Feature Highlights Archives - ProductionPro

Say Goodbye to Script Revision Suffering: An Easy Solution for Transferring Notes

ProductionPro — Wed, 10 May 2023 21:05:50 +0000

Copying lines by hand was a form of punishment for misbehaving students in middle school. Similarly, for many film production professionals, manually copying notes from one script revision to the next can seem like a punishment. As script revisions fly into inboxes faster and faster, many crew members have no choice but to stop marking up their script, despite it being an essential part of their production process. To put an end to this collective suffering, we are delighted to release one of our most-requested features: script note transfer. Now, when a script revision comes in, users can simply and quickly open the new script and import their previous notes.

Effortlessly Import Annotations into the Latest Script Version

Just like all other features in ProductionPro, importing annotations is incredibly simple. There’s no need for users to manually download the latest script version from an email and re-upload it into the app. Instead, the new script version is securely uploaded by the Production Office for all and clearly marked as the “Current Script” in ProductionPro’s neatly organized binder. In just a few clicks, users can select the old script and the desired note categories to import, and voila! Within seconds, the user’s notes are imported into the latest script version.

Making digital scripts powerful at last

Users love accessing, reading, and annotating their script in ProductionPro, and the ability to share notes with others has introduced a new way to collaborate efficiently. We know all too well how the transition from paper scripts to digital scripts has been a frustrating dance: one step forward and two steps back. The promise of speed and ease of using digital scripts hasn’t quite lived up to the crew’s expectations. In fact, for the many who prefer scribbling notes on their paper script, it has been a curse. First, they had to find a new way to annotate their script; then, the inability to insert and replace pages into a collated script meant that users either had to painstakingly re-annotate the new revision or give up their previous notes. With note transfer, that’s no longer the case! It adds to the list of reasons why users already love accessing, reading, and annotating their script in ProductionPro:

The combination of an iPad app and a web app makes scripts accessible from anywhere, on any device (not just Apple devices).
Text search makes it easy to find a character or prop in a script, even on a watermarked script (watermarks in ProductionPro leave the text searchable and highlightable).
Note layers allow script notes to be neatly organized and to be hidden or shown with the switch of a button.
Sharing notes with collaborators is incredibly easy and secure.

The ProductionPro difference

Transferring annotations between script revisions has been a common request for script-reader tools, but it hasn’t always been easy to achieve. Many solutions come with caveats or limitations. With ProductionPro, there’s no fine print:

ProductionPro is approved by Studio Content Security – you can trust that your access to the script is secure, and you never have to use the app in secret.
With ProductionPro, you never have to work with flattened PDFs again. Watermarked scripts in ProductionPro are not flattened PDFs, thanks to the on-the-fly watermarking feature.
ProductionPro’s cloud allows access to the most recent script in real time, from any device – not just Apple devices.
The inclusion of colored pages makes it easy to track and navigate revisions.
Script pages are connected to an always accurate script breakdown, together with the corresponding media references from multiple departments.
With ProductionPro, crew members no longer have to manually download and upload script revisions, eliminating concerns around studio content security.
Scripts are securely stored in a cloud that’s been vetted and approved by the Studio, not on users’ personal cloud or online storage.
There’s no additional cost for the users, it’s included in the production’s plan for everyone.

The proof is in the pudding

Collaboration has never been more streamlined than with the ability to easily share notes with other crew members. And now our new script note transfer feature empowers users to annotate their script even more, while saving time and reducing headaches at each revision. But don’t just take our word for it – give it a try and let us know what you think. Your feedback guides our product roadmap as we continue to enhance the script experience over the coming months. From small changes to big features, we’re only getting started!

The post Say Goodbye to Script Revision Suffering: An Easy Solution for Transferring Notes appeared first on ProductionPro.

Marie Kondo your production documents for good.

ProductionPro — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 20:39:47 +0000

Almost without doubt, the number one issue plaguing workflows on film productions is people incessantly looking for things and then wondering if it’s “the latest version”. Maybe what they’re looking for is buried in their inbox as an attachment to a never-ending email chain. Maybe it was in that Dropbox link the Art Department coordinator nicely texted them last week. Maybe there’s a more final version of the V4-final-final-for-real.pdf file they saved to their desktop.

Crazy as it sounds, as a courtesy, we should just tell the truth to students in film school: that they’ll spend a sizable chunk of their career just “looking for stuff” in a meander of dropbox links, asset managers, email chains and production reports. What’s crazier is that almost everyone is searching for the same thing around the same time. To put things in perspective, on an hypothetical 6-month-long 50-crew production, if everyone is wasting 10 minutes per day looking for things (we’re being generous here), that’s a combined total of 1,000 wasted hours, or close to 42 days! You could shoot another feature film with that time!

Thankfully, at ProductionPro we believe there has to be a better way and we make it our mission to let people quickly find what they need when they need it. It starts with the script. When users open the production binder in ProductionPro, they are sure to find the latest script, front and center. The space has been recently redesigned and is now beautifully organized in sections that are tailored to each production: feature films like to have sections for scripts, schedules or various production office documents; episodic productions like to have one section per episode. Finally, an archive toggle makes it easier to access and reference an earlier version. There’s no need to partake in yet another round of is-this-the-latest guessing game: it is the latest, and it’s here with you, just a tap away. Just pull up your script for a quick search, share a note with your department and put it back in your pocket!

When it comes to media, there are even more powerful horses under the hood. In just a few words, ProductionPro has a signature way to connect information that makes finding anything intuitive: we use the structure of the story to organize information in a visual way that everyone understands. Scenes, characters, departments, schedule – all can be used to drill down into a production’s materials and the cherry on top is that it’s all connected to the script.

If you’re ready to reclaim your time, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’ll happily show you how we can save your team hours and streamline communication on your next production.

The post Marie Kondo your production documents for good. appeared first on ProductionPro.

Connecting the dots between film departments

ProductionPro — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 15:39:47 +0000

“All roads lead to Rome” goes the saying… Well, at ProductionPro, we are fully aware that there are many ways to think about and access film department information. People from the Art Department tend to think in terms of sets; people from Costume, in terms of characters; and people from VFX, in terms of scene sequences, for example. As a result, people often struggle to find the materials they need: where’s the folder with that storyboard? Or was it a link? Who should I ask for it? Wait… is this the latest? Let’s be honest though, with production schedules more frantic than ever, nobody’s got time for this!

To solve this challenge, we’re excited to bring you Media Collections – a new feature that makes it a snap to find what you need. Media Collections are curated subsets from your Media Library, focused on a specific breakdown element such as a scene, a character, or a department. Media Collections are auto-generated: if there’s a tag for it, there’s a Media Collection for it!

We built Media Collections to let you quickly navigate using the context of your materials and the very personal way you think about them: it connects the dots, if you will. No two people think alike, but in ProductionPro, everyone can find what they need, when they need it. Let’s say for example that you are viewing Art Department materials and open a set rendering for Scene 2: you can now click on Scene 2 to see any other materials associated with that scene – pre-vis, storyboards, props… you name it. What’s more, when you’re looking at the Collection for a scene, we now also list the scene breakdown information and characters underneath and, you guessed it, they’re clickable too! You can then keep drilling down by clicking on one of the characters and so on.

“If I look at Scene 34, I can see everything that is related to Scene 34. When on a production that is not using ProductionPro, I’m having to go to three or four different locations to find that information.” – Drew Petrotta, Props Master

Media Collections make it easier for you to discover the latest references from other departments. Learn more about the other ways ProductionPro is helping film professionals save time.

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