Getting started with ftrack Review

Let’s create our first project in ftrack Review.

By default, ftrack Review will launch the project page, showing you all of your available projects.

If you don’t have a project yet, you’ll need to create one by clicking the ‘+ Create Project’ button in the top right corner.

The first step is to enter the name of your project.

You can edit the name later, so don’t worry if you’re unsure what to name your project at this stage.

Your project can be set as Public or Private.

The Private access can be toggled ‘On’ if you don’t want all your team members to be able to access the project.

Team members and collaborators can only access a private project or private reviews if they have been explicitly added to the project after it is created.

Now you have a new but empty project.

If you’ve decided to set your project Private, you can later add users from the ‘Project members’ tab, toggling the pencil icon under the 'Settings' menu on the left. The Privacy settings can be changed at any time in the 'Settings' menu.

Please note: To be able to add users to the Private project, you need to invite them first to your Review account. (Find here more about how to Invite and manage user accounts)

Tip: Adding a thumbnail to the project at this stage is optional, but it helps your team to identify it quickly.

To set a project thumbnail, first select an image that best represents your project and then drag your image into the thumbnail space, or click the thumbnail space to find the image on your local computer.

You can also further identify your project by assigning a colour to it. Just click the colour icon below the project thumbnail to set a colour.

The default view when you create a new project is ‘Reviews’.

The first step to creating a new Review is simply to click ‘+ Create Review’ in the top right corner of your project page.

You can enter the name of the Review and a brief description of what it’s for, as well as select a few settings for the Review - then it’s just a simple matter of clicking ‘Save’, and your Review will be created!

Please note: Any settings you add at this stage can also be updated from within the Review at any time.

Once the Review is created, you will be taken to the Review interface, but with no media - so you’ll need to add some.

In the ‘Playlist’ tab of the right sidebar, you’ll see two buttons - ‘Upload Files’ and ‘Add Version’ at the bottom.

‘Upload Files’ will launch a file browser, and you can choose any media file - or multiple files - from your local computer to add to the Review.

Once you have selected the media and clicked ‘Open’, the files will be transcoded for web playback and added to the Review.

These files will be added to the playlist once they are uploaded and can be played once the transcoding process has been completed. (While transcoding, you can follow the upload progression in the progress bar.)

You can add video, still frames and PDFs to ftrack Review.

Using the ‘Add Version’ button will allow you to add media to this Review that you have previously uploaded to other Reviews in the project.

Just select the files you want and click ‘Done'.

Once you’ve added your media and any initial notes or comments, you can invite others to join your Review in the Share this review tab in the right-hand sidebar.

Click the ‘Add Collaborators’ button to create the invitation.

This will launch a dialog that will allow you to either copy the link to the session or send emails with the invitation link included.

Either way, once your colleagues receive the invitation, they will be able to click the link and join the session.

With other participants in the Review, you can make it a collaborative, interactive, synchronised Review simply by clicking ‘Start Sync’ at the top of the Review interface.

All the attendees will see an invitation prompt to join, and they can jump into the session directly from that message by clicking the ‘Join’ button.

Or they can also use the ‘Join Sync’ button on the top of the Review interface.

Anyone who has successfully joined Sync will have a flashing purple indicator on their icon.

You can drop out of Sync and work independently at any time by simply clicking ‘Leave Sync’.

While in Sync, all participants will see the same frame of the same media at all times - playback, notes, drawings, media changes, etc., are all synchronised.

Please note: Standard ftrack Review accounts allow up to two users per Review to be in Sync at the same time.

Tip: Review Pro is available as a paid add-on to Review and Studio plans. It lets you have multiple Sync sessions simultaneously and collaborate with up to ten people synchronously. It also provides high-quality visuals and increased media storage.

Learn more about the Pro add-on here.