Give each version a job
A production master supports later editorial work. A viewing deliverable serves a particular audience and destination. Those jobs can require different tradeoffs in editability, storage, compatibility and compression. Do not call the smallest final upload the sole master merely because it is the version most people watch.
Start with the changes a future editor might need: replacing a caption, remixing narration, reframing the picture or making a new platform export. Keep the materials needed for those plausible changes. Retaining every temporary render forever is unnecessary, but deleting the only separable text or audio can make a small revision expensive.
Preserve meaning as well as bytes
A useful package may include the approved picture master, separate audio mixes, caption sidecars, project interchange where appropriate and a short version note. Identify the exact picture cut each sidecar belongs to. A folder containing many high-quality files is still ambiguous if nobody knows which ones belong together.
Use clear roles in names and the manifest: source, editable production asset, approved master, delivery derivative and review copy. Include duration, track inventory and intended destination. These descriptions are workflow choices; they do not imply a particular application can open every item without its own compatibility check.
An example retention decision
Imagine an owned interview with an original camera file, a clean picture master, a stereo mix, a caption sidecar and a small website derivative. The hypothetical future request is a correction to one caption. Keeping the editable sidecar and its matched clean picture makes that request straightforward; keeping only a burned-caption upload does not.
For another production, future remixing may be implausible while preserving the original capture remains valuable. Make that retention decision explicitly. File size alone cannot decide which material is irreplaceable. Balance the actual revision need, storage cost and ability to recreate a derivative.
Verify relationships at handoff
Open the chosen delivery file in its intended destination and verify the required tracks, duration, beginning and ending. Inspect the manifest against actual files. Check that review copies are labelled so that they cannot be mistaken for approved masters during a later upload.
Preserve the conversion record and tool version where they affect reproducibility. FFmpeg distinguishes stream copying, encoding and container operations, but a successful processing command cannot establish that the package serves every future edit. The acceptance criterion is a clear, usable handoff with stated limits.
Questions answered
Is a lossless file automatically a complete archive?
No. It may still omit captions, mixes, provenance or the relationship between assets.
Should I keep every render?
Choose according to replaceability and likely revision needs. Keep the source and essential editorial assets before redundant temporary versions.
Sources & further reading
Official references for the subjects discussed. Service terms and device software can change.