest app.
This option is fast, secure, and maintains full folder structure.
Download speeds: Up to 4 Gbps — enough to download a 300GB roll in ~20 minutes.
➡️ Requires coordination and setup with your Netflix contact in advance.
- Your dailies vendor can automatically start downloading rolls as soon as you begin uploading via the Netflix Footage Ingest app.
- 🛣Ship the Drive After Upload
- Once the upload finishes, you can send the same drive to your dailies vendor.
Simple, but may delay dailies by 1+ day depending on location and logistics.
- Once the upload finishes, you can send the same drive to your dailies vendor.
- 🔁 Ship to Ingest Center, Then Forward to Vendor
- After uploading at an Ingest Center, you can route the drive onward to your dailies vendor.
Useful when shooting near a hub but processing is elsewhere.
- After uploading at an Ingest Center, you can route the drive onward to your dailies vendor.
- 📦 Make a Secondary Copy
- Create two copies on-set — send one to the Ingest Center, and one to your dailies vendor. Most resilient option, though it adds complexity on set.
🧭 Where to Go Next
| Topic | Link |
| Preparing Your Media | View Article |
| Ingest Application Guide | View Article |
| Troubleshooting Upload Issues | View Article |
| How to review your media in content hub | View Article |
| Folder & Roll Structure Requirements | View Article |
If you're ever unsure, reach out to your Netflix production contact or support team — we’re here to help.