Movie★Slate is a slate and clapper board— traditional movie-making tools for syncing picture with sound, and photographing shot/production info at the start and end of shots.

Movie★Slate also provides an easy way to log footage and take notes as you shoot— saving you time during capture and edit.

Portrait and Landscape orientations are supported throughout the app. Tabs are hidden in the slate’s landscape orientation (on iPhone and iPod touch). To view them again, simply rotate back to portrait.

You can lock and unlock screen auto-rotation by tapping the slate’s clapper sticks hinge. Configure this behavior from MovieSlate's Settings -> Slate Behavior -> Hinge Button.

Enter production data into the slate by tapping on a field to edit it. Long-tap a field to display the Edit menu. For most fields, the Edit menu contains a "Snippets" item to quickly enter frequently-used phrases.

Advance to the next slate number, roll, scene, or take by swiping your finger upward on that field. Alternatively, tap the field, then tap the black buttons in the keypad’s upper right corner.

From Settings -> Field Input Styles, you can set default keyboard and keypad data input styles.

A blue button appears (on the right) when editing empty Production, Director, and DP fields. Tap the blue button to import data from Movie★Slate’s History or the iOS address book.

A blue snippets button appears (on the right) when editing many empty fields. Tap the blue snippets button to enter frequently-used phrases.

Customize the appearance of the clapper and slate from Movie★Slate’s Settings tab.

Extra Data Fields and Controls

• Clappersticks
• Timecode
• Production Info (PROD/DIR/DP)

Revealing Fields and Controls

With your finger, swipe the clappersticks, timecode display, or PROD/DIR/DP fields to the left or right.

Clapperstick Buttons

To the right of the clappersticks are two sets of buttons:

• Create notes for the current/next/previous shot you start (as determined by a preference in Settings -> Shot Log History -> Save Clapper Notes).
• View color/gray/focus charts. You can set the chart graphics from Settings -> Slate Appearance -> Color Chart, Gray Card, Focus Chart.

Production Logo Graphic

To the right of the PROD/DIR/DP fields is a production logo graphic that you can choose from your iOS device's Camera Roll or Photo Library. Once chosen, tap the graphic and choose to scale it to fit or to fill the frame.

Camera Optics are optional slate data fields that are saved with each shot to history— and are often used in Movie★Slate leader/end rolls (which appear when photographing the slate at the start and end of a shot).

On iPhone/iPod touch, you may have to tap the More tab to see the Camera Optics tab.

Enter camera optics data by tapping on a field to edit it:

• Video Filename - many cameras save footage to a computer data file instead of a video tape or film roll. Movie★Slate can log each shot’s filename for post-production use. Generally, cameras increment the numeric portion of a filename for each shot (example: MVI_0001.mov, MVI_0002.mov, MVI_0003.mov, and so on). Movie★Slate splits the filename into three pieces:
  • Prefix is everything to the left the filename’s numerals.
  • Numerals are the numbers-only portion of the filename.
  • Suffix is everything to the right the filename’s numerals.
  Like your camera, Movie★Slate automatically increments the numeric portion of the filename when each shot ends. Manually increment by tapping the plus and minus buttons on the left and right of the numerals.
• ISO Speed - the measure of a photographic media’s sensitivity to light.
• Shutter Speed - the number of seconds a camera’s shutter is open (exposure). Because most exposures are measured in fractional seconds, Movie★Slate automatically inserts a leading “1/” for you.
• Aperture (F-stops)- the size of a camera lens opening. Movie★Slate automatically inserts a leading “F-” for you.
• White Balance - color temperature, often measured in thousands of Kelvins. Movie★Slate automatically inserts a trailing “K” for you.
• Lens - the lens used for this shot (free form text such as “wide angle”).
• Focal Length - of the camera lens, measured in millimeters. Movie★Slate automatically inserts a trailing “mm” for you.
• Camera Height - can be entered as literal numerals (ie: inches), or free form text (ie: “eye level”).
• Camera Angle - can be entered as literal numerals (ie: 60°), or free form text (ie: “low angle”).
• Distance to Subject - is how far away the camera is to the subject being photographed.
• Filters - a list of lens filters used for the shot (ie: “yellow”).

Timecode is displayed as the iPad/iPhone/iPod clock time by default.

Tap the FPS field to choose the timecode’s frames-per-second. Note that choosing Custom (text only) does not actualy change the rate at which the timecode is displayed; it merely changes the text that appears in the slate’s FPS field.

Due to the refresh rate on iPhone/iPod screens, when viewing footage of the slate, some frame digits may appear to be missing (particularly at higher frame rates). Durations are accurate, however.

To manually “jam” (set) your own timecode, tap the slate’s timecode display. Using the keypad, enter HH:MM:SS:FF digits from left to right. You don’t have to enter colons or even enter all the digits.

To manually sync your camera and slate, tap the timecode display. Enter your camera’s timecode plus about 10 seconds. Begin recording, and when your camera’s timecode matches the display, tap the Done button.

Using a wireless connection * you can sync timecode (and slate data) between multiple Movie★Slates on different iOS Devices (iPads, iPhones, or iPod touches).

Internal clock time often varies from iOS Device to iOS Device. So Movie★Slate provides a means of synchronizing its (clock or jammed) timecode across multiple iOS Devices.

Movie★Slate also sends slate data fields when syncing. From each receiving Movie★Slate, you can choose which fields are recieved: Settings -> Timecode Syncing -> Receive Data.

You can use one Movie★Slate to remote control Movie★Slates running on iPads over a WiFi connection *. To accept remote control commands on the receiving iPad, enable its Settings -> Timecode Syncing -> Auto-Start Shots and Auto-End Shots preferences.

Using Bluetooth to Send or Receive Timecode. Bluetooth sends a timecode and slate data snapshot from one Movie★Slate to up to four other Movie★Slates. The iOS Devices communicate only once for the brief few seconds required to send the snapshot.

Using WiFi to Send or Receive Timecode *. WiFi continuously transmits timecode signals to multiple iOS Devices. When the sender’s timecode starts or stops, so does the timecode on receiving iOS Devices. Each time a shot starts, slate data is also sent. For best results using WiFi timecode sync, we recommend you turn Bluetooth OFF from the Settings app on all iOS Devices involved.

WiFi/Bluetooth Sync Instructions.
From each iOS Device you want to sync:
tap the Movie★Slate tab,
tap the timecode display,
tap the keypad’s Sync button,
then tap the appropriate Send and Receive buttons.

* Feature available with the optional $50 (USD) "Timecode Sync Pro" plugin-- available for purchase from Movie★Slate's Settings screen.

Movie★Slate can and receive timecode * from compatible cameras and timecode generators— including other copies of Movie★Slate running on other iOS Devices (iPads, iPhones, or iPod touches).

You’ll need a camera or timecode generator that’s capable of sending and/or receiving LTC (Longitudinal Time Code) over an audio cable. Not all cameras have LTC-IN or LTC-OUT ports, but many professional-level cameras do (check your camera’s instruction manual if you’re not certain). Movie★Slate can send and receive frame rates of 24, 25, 29.97, 29.97 DF, and 30.

Enable the “Timecode Sync Pro plugin”

To gain these capabilities, you’ll need to enable the Timecode Sync Pro plugin— an in-app $50 (USD) purchase from Movie★Slate’s Settings tab.

Receiving Camera Timecode

Connect a cable from a camera to the headphone jack on your iOS Device.

From the Movie★Slate tab, tap the timecode display, then the SYNC keypad button. Tap the Receive button, then the Headphone Jack button.

Movie★Slate’s timecode pauses/resumes as you stop and start the camera.

Timecode recieved via the headphone jack inherently lags behind the source’s timecode by a few frames. MovieSlate can compensate for this lag. Go to MovieSlate Settings -> Timecode Syncing -> Calibrate LTC Lag, and zero out the frames and seconds. Go to the main MovieSlate screen, and SYNC your camera. Make sure the timecode is not paused. Record video of both the MovieSlate and Camera timecode displays running side-by-side. Import that video into an editor (like Avid, FinalCut, Premiere). Scrub through the video and pause on a single frame. Note the difference (in frames) between the two timecode displays. Go back to MovieSlate’s Calibrate LTC Lag screen and enter that difference into the frames field.

Camera Frame Rates

When receiving timecode from a camera, Movie★Slate supports and auto-detects frame rates: 24, 25, 29.97 DF, and 30. Also supported is 29.97 NDF, but is not auto-detected (after syncing timecode from the camera, tap the slate's FPS field and choose that rate manually).

Jamming Camera Timecode

When you disconnect the cable from the headphone jack, the timecode is “jammed” and continues running using Movie★Slate’s internal clock. You can also jam sync by tapping the timecode display, then the Jam Sync button.

Sending Movie★Slate Timecode

Connect a cable from the headphone jack on your iOS Device’s to a camera (or other iOS Device running Movie★Slate).

From the Movie★Slate tab, tap the timecode display, then the SYNC keypad button. Tap the Send button, then the Headphone Jack button. If the camera does not recognize the timecode, or if the timecode appears to skip, you will need to adjust the iOS Device’s physical volume up/down buttons (generally, louder is better).

Stop Camera Syncing

Tap the timecode display, then tap the Stop Syncing button.

Sync Camera Timecode to other Movie★Slates

While synced with a camera using the iOS Device’s headphone jack, you can also send that timecode to other Movie★Slates over Bluetooth or WiFi. Just tap the timecode display, then the Send button.

These timecode syncing features create many new workflow opportunities. For instance, Movie★Slate on one iOS Device can receive timecode from a camera over audio cable, then sync it to Movie★Slate on another iOS Device over WiFi. The other Movie★Slate could then send the same timecode to another camera over audio cable.

* Feature available with the optional $50 (USD) "Timecode Sync Pro" plugin-- available for purchase from Movie★Slate's Settings screen.

To sync timecode with cameras *, you’ll need cables running from your camera or TC generator to the iPad/iPhone/iPod headphone jack.

When sending timecode from MovieSlate, use a standard, unattenuated cable.

When receiving timecode in MovieSlate, use a custom, attenuated cable described below...

The iPad/iPhone/iPod end of the cable must be a four connection mini jack (four visible bands; just like the jack used on Apple's iPhone headphones).

The audio signal needs to be at MIC level-- not LINE level which would overpower an iPad/iPhone/iPod headphone jack input. Many cameras output their audio signal at MIC level already.

If your camera’s LTC audio output is at LINE level or is too loud, you will have to attenuate (lower the volume of) the audio signal.

For information on what cables to purchase to connect your Timecode generator to your iPad/iPhone/iPod running MovieSlate, please visit this page on our support website for the latest information.

Troubleshooting Cables

Here’s a way to test your camera’s audio output...

Connect the cables from the camera to your iPad/iPhone/iPod headphone jack.

Go to Settings -> Timecode Syncing -> Test Headphone Connection.

The levels at the bottom of this screen should be in the green range. When they are, timecode should be displaying at the top of the screen. If the levels are not in the green range, there is too much attentuation on the cables (the audio is not loud enough).

Camera Frame Rates

When receiving timecode from a camera, Movie★Slate supports and auto-detects frame rates: 24, 25, 29.97 DF, and 30. Also supported is 29.97 NDF, but is not auto-detected (after syncing timecode from the camera, tap the slate's FPS field and choose that rate manually).

Timecode Lag

Timecode recieved via the headphone jack inherently lags behind the source’s timecode by a few frames. MovieSlate can compensate for this lag.

Go to Settings -> Timecode Syncing -> Calibrate LTC Lag.

Zero out the frames and seconds. Go to the main MovieSlate screen, and SYNC your camera. Make sure the timecode is not paused. Record video of both the MovieSlate and Camera timecode displays running side-by-side. Import that video into an editor (like Avid, FinalCut, Premiere). Scrub through the video and pause on a single frame. Note the difference (in frames) between the two timecode displays. Go back to MovieSlate’s Calibrate LTC Lag screen and enter that difference into the frames field.

WiFi Sync* Troubleshooting:

• Base Station? Make sure you have a WiFi base station within range of all the iOS Devices you’ll be syncing.
• Bonjour Ports Open? MovieSlate uses Apple's Bonjour networking protocols, which require these open network ports: 5297, 5298, 5353.
• All iOS Devices are on the same Network? To connect an iOS Device, run the Settings app, tap WiFi, then choose the Network (base station).
• Is Bluetooth also ON? On some iOS Devices, received timecode can appear to skip if Bluetooth is enabled on that Device. You can disable Bluetooth from the General section of the Settings app.
• Restart the MovieSlate app if other iOS Devices cannot connect to it properly. Return to the Springboard by tapping the Home button once. From the Springboard in iOS 4, tap the Home button twice more to show the running apps. Hold your finger on the MovieSlate icon until the icons all jiggle. Tap the red circle in the MovieSlate app to completely quit the app. Tap the Home button to return to the Springboard, then launch MovieSlate again.
• If all else fails reboot the devices you’re syncing and start over.

* Feature available with the optional $50 (USD) "Timecode Sync Pro" plugin-- available for purchase from Movie★Slate's Settings screen.

Bluetooth Troubleshooting:

• Compatible? Make sure you are running iPhone OS 3 or later on an iPhone (3G and later) or iPod touch (2G and later).
• In Range? To connect, devices should be less than 10 meters apart.
• Be patient. Each device can take up to 60 seconds to connect.
• Enable Bluetooth in the Settings app > General > Bluetooth. When enabled, a “B” symbol appears next to the battery icon at the top of the screen.
• You may get better results by upgrading to the latest iPhone OS, or by temporarily turning WiFi off.
• If all else fails reboot the devices you’re syncing and start over.

To sync timecode to a song from your iTunes library, open the Music Video screen:

• On iPhones and iPod touches, this is a separate Music Video tab.
• On iPads, go to the Movie★Slate tab, tap the timecode display, then tap the music note button.

Tap the Choose Song button, and choose a song.

Set In/Out points by dragging the vertical bars above the Start and End buttons, or by tapping on the timecode above them.

Start a Take from the Movie★Slate tab by tapping the clapper sticks. The take, timecode, and music playback starts and automatically ends at your song’s Start and End points.

Clear the Song by either tapping the Choose Song button in the Music Video tab, or the timecode display in the Movie★Slate tab.

When WiFi Syncing to iPads *, synced song information is sent to the receiving iPad. If the receiving iPad’s music library has the same song (with the identical song, artist, album name) as the sending iOS Device, then the music will play on both devices when the shot starts.

* Feature available with the optional $50 (USD) "Timecode Sync Pro" plugin-- available for purchase from Movie★Slate's Settings screen.

To start a take, tap the clapper at the top of the slate.

Timecode IN, all production info, and camera optics data are automatically saved in History when you start a take. This data can be emailed from the History tab (see instructions below).

The clapper’s behavior can be customized from Settings -> Slate Behavior. Choose to play sounds, freeze the timecode briefly, show credits leader/end roll animation, and more.

Video/Audio Quality ★-rankings can be set during the take.

Circle Take button marks good takes by circling the take number in the History log. This practice is an old Hollywood tradition.

End the Shot button saves a Timecode OUT marker with the shot history.

Add Shot Marker/Notes button saves timecode-stamped notes during a take. When shooting interviews, this is a useful way to document what remarkable thing was said, and when.

Build notes from Snippet phrases by tapping the Content/Shot/Movement buttons. You can also enter text with the keyboard. Use the Snippets tab to customize your phrases.

From the Projects screen (in the History tab), tap on a production name to view just the Shots from that project.

The Shots screen lists all a project’s shots. You can search the list by slate number, roll, shot, or take.

View Shot Details and Notes by tapping on a shot in the list.

View previous/next shots by tapping the arrow buttons at the bottom of the screen.

Edit a shot’s production information by tapping on a field.

Tap Shot Notes to view, add, edit, or delete notes for the shot.

Shot Location data (if captured) is displayed at the bottom of the screen (on iPhone/iPod touch) or top of the screen (on iPad).

   

Camera & Microphone buttons appear during a take (on iOS Devices with those capabilities).

The Shot Notes list screen also contains these buttons:

Edit an Image/Voice Note’s
text by tapping its > button.

Slate Appearance can be changed by tapping Clapper top/bottom, Text font, Background, or Timecode color.

Hinge Button - choose what happens when the hinge button is tapped:

• Does Nothing - the hinge is not a button.
• Starts Shot - behaves as though you had tapped on the clapper sticks.
• Tap Anywhere - after tapping the hinge to “arm the slate”, you can then tap anywhere on the slate to start the shot.
• Locks Rotation - tap the hinge to lock auto-rotation (prevent the screen’s orientation from changing). Tap the hinge again to unlock.
• Locks Data Fields - tap the hinge to prevent data field editing on the slate. Tap the hinge again to unlock.
• Locks Everything - locks both rotation and data.

Clapper Behavior - various on/off settings:

• Shake to Clap - shake the iDevice to start a shot. This option works best with a 3 second clapper delay.
• Tap Clapper to tap Anywhere - after tapping the clapper sticks to “arm the slate”, you can then tap anywhere on the slate to start the shot.
• Play Sound Effects - plays clapper sound (set separately), and 3 beeps (when used with a 3 second or longer clapper delay).
• 4 second timecode freeze - after closing the clapper, freeze the Timecode IN display for 4 seconds so it can be photographed.
• Zero timecode on clap - when the clapper closes, timecode starts from 00:00:00:00.
• Increment Slate number - after ending the shot, automatically increase the slate number.
• Increment Take number - after ending the shot, automatically increase the take number/letter.
• Increment Camera Filename - after ending the shot, automatically increase the numeric portion of the camera filename (on the Camera Optics screen).
• Clapper stick vertical for MOS - when the slate’s MOS indicator is on, draw the top clapper stick fully open (straight up).
• Confirm “End the Shot” - you’ll be asked if you really want to end the shot after tapping the “End the Shot” button.
• Pause Timecode when Shot Ends - after ending the shot, pause (and jam) the timecode display (when not synced).
• Show Slate when Shot Ends - after ending the shot, immediately return to the slate screen. Otherwise, you can continue to rate and make notes about the shot that just ended.
• Prevent Sleep - keeps the iPhone/iPod awake while Movie★Slate is running.

Clapper Sound - choose a sound to play when the clapper sticks close.

• Delay/Pre-Roll - after tapping the clapper, the number of seconds before a take actually starts. Pre-rolls timecode by this amount when synced to a Music Video song.
• Song Delay - following the pre-roll duration, extra seconds of silence before a Music Video song actually starts playback.
• Flash Duration - number of seconds to flash the Flash Graphic appears before fading out.

After tapping an option, a set of rotating wheels appears. Drag the wheels until the digits representing the number of seconds you want line up in the center (highlighted) row.

Example: enter two and a half seconds as “02.50”.

iPad users: dismiss the wheels by tapping anyplace outside the black popover screen.

Show Credits at shot start/end - show an optional Leader or End roll animation:

• Credits Duration - number of seconds to display each credit in a leader roll or end roll animation (when enabled).
• Leader Roll (xx fields)- choose which fields, and in which order fields will appear in a leader roll animation.
• Show Leader Roll - choose whether to display a leader roll before the clapper sticks clap, after the clap, or not at all.
• End Roll (xx fields)- choose which fields, and in which order fields will appear in a end roll animation.
• Show End Roll - choose whether to display an end roll animation when the shot ends.

Receive Data - choose which fields are received during a sync over Bluetooth and WiFi. Change this setting on each iOS Device that will be receiving synced data.

Timecode Sync Pro plugin - tap the ENABLE button to purchase this optional $50 (USD) module and have the ability to send and receive timecode to cameras and other Movie★Slates over audio cables and to other Movie★Slates over WiFi.

Required Cables - read about the kind of cables you’ll need to send and receive LTC (Longitudinal Time Code) via your iOS Device’s headphone jack.

Test Headphone Connection - tap this item to Try before you Buy and to test your audio cables.

Send Timecode Audio * - choose whether to send timecode audio over the left, right, or both channels..

Auto-Start Shots * - automatically start shots when Movie★Slate detects that the external timecode has started. Enable this option to accept remote control commands over WiFi (to start shots and receive slate data fields).

Auto-End Shots * - automatically end shots when Movie★Slate detects that the external timecode has stopped).

* Feature available with the optional $50 (USD) "Timecode Sync Pro" plugin-- available for purchase from Movie★Slate's Settings screen.

Choose whether to use the Movie★Slate keypad or standard iOS keyboard when entering data for particular fields.

Some fields (such as SCENE and TAKE) also support different data formatting styles which can be chosen from this screen.

Set your own custom data labels which will appear on the Movie★Slate screen, and in all History reports. On iPad, you can also set Data Labels by tapping on them right from the Movie★Slate screen.

Shot Log History

• Save Clapper Notes - scroll the slate’s clapper sticks left to reveal Clapper Note buttons. This setting determines to which shot these notes should stick when there is no shot in progress.
• Abbreviations - when editing Shot Notes, Snippets are inserted as full text or abbreviations (when available). This setting determines which.
• Save Big Photos - Image Note photos are emailed from Movie★Slate as thumbnails, and can be optionally saved at full size in the Photo app’s Camera Roll.
• Save History - choose whether you want all slate and camera optics data automatically saved to Movie★Slate’s History when starting a shot from the Movie★Slate screen.
• Report Contents - choose which slate and camera optics data fields will appear in emailed History reports— and in which order the columns will appear. Note that this setting does not affect FinalCut XML files.
• Email To - if you always email history/notes to the same address, you can save time by setting that default email address here.
• Format As - if you always send email history/notes in the same format, save time by setting that format here.
• Files - set which ImageNote and VoiceNote file attachments you want emailed. To listen to VoiceNote “.caf” files on your computer, please make sure you have Apple QuickTime installed.
• Find & Save Locations - when ON, the current location of your iPhone/iPod is saved with each shot’s history.
• Refresh on Each Shot - when ON, the current location is updated each time you start a new shot.

On iPhone and iPod touch, you can rearrange Movie★Slate’s tabs, so that your most frequently used screens are always visible. Here’s how...

Tap the More tab.

Tap the Edit button.
Drag icons to arrange the tabs,
then tap the Done button.

Written by Cliff Joyce, Copyright 2009-11 PureBlend Corp. All rights reserved.

Movie★Slate™ is a trademark of PureBlend Corp.

FinalCut® is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc.

S7RatingView is Copyright 2009 7touch Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thanks to Karl Stenerud for ObjectAL.

Thanks to Jason Berube and Ron Dexter for focus charts.

ObjectAL is © Copyright 2010 Karl Stenerud
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at:
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.