The handoff to color is where tidy edits get rewarded and messy ones get expensive: the colorist rebuilds your timeline from conform data, and every un-nested nest, buried transition, or speed ramp in it becomes a back-and-forth. There is no single industry-standard turnover spec - every facility has its own - but the package has a stable shape: prepared timeline, handles, conform data, consolidated media, a reference export, and notes. The two anchor numbers worth knowing: DaVinci Resolve's own media-management dialogue offers to "copy and trim used media keeping 12 frame handles", and Frame.io's prep guide suggests handles of "usually 10 or more" frames per side. Here is the full checklist, then the grade round at the end.
What goes in the package
| Item | What it is | Why the colorist needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Prepared timeline | Un-nested, transition-free, speed-ramp-free sequence | Conform tools map a flat event list; nests and retimes break the mapping |
| Conform data | EDL (CMX3600), XML, or AAF | Rebuilds your cut inside the grading system clip-for-clip |
| Source media | Consolidated used media with handles | The grade re-renders from originals, not proxies |
| Reference export | H.264 or ProRes Proxy of the final cut | The visual target the grade is matched against |
| LUTs / CDLs | Camera or look transforms used in the edit | Reproduces the look you cut with |
| Notes | Timeline quirks, reels, version intentions | Answers questions before they cost a session hour |
Prep the timeline
The recurring prep rules across the working guides (Frame.io's Premiere-for-color prep and Mixing Light's timeline-prep article are the usual references) all reduce to one idea: leave the colorist a flat, predictable timeline. Un-nest everything so every event maps to one source clip. Remove transitions - especially when handles matter, since a transition straddles two clips and the dissolve cannot be re-applied inside the grading pass. Remove image stabilization, because warped frames no longer match the source, and avoid speed ramps entirely; a retime changes which frames a colorist has to work with. Strip graphics and titles (they get rebuilt on top of the grade) and mute or remove the mix tracks, keeping one stereo reference track so sync can be checked. Finally, one timeline per deliverable version - a 60, a 30, and a 15 should arrive as three timelines, not one timeline with instructions. The version discipline behind that habit is the same one review rounds use: versions are the unit of review.
Handles: how much tail to leave
Handles are the extra frames before and after each cut that give the grade room to shift edit points without falling off the media. The honest answer on quantity: there is no universal standard. DaVinci Resolve's consolidate dialog defaults to 12-frame handles, and the working guidance in the wild starts at "10 or more." The real rule is whoever receives the package: ask the facility or colorist for their handle spec and match it exactly. When in doubt, more handles cost disk space; fewer handles cost re-conforms.
The conform data: EDL, XML, or AAF
The conform file is the machine-readable list of what your timeline contains. An EDL (CMX 3600 format) is the oldest and most portable - a plain-text event list like the one in our EDL explainer - but it carries one video track's worth of cuts, so multi-track edits need track-by-track exports. XML carries more structure (bins, effects metadata, multiple tracks) and is the common choice for Final Cut Pro handoffs. AAF is the Avid-native route: Avid's own knowledge base documents the grade roundtrip as an AAF of the sequence plus color-graded MXF OP-atom media placed back into the Avid MediaFiles folder, where "the color-corrected sequence and master clips will populate in the bin." DaVinci Resolve's reference manual documents the receiving side: File > Import Timeline (Shift-Command-I), or right-click in the Media Pool and choose Timelines > Import > AAF/EDL/XML/DRT/ADL/OTIO - with an EDL frame-rate pop-up and a drop-frame checkbox that only enables at 30 fps, which is exactly where frame-rate conventions start to matter.
Consolidate and export the reference
Two exports finish the package. First, consolidate: send only the media the cut uses, with handles. Resolve's media management phrasing is the clearest articulation of the default - "copy and trim used media keeping 12 frame handles" - and Premiere's Project Manager does the equivalent with "Exclude Unused Clips" checked. Second, the reference export: an H.264 or ProRes Proxy render of the finished cut, one per timeline. It is the visual contract for the grade - when the conformed timeline and your reference diverge, the reference wins the argument. A frame-accurate reference matters too, which is why frame accuracy is worth protecting in the export settings you choose.
The grade round, when it comes back
The turnover package starts the grade; the review round finishes it. When graded versions come back, put each one on a review link as its own version so the approved state is a record, not a memory - side-by-side version comparison is how ungraded-versus-graded rounds get judged, and the sign-off side of that loop is in the color approval workflow. If the handoff is going to a full post house instead of a freelance colorist, the same checklist holds - their intake deck just adds naming and delivery specs on top (naming conventions, delivery checklist).
FAQ
How many frames of handles should I send?
Match the facility spec if there is one. As documented anchors: DaVinci Resolve's consolidate tool defaults to 12-frame handles, and Frame.io's prep guidance says "usually 10 or more." When nothing is specified, 12 frames per side is a defensible default.
Should I send an EDL, XML, or AAF?
Whatever the receiving system conforms best. EDL (CMX 3600) is the most portable but single-track; XML carries more structure and is standard from Final Cut Pro; AAF is the Avid route, paired with OP-atom MXF media per Avid's own roundtrip documentation. Ask the colorist - most have a hard preference.
Why do transitions have to be removed before color?
A transition straddles two clips, so the event list no longer maps one clip to one event - and with handles in play, the dissolve frames do not exist in a trimmed conform. Colorists prefer to receive clean cuts and rebuild dissolves on top of the graded media.
Does the colorist need my project file?
Usually no - the conform data plus media rebuilds the cut. Project files travel when the job includes rebuilds (titles, complex comps) or when both sides are on the same NLE and the facility asks. The reference export is what protects you either way.
What exactly is a reference export?
A lightweight render of your finished cut (H.264 or ProRes Proxy) that shows the edit's intent: pacing, temp looks, and sync. The colorist conforms against it to verify nothing drifted, and grades toward it as the target.