Export sequences for delivery

Prepare the delivery exports for the distributor: render the sequence Delivery_Main in H.264, 10 Mbps target bitrate, 2-pass, AAC 320 kbps, 48 kHz, 1920x1080, and name it Distributor_1080p_10mbps_MP4. Then render a mezzanine ProRes 422 file named Distributor_Master_ProRes422_MOV and save both to /Deliverables/Distributor by end of day Wednesday.

Before I hand off the delivery folder to the distributor, make approval easy: surface file sizes and runtimes up top, label which file is the broadcast master versus the web deliverable, make bitrate and codec obvious, and flag anything under the distributor’s spec that would force a re-encode.

I uploaded two delivery files and the distributor says the MP4 won’t stream—it stutters and reports variable bitrate issues. I sent Alex in distribution the codec and bitrate I used. I don’t know whether the problem is my export settings, a corrupt file, or their ingest system. What’s the most likely diagnosis and what are the step-by-step checks and re-exports I should run to resolve this before the 48-hour deadline?

Across projects the same small errors — wrong codec, missing audio channels, bad filename conventions — come back from different distributors and cost me late nights. What concrete habit changes, export presets, and a short pre-delivery checklist would stop these recurring rejections and save a day per release on average?