How to get timestamped feedback on a video from a client

Vague feedback is rarely the client's fault. If the only place to leave a note is an email or a chat, they'll write what they remember: "the bit with the logo", "the music in the middle", "the ending feels long". Then you scrub through the video guessing.

The fix is to make the specific note the easy one. If the client can pause on a frame and type right there, the timecode comes for free. This guide shows how to set that up, what to tell the client, and how to work through the notes once they arrive.

What you need

A video review tool that does three things:

1. Plays the cut in a browser from a link, with no account or app for the client.

2. Pins each comment to the frame where the client paused.

3. Keeps all notes for one cut in one list you can work through.

We make Seamlift, which does all three, so the steps below use it. Frame.io, Wipster, Krock.io and others work in a similar way; here's how they compare.

Step 1: Upload the cut

Create a project for the client or the video, and drag in the export. Large files upload in pieces and continue where they left off if your connection drops. Seamlift converts the video for streaming, so the client gets smooth playback on a phone or a laptop rather than a buffering wheel.

If you already put exports in Google Drive, you can import them from there, or link a Drive folder so each new export shows up as a new version.

Step 2: Create a share link with guest comments on

Open the video and create a share link. The settings that matter:

• Guest comments: on. Without this the client can watch but not comment.

• Downloads: off, unless the client needs the file. It keeps unfinished cuts from being passed around.

• Password and expiry: optional. Useful for unreleased sponsor work or a link you only want live until the deadline.

You can revoke the link at any time, and anyone who opens it after that gets nothing.

Step 3: Tell the client exactly what to do

Most clients have never used a review tool. A short message saves a round of confused replies. Something like:

Here's the cut: [link]

Watch it once all the way through first. Then watch again, and wherever something should change, pause and type your note. It'll stick to that exact moment, so you don't need to write the time. No sign-up needed.

Notes by Thursday so I can get v2 to you Friday.

The "watch once first" line matters. A client who comments from the first second tends to give notes on details before they've judged the whole story, and some of those notes will be about problems that the ending fixes.

Step 4: Watch the notes arrive

New comments show up live for anyone watching the video, so you can see the client's notes as they're left. Each one shows the frame it was left on. Clicking a note jumps the player straight there.

Guests can also:

• Say what kind of note it is: a change request, a question, praise or a plain note, so you can tell "fix this" from "just a thought" at a glance.

• Reply in a thread: useful when you need to ask "do you mean the first or second product shot?"

• Add their name, or stay as the anonymous guest name Seamlift gives them.

Reviewers who join the project with a free account get more: they can draw on the frame to circle a logo or point at a typo, attach files, @mention teammates and react to notes.

Step 5: Turn notes into a fix list

Each comment can be marked to do, in progress or done. Work down the list in order. When you upload the next cut, everyone can see that every note on the last one was dealt with.

If a note is unclear, reply in its thread rather than guessing. A question costs a few minutes; a wrong guess costs a revision round.

Step 6: Upload the next version on top

Upload v2 to the same project and send the client a link to it. The notes from v1 stay with v1, so v2 starts clean, and you can still go back and check what was asked for. Revoke the v1 link if you want to be sure nobody reviews an old cut by mistake.

How to stop vague feedback, even with a review tool

A tool that pins notes to frames fixes "where". It doesn't fix "what". These habits fix the rest:

• Ask for what they see, not how they feel. "The music covers my voice" can be fixed. "The audio feels off" needs a follow-up.

• Ask what they want instead. A note that says what's wrong and what it should be gets fixed in one pass.

• Ask for must-fix or nice-to-have. On a deadline, you'll know what to do first.

• One batch per version. Ask the client to send notes in one go, so you don't start fixing before you've seen the full list.

• One voice per client. If three people at the client review, ask them to agree on conflicting notes before you start. Two notes that contradict each other on the same frame guarantee a wasted round.

Here are 30 examples of vague notes rewritten into ones an editor can act on. Sending that post to a new client is a quick way to set expectations.

FAQ

How do I get timestamped feedback on a video from a client?

Upload the video to a review tool, send the client a share link with comments on, and ask them to pause and type wherever something should change. Each note is pinned to the frame they paused on, so you don't depend on them typing timecodes.

Is there a tool where clients can comment on a specific frame of a video?

Yes. Seamlift, Frame.io, Wipster and Krock.io all let reviewers comment on a specific frame. In Seamlift, clients do it from a share link without an account, and their notes sit in the same list as your team's.

Does the client need to create an account?

Not in Seamlift. With guest comments turned on for a share link, anyone with the link can watch and leave timestamped notes from a browser.

Can clients leave feedback from their phone?

Yes. The review page works in mobile Safari and Chrome. Seamlift has no native app, so there's nothing to install.