C300: Apps u use with your Cams?

anatusa

anatusa

Veteran
Hello

I am going to get a Tablet, as its kind of getting harder to hold all shooting dates and times in my head, and its seems like a tablet would be useful as a organizer maybe , plus i could hold my scripts there, and images from sets, and maybe something else... l

so i wounder:
1. if anyone of you using modern gadgets in your everyday cinema work and what for?
2. what Tab would u recommend? i am not an Apple guy right now (use pc and old galaxy phone), but i am very open minded... (will change my old phone as well)
3. what Apps are you using?
4. any special app for Canon C family?

Regards
 
A few specialist apps when needed because they are awesome at what they do:

Movie slate for narrative http://www.movie-slate.com/
Final Draft script editor https://www.finaldraft.com/products/mobile/writer
TriggerTrap if you are into timelapse http://triggertrap.com/
TelePrompt+ for teleprompting (+ iPhone remote) http://www.bombingbrain.com/teleprompt.html

Plus some general apps for keeping organised (based on the iPad and Mac combo but you can get the first 2 for Android obviously):

Google Drive/Sheets/Docs for documents
Built in Calendar for events as it syncs with my iPhone and Mac
OmniFocus for projects and task tracking (syncs with Mac) https://www.omnigroup.com/omnifocus

I have tried a few other filmmaking apps and to be honest never ended up using them much as everything above suits my needs.
90% of stuff out there is YAGNI - You Aint Gonna Need It.
 
Matt:

I was getting ready to buy Teleprompter + but some of the user feedback said it cannot handle over an eight minute read. Have you tried to do anything over eight minutes long with it?
 
Tim Nitsch said:
I use Cadrage quite a bit. It's a cheaper alternative to Artemis.
Click to expand...

I have a friend who uses it a lot, but for me it got relegated to the "can't be bothered" bin - as in why use an app when you can just look through the camera :-). I can see the appeal though for testing different shots.

http://www.chemicalwedding.tv/artemis.html

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/artemis-directors-viewfinder/id324917457?mt=8

Panascout also does something similar:

http://www.panascout.com/
 
Okay, here's my iPhone utilities:

  • 1) Sun Scout - tells me where the sun will be at any time, any place. Great 'augmented reality' view - wave the phone around, see the actual position of the sun at a given time. Absolutely essential.
  • 2) Focalware - same sort of thing, but not quite as graphic for position, tells you sun windows, direction. Now use Sun Scout.
  • 3) AJA DataCalc - calculate how much disk space a video will take given a codec, data rate, duration, frame rate, etc. Various ways of slicing the cake - how much space does a 10 minute video take, or if I have a 1 Terabyte drive, how much time can I store on it?
  • 4) Green Screener - shows you how evenly lit your greenscreen is. Essential.
  • 5) TimeCalc - calculator that can add/subtract/multiply/divide in Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Frames - more of an editor's tool, but great nonetheless.
  • 6) Shot Designer - sketch out lighting plans, camera plots and so on, share via email, PDF and others. Easy, quick, speaks our language. Give a clue to your b-team, suggest setups to your crew, communicate with your hire company.
  • 7) Movie Slate - the one and only. Usefully add important info to your interviews (who is this? what's their job title? Does this need post edit sign-off? Was there more than one angle/camera?) and make for easy sync on multicam.
  • 8) Easyrelease - basic model release forms, for when your client didn't think of it, when you get that ace interview that extends beyond your original brief, for when the clipboard with the release forms is too far away...
  • 9) Cine Meter - the most basic iPhone based light meter/WFM you can get. But... it's okay. Given an ISO, it will give you shutter speed & iris. Sort of 'spot mode'. Great for planning camera choice on recces - do I need A7 or 5Dmk3? Will An EX1 cut it or do I need C100? If this is the daylight exposure, will my dawn timelapse work or should I switch exposures mid point?


I've also got a few spreadsheets on Google Docs that help me plan timelapse and work out what the compression should be given x minute video at y bits per second goal.

Funnily enough, all of above - too small on an iPhone 4S, too big on an iPad Retina, so my accountant will just have to accept my decision to invest in an iPhone 6+ which will perfectly handle all of this.

By the way, may still need an iPad for the truly excellent CutNotes - used for marking up events using Time of Day Code which gets matched with footage in FCPX. Hoping that Lumberjack will soon provide a seamless version of this too.
 
Sun Surveyor for Android to see where the sun will be at any given time
DOF calculator - there are many, take your pick
 
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Matt Turner said:
why use an app when you can just look through the camera :-).
Click to expand...

Why bring your camera when you can just use an app? :D
If I'm scouting a location and I don't want to make a scene, It's way easier to just pull out my phone, set it to the camera that I'll be shooting with later, set the focal length, Aspect ratio and snap away.

For example, just the other day, I was scouting a church that I'll be shooting at in a couple weeks for a wedding. It was a sunday so obviously it there were quite a few people there doing their thing so I didn't want to set up my camera and get hounded by people asking what I was shooting. I just walked around outside with my phone getting ideas for B-Roll shots. Now on the wedding day, I know exactly where I need to go, where to place my camera, what focal length and it saves me so much time.
 
Tim Nitsch said:
Why bring your camera when you can just use an app? :D
Click to expand...

Fair enuf!

By the way I have had a desire to make a filmmaking App for some time (I'm a software developer). Something that helps out in pre-production/production but is quick and easy.

What features would you guys use in a all-in-one app to help your day-to-day for a one man band or small videography business?
 
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