What to write down so a rate can be re-checked
A recorded rate is only useful if somebody can go back and check it. That takes four things beyond the number itself: the address it was read from, the day it was read, the tier it belonged to, and any condition printed beside it. As of 2026-09-12.
| What travels with the figure | Why | What breaks without it |
|---|---|---|
| The address of the page | A rate is a claim about a document | A dispute has nowhere to go |
| The date it was read | Rates move and pages change silently | A stale figure looks current |
| The tier it belongs to | Most channels publish several figures | The cheapest tier gets quoted for deliverable work |
| The condition attached | A discount or a clause can halve or unfix the number | A promotion is compared against a list price |
Inclusion rule. The parts of a recorded figure, each judged by what fails when it is left out. A part that never causes a failure would not be worth recording. Order. In the order a reader needs them.
1A rate without a date is a rumour
Rates move, and pages change without announcing it. A figure with no reading date cannot be distinguished from a figure that was true last year, and the two behave very differently in a budget. Dating every reading is what makes a correction possible instead of a rewrite.
It also changes how a stale figure is handled. A dated row that has moved can be corrected while keeping the old reading visible, so a reader who planned against it can see when it stopped being true.
2The tier is the part most often dropped
Almost every channel publishes more than one figure, and a comparison that records only the lowest is flattering rather than wrong. The tier is what stops that: a row carrying 720p or 1080p beside the number cannot quietly become the headline rate.
Where a page publishes a band instead of a grid, the honest record is the band and a note that the ends are unattached. Splitting a band into guesses produces rows that look more precise and are less true.
3Conditions belong in the row, not in a footnote
A batch tier at half price, an off-peak halving, an annual commitment, a struck-through cell: each of those changes the figure by a factor a comparison cares about. Recorded beside the number they are legible; recorded in a footnote they are lost on the first reuse of the data.
The same applies to a clause saying prices may vary with settings. That is not a small print detail, it is a statement that the figure is an example, and a row that hides it promises more than the seller did.
Written to explain, not to record. No sentence here is attributed to a seller, and none of it should be quoted as a fact about one. The sourced material is on the ledger. Related: Counting joins, Where terms live.
4What the seconds buy
Price aside, what goes into the seconds behind “Recording a rate” is described in SceneMixer's guides:
On a segment’s card, Insert adds a blank segment right after it: write its header and shots.
SceneMixer, Inserting and Deleting Segments (read 2026-10-13)
It is the reference every later segment points at, which is what keeps a character's face and a location consistent across an episode.
SceneMixer, Glossary — “What is a setup image for?” (read 2026-10-13)