How to organise a batch video delivery

Thirty clips in three formats means ninety video files. If the names do not tell you which version is which, someone has to open them to find out.

A filename such as kitchen-walkthrough-9x16.mp4 makes the format clear. Keeping it beside the square version, thumbnail and subtitle file can make the handover easier too. In Dropclips, you save those naming and folder choices with the pipeline.

Start with the source names

A template can organise useful information, but it cannot invent it. IMG_4821.mp4 becomes a more useful delivery when you name the source kitchen-walkthrough.mp4 before uploading. Product codes and property references work the same way.

The default template is {name}-{ratio}. For a clip called kitchen-walkthrough.mp4, a vertical output becomes:

kitchen-walkthrough-9x16.mp4

The extension is added automatically. You can see a filename example as you change the template.

For a delivery that needs a client folder and a numbered sequence, use:

{client}/{date}-{index}-{name}-{ratio}

With a client label of northwind, an example result is:

northwind/2026-09-23-007-kitchen-walkthrough-9x16.mp4

The number is the video's position in the run, padded to three digits. The date uses UTC.

Choose folders for the person receiving them

One folder per ratio is handy when someone uploads all the verticals to one platform and all the squares to another.

One folder per video works well when someone reviews each clip with its different versions. With the default template, that looks like this:

kitchen-walkthrough/
  kitchen-walkthrough-9x16.mp4
  kitchen-walkthrough-1x1.mp4
  kitchen-walkthrough-4x5.mp4

You can also keep everything together. Folder layouts and paths in the template combine, so a client folder in the template becomes another level inside a per-video folder. Use whichever arrangement is easiest for the recipient; more nesting is not always more helpful.

What you can put in a filename

Placeholder	Value
{name}	Source name without its extension, or the chosen name of a combined video
{ratio}	A ratio such as 9x16; empty for the original shape
{index}, {date}	Video number and run date
{client}, {pipeline}	Your client label and saved pipeline name
{width}, {height}	Output dimensions, when available
{kind}	video, thumbnail, storyboard or srt
{timestamp}	Thumbnail time, for example 00-00-05-000

Interval thumbnails keep a timestamp in their filenames even if you leave {timestamp} out of the template. If two outputs would have the same path, Dropclips adds a numeric suffix. Duplicate source names also receive numbered per-video folders.

Good names make a delivery easier to navigate. You still need to open the videos to check the crops, captions and picture quality. Once checked, download the ZIP and keep it somewhere permanent: results are available for 48 hours after the run finishes.