Client handoff
How to deliver ProRes files to clients online.
Host the master. Put something playable next to it.
A ProRes handoff has two halves that most people try to solve with one file. The master has to arrive intact, and the client has to be able to watch something today. Here is how to run both from one library, and when an export alone or a courier is the better answer.
Video hosting for filmmakers · 5 GB free · Paid plans from USD 9/month
Updated September 2026
The shape of the problem
The file they need is not
the file they can watch.
A finished ProRes handoff is two jobs wearing one deadline. The master has to reach the client intact, because someone downstream will cut, conform or archive with it. And the client has to be able to press play today, because approval does not wait for a 60 GB download to finish.
Those two jobs pull in opposite directions. ProRes is an intra-frame mastering codec, and it appears in no browser vendor’s published codec list, so a ProRes file in a web page is a download and nothing else. A compatible H.264 or HEVC export is a practical viewing copy; keep the ProRes master for the post-production handoff. Every delivery workflow that feels awkward is awkward because it is trying to make one file do both.
The fix is to stop trying. Host the master as a master, host a viewing export beside it, and hand the client both from the same library. They open the export, watch, and approve. They download the master when they need the bytes. Nothing gets re-encoded on the way through, and nothing expires out from under the job.
This page is the workflow. If what you need instead is the codec arithmetic, the target data rates by flavour and what a minute of each one weighs, that lives on the ProRes delivery guide.
50 GB
Per file
The published upload ceiling here, checked in the browser before a byte moves.
Byte for byte
What the download gives
The stored object with an attachment header added. No transcode on the way out.
No ceiling
Bitrate or resolution
Neither exists here. What plays is decided by the viewer's browser and hardware.
Where to host ProRes files
Ask what the host does to the file,
then what it does to the picture.
Three services get named in every one of these conversations, and they solve three different problems. None of them is wrong. They are just not interchangeable, and the difference shows up in what happens to the master.
Frame.io and WeTransfer figures read from their own pricing and help-center pages on 7 September 2026, written as published; neither vendor names a currency next to those figures, so none is stated here. No WeTransfer price was obtainable from an official page that day and none is quoted. uncompressed.io figures verified in code the same day.
Read the first row honestly, because it is the row that decides the rest. Frame.io documents exactly what it does and why: it encodes uploads into HTML5 videos so they play on the web, and it keeps the original for download. If what you want is a host that manufactures the review copy for you, from whatever you happen to drop in, that is a real advantage and this site does not offer it. You make the viewing export yourself here.
WeTransfer is not a host at all, and it does not pretend to be. It says plainly that the file it delivers is not altered, and that claim is not in dispute. The gap is on the watching side: its video preview tops out at 300 MB per file, so a real ProRes deliverable arrives as a filename with no way to see it. Combine that with a Free and Starter window of up to 3 days and you have a courier, not a screening room. For a one-off drop to someone who will open it that afternoon, a courier is often the correct tool.
How to send ProRes files to clients
Two files,
one handoff.
The master and the screening copy are separate exports doing separate work. Decide what each one is before you upload either, and the rest of the delivery stops being a negotiation.
The 80 Mbps figure is this site's own export recommendation for members, not a vendor specification and not a limit. There is no bitrate ceiling and no resolution ceiling here; the only ceiling on an upload is its size.
Export both from the same timeline
Master first, in the flavour the deliverable calls for. Then a viewing export from the same locked cut, in a codec browsers decode. Two exports, one grade, one set of frames, no ambiguity about which one is final.
Upload both to the same library
The master goes up as ProRes, unchanged: there is no encode step at upload, so the object stored is the object you exported. The viewing export goes up beside it. Uploads run in parts, so a closed laptop resumes rather than restarts.
Switch the download on for the master
Downloads are a per-film setting, on every plan including the free one. On means the viewer gets a signed link to the stored object with an attachment header. Off means no download URL is ever generated, not merely hidden.
Send the links, then replace instead of re-sending
When the cut changes, replace the file in place. The row and the URL do not move, so every link, embed and share card you already sent keeps working and now points at the new version. Nobody has to be told which email had the current file.
The chroma caveat, stated accurately
What the client gets
One page, no software to install,
and no seat to buy.
The person approving the cut is usually not the person paying for the software. Anything that asks them to install, register or subscribe is a step where the handoff stalls.
A page, not an invitation
The viewing export gets its own watch page: your name, the player, the title, the description, and a download button if you turned one on. External client viewers do not require a paid team seat, on any plan.
Nothing of ours on the picture
The player carries no platform logo, no ads, no suggested videos and no end screen, on the free plan exactly as on the paid ones. The only logo it can show is one you upload yourself.
The exact file, when they want it
The download link is a signed request for the same stored object, with an attachment header added. No transcode, no repackage, no optimised variant. What lands on their machine is what left your timeline.
No meter on watching
Plans include storage, team seats and caption allowances. There are no bandwidth caps and no per-view charge, so a client who reopens the cut nine times over a weekend costs the same as a client who opens it once.
One thing to plan for on the free plan: Starter holds 5 GB and one film at a time. The two-file pattern is by definition two films, so a real ProRes handoff starts on a paid plan. Use the free tier the way it is meant to be used, which is to put one browser export in front of one client and see whether the picture and the workflow hold up before anything is billed.
When this is the wrong workflow
Sometimes one file is enough,
or a van is still faster.
Two of the four common ProRes deliveries should not be run this way at all, and pretending otherwise wastes a deadline.
Send the export on its own
If the client only ever needs to watch, sign off and post the result, the master is dead weight. A single browser-playable export is simpler to make, smaller to store, faster to open and cheaper to keep. Half the ProRes deliveries that go wrong are ProRes deliveries that never needed to happen: an agency contact who wanted a link to show their director was handed 60 GB and a codec their laptop cannot open.
The test is blunt. Ask whether the file will be opened in an editing application by someone other than you. If the answer is no, do not ship a master.
Ship a drive, or use a transfer service
If the client is cutting with the file and the file is large, physical delivery still wins more often than the internet likes to admit. A courier with a drive moves terabytes on a schedule you can predict, and it does not care about the upstream speed of the edit suite or the office the client works from. When a delivery spec names LTO or a specific drive format, meet the spec as written.
Between those poles sits the transfer service. A single master larger than the 50 GB per-file ceiling here has to be split per reel or sent another way. MASV markets package sizes without limits and charges $0.25 per GB pay-as-you-go with 15 GB free each month and 5 days of free storage on every upload. It is priced for exactly that job. The trade is that a transfer is not a library: packages are deleted at their expiry date, and once removed MASV states they cannot be retrieved.
The hybrid usually wins
Questions
Frequently asked
Where should I host ProRes files?
Anywhere that stores the file you uploaded and hands that same file back. On uncompressed.io there is no encode step at upload or at playback, so the object a client downloads is the object you uploaded, byte for byte. The practical questions to ask any host are narrower than they look: does it re-encode, what is the per-file ceiling, how long does the link stay live, and does the client need an account of their own.
How do I send ProRes files to a client without a hard drive?
Upload the master to a host that will not re-encode it, turn on the per-film download switch, and send the link. Downloads here are a per-film setting on every plan, free included, and the file served is the stored object with an attachment header on it. The published upload ceiling is 50 GB per file, so a long-form ProRes master may need to go per reel, or go on a drive.
How do I share ProRes files with a client who has no account?
Send them the watch page URL. The page is public unless you gate it, and external client viewers do not require a paid team seat on any plan here. That matters for a delivery: the person approving the cut is usually not the person paying for the software, and asking them to create a login is the step that stalls a handoff.
Can a client watch a ProRes file in their browser?
No. ProRes 422, ProRes 4444 and DNxHR are hosted for client download, not browser playback. Whether a file plays in a tab is decided by the viewer's browser and hardware, not by the host. That is why the delivery needs a second file: an H.264, HEVC or AV1 export in MP4 or MOV that the client can press play on while the master downloads in the background.
What is the largest ProRes file I can upload?
50 GB per file is the published ceiling here, checked in the browser before a byte moves. There is no bitrate ceiling and no resolution ceiling. If a single master is larger than that, split it per reel, or use a transfer service built for the size: MASV markets package sizes without limits at $0.25 per GB pay-as-you-go, with 5 days of free storage on every upload and permanent deletion at expiry.
Does the download give the client the exact file I exported?
Yes. The download is a signed link to the same stored object the page serves, with only an attachment header added. There is no transcode and no repackage on the way out. One cosmetic detail worth knowing: the suggested filename is normalised for the browser, so check the extension your client ends up with rather than building a delivery spec on it.
Do I need two files, or can I just send the master?
If the client only ever needs to watch and approve, skip the master and send a browser-playable export on its own. It is simpler, it is smaller, and it costs less to store. The two-file pattern earns its keep only when someone downstream is actually cutting, grading or conforming with the file.
Send the master and the screening copy from one library
Upload the ProRes master, upload the viewing export beside it, switch downloads on for the master, and send the links. Plans include storage, team seats and caption allowances, and external client viewers do not require a paid team seat. Paid storage and team-seat add-ons are available.
Sources
- 1.Uploading your media (Frame.io Support) (encodes uploads into HTML5 videos while storing the original for download; assets up to 5TB; fetched 7 September 2026)
- 2.Frame.io pricing (Free, Pro, Team and Enterprise plans, storage and member counts; fetched 7 September 2026)
- 3.What are the pricing plans you offer (Frame.io Support) (Free plan limited to 2 projects; fetched 7 September 2026)
- 4.Frame.io cloud storage (Frame.io Support) (pooled account storage, and accounts over quota becoming locked; fetched 7 September 2026)
- 5.What is previews (WeTransfer Help Center) (video previews in MP4 and MOV up to 300 MB each; fetched 7 September 2026)
- 6.Plan limits (WeTransfer Help Center) (Free 10 transfers or 3 GB in a 30-day rolling window; Ultimate up to 1 TB per transfer; fetched 7 September 2026)
- 7.Transfer availability (WeTransfer Help Center) (up to 3 days on Free and Starter; Ultimate keeps transfers active as long as you like; fetched 7 September 2026)
- 8.File size difference (WeTransfer Help Center) (WeTransfer's own statement that files are never altered or reduced in quality; fetched 7 September 2026)
- 9.Download an expired transfer (WeTransfer Help Center) (recovery limited to Ultimate, Teams and Enterprise; files over 256 MiB recoverable up to 90 days after expiry; fetched 7 September 2026)
- 10.MASV pricing ($0.25 per GB pay-as-you-go, 15 GB free monthly, 5 days free storage on every upload; fetched 7 September 2026)
- 11.Send large files (MASV) (no limits on package sizes; fetched 7 September 2026)
- 12.How long are transferred files available to recipients (MASV Help) (packages deleted at expiry and unrecoverable afterwards; fetched 7 September 2026)
- 13.uncompressed.io pricing (no bandwidth caps, external client viewers do not require a paid team seat; verified 7 September 2026)
- 14.uncompressed.io Terms (the exact file you upload is the file your viewers receive; plans include storage, team seats and caption allowances; verified 7 September 2026)