How To Load A Secure Online Screener Onto Withoutabox

I spend a sizable amount of time trying to figure out the best way of doing one relatively obscure task or another. Often there is nowhere on the vast www a clear explanation of precisely whatever it is I want to do, at least not exactly as I need/want to do it. Odd, I know, but I could make quite a list. Typically, I may have to only do these tasks once every several months or even longer. Just often enough to forget by the next time.

So I thought what I would do for a while on this largely untouched blog I’ve got here is post some how-to’s I’ve had to piece together from different sources and trial and error. This way, when next I need to do whatever pain-in-the-butt bit of business I’ve forgotten how to do, a quick google will bring me back to, well, me. Isn’t that nice? I’m going to assume an audience and provide more explanation than if just writing notes to myself.

I suppose that should have been ‘presume.’

Withoutabox.com (WAB) is a sort of film festival clearing house. It tells you what festival deadlines are coming up, what festivals feature what sort of films, that sort of thing. You can create an account (free), enter a project (free), fill out a generic festival application including synopses, bios, trailers, etc. (all free) and then submit to festivals through the site with, often, only a few clicks and a small(ish) fee.

I have no idea how many film festivals worldwide are on it, but I’d bet it’s better than seventy percent. WAB is owned by the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), which, in turn is owned by Amazon so you’d think it would be a pretty well designed, efficient machine. It is in fact clunky and antiquated with poor instructions.

One clever feature they do offer is a Secure Online Screener (SOS). This is a low-resolution version of your film only viewable by officials at festivals you’ve submitted to. Theoretically, this is easier for everyone than sending DVDs.

But, damn if it isn’t a pain in the butt to set up. Here’s how I did it in April of 2013. I suspect, given the lack of attention to WAB’s site, this will be the way for a while. The most recent clip I submitted came from Avid Media Composer in 23.9 fps, 1920×1080 Avid DNxHD Codec. Much of this information applies to other nonlinear edit systems (NLE) as well.

And, I’ll warn you now, site-imposed limitations on what is acceptable mean your SOS will probably look pretty crappy. Remember though, this is only for review purposes; you get into a festival, you can send a much better copy to them.

If you already know a lot about exporting from NLEs and compressing, skip to the end where I have an abbreviated version of this.

First, you will need:
1. A WAB account linked to
2. An IMDB account,
3. A project added in WAB and a huge number of project pages either filled in or (if it’s allowed) skipped (I can’t provide a link to this because you first have to have an account, but ‘Add a Project’ is very near to the top of the page when you log in),
4. For this method, QuickTime Pro (For how to get QT Pro, look elsewhere, what do I look like, the answer grape?). Other compressors (Apple Compressor, MPEG Streamclip, etc.) could be used instead.
(If you are working in Final Cut Pro 7, export the sequence as Apple ProRes and then jump down to 4) Render the entire sequence then export from Avid same as source using Avid codec.
(This step will seem pointless or even destructive, but Avid codex do not convert well to H.264 so first compressing to Apple ProRes is the only way I’ve been able to keep the final image from not being washed out. You won’t see any appreciable loss in image) Open your exported sequence in QuickTime Pro.
1. Choose File>Export
2. From the Export pulldown menu choose Movie to QuickTime Movie
3. Click the Options button
  1. Click the Settings button
    1. From the Compression Type pulldown menu choose Apple ProRes 422
    2. Leave Frame Rate at Current and don’t bother with anything else.
    3. OK out of Settings window
  2. Click the Size button
    1. Set Dimensions to whatever size your original sequence is. Mine here is 1920×1080.
    2. OK out of Size window
  3. OK out of the Options window (for some reason displaying as Movie Settings)
4. Choose a location and name and save this export. This could take a while.
Open this newly created ProRes file in QT Pro.
1. Choose File>Export
2. From the Export pulldown menu choose Movie to QuickTime Movie
3. Click the Options button
  1. Click the Settings button
    1. From the Compression Type pulldown menu choose H.264
    2. Set Frame Rate to 30 fps (regardless of original frame rate)
    3. OK out of Settings window
  2. Click the Size button
    1. Set Dimensions to 480 x 360 (regardless of original size or aspect ratio)
    2. Click the Preserve aspect ratio button and select Letterbox from the pulldown tab. WAB still, in 2013, accepts only 4:3 aspect ratio clips. This setup allows you to take your 16:9 aspect ratio clip (because itis 2013) and fit it into their my-grandmother-doesn’t-even-still-have-a-square-TV window.
    3. OK out of Size window
  3. OK out of the Options window (for some reason displaying as Movie Settings)
4. Choose a location and name and save this export. This could take a while. WAB has a 2 GB limit. If your file comes out too large, do step 4 again, only bring down the Quality slider in the Settings window (4.c.i.). My 16:26 sequence compressed to 318.4 mb.
Log in to WAB. They recommend either Firefox or Chrome. If you are uploading on behalf of a client using their login make sure you are logged out of your IMDb account and have their account info before logging into WAB otherwise the site will want to send your SOS to your account.
The project you created in the first step (1.3.) should be listed on this page. Under it you will see Upload. Select.
Scroll to the bottom of this page and choose Upload Online Screener
On the next page, choose file, Keep Private, agree to IMDb’sConditions and Upload Video.
Leave the browser running for a long time. This is the slowest part of the process and, if their servers are busy, it can take several hours.
Refresh browser. If it says it’s 100% complete, you still may have to quit browser, restart and log back in before you can review your video.
WAB recommends you watch your SOS all the way through on the browser before submitting it to any festivals. This is because the upload often doesn’t work all the way through the first time.
Your SOS will look pretty shitty, but it is only for reviewing purposes; if you get into the festival, you’ll send them something much better.
You probably should just send DVDs

Short Version

First, you will need:
1. A WAB account linked to
2. An IMDB account,
3. A project added in WAB and a huge number of project pages either filled in or (if it’s allowed) skipped (I can’t provide a link to this because you first have to have an account, but ‘Add a Project’ is very near to the top of the page when you log in),
4. For this method, QuickTime Pro
Create an Apple ProRes version of your show with all settings same as original sequence
Compress the ProRes version using these settings:
1. H.264
2. 30fps (regardless of original frame rate; WAB only accepts 30fps)
3. Dimensions: 480×360 (despite this being 2013)
4. Preserve Aspect Ratio Using Letterbox (because it is 2013)
Log in to WAB
1. Select Upload under the project created in 1.3. above.
2. Select Keep Private, Agree to conditions and hit Upload
3. Wait a really long time. There is no update bar
Refresh browser. If it says it’s 100% complete, you still may have to quit browser, restart and log back in before you can review your video.
WAB recommends you watch your SOS all the way through on the browser before submitting it to any festivals. This is because the upload often doesn’t work all the way through the first time.
Your SOS will look pretty shitty, but it is only for reviewing purposes; if you get into the festival, you’ll send them something much better.
You probably should just send DVDs.