Rough cut or animatic before final post — director and producer identify reshoot or pickup needs. Budget-critical checkpoint.
You're sitting in the editing suite, the rough cut is playing — and suddenly you all realize: the picture doesn't match the music, the actors need a close-up in this scene, or the transitions are so long that the story drags. This is the moment when a preview shows its full power. It's not about a finished film, but about a functional working tool that enables the director, producer, and production management to decide even before the DCP or final color correction: What needs to be reshot, what is already sufficient in the can, and where are we wasting time and money?
A preview is usually the first complete assembly of all takes — without sound design, often with provisional color corrections or none at all. In a digital workflow, it is usually exported as ProRes or H.264 to be playable on various devices. The critical point: you sit with the stakeholders, note length changes, missing cuts, or scenes that need to be completely reshot. Especially in larger productions with schedule shifts, the preview is your insurance. Haven't shot the scene with the actor in the studio yet? The preview reveals it at the latest when you watch it.
In the animatic stage — for visual effects or elaborate action sequences, for example — the preview works differently: here, storyboards, sketches, and temporary VFX placeholders show whether the rhythm is right before you go into actual greenscreen shoots. Some production managers even demand several preview versions: a rough cut version after two weeks of post-production, a second with preliminary sound, and a third shortly before color correction. Each version is a checkpoint where changes can still be implemented more cost-effectively than later in the DCP stage.
The economic benefit is enormous. A preview might cost you two to three days of editing time — a subsequent reorder or reshoot after post-production is complete can cost weeks and six-figure sums. Therefore, the preview is not optional, but a structural part of the financial plan. It is in your budget, documented, and a formal milestone between the end of shooting and online editing.