Versioning

Versioning is the discipline of generating and managing multiple variants of a finished program for different territories, platforms, audiences and technical specifications, while keeping a single conformed master as the source of truth. A feature film released globally requires dozens of versions: theatrical DCP per language (subtitled, dubbed), airline edits with edits for sensitive content, broadcast versions trimmed for ad breaks, streaming SDR and HDR masters, social media short cuts, foreign-language dubbed audio mixes, accessibility versions with audio description and closed captioning. Each version may differ in picture (slightly trimmed content, different opening logos, different end credits), audio (alternate language tracks, different mixes, censored profanity), and metadata (different ratings, different ISAN identifiers). Versioning is typically managed via IMF (Interoperable Master Format) packages with multiple CPLs (Composition Playlists) referencing a single set of essence files — one for the base, one for each version. IMF was specifically designed for versioning at scale: producing a French theatrical version of a film no longer requires duplicating the entire master, only generating the alternate audio and subtitle CPLs. The versioning step is increasingly automated with tools like Marquise Mist, Colorfront, Telestream Vantage, AWS MediaConvert. Streaming platforms (Netflix, Disney+) often handle final versioning themselves from delivered IMF packages.