Really Cool Mobile Apps
As we discover them, we're going to start to add to our list of really cool apps which can assist you in production and other fun stuff. We think this will be very helpful to all of you out there who are making videos, whether it's your home movie or a multi-million dollar feature film or are just looking for some cool mobile applications. So bookmark this page and check back often! However, before buying any app do your own research to make sure it does what you want it to, unless of course the app is free or costs just a buck!
Production Apps and Other Cool Stuff!
OOLOO
Tired of trying to explain to a computer program what you're searching for? Sick of getting answers that have nothing to do with what you need? Computerized voice-search apps can't always understand what you want to know, but OOLOO brings a personalized approach with a human connection, staffed with real people 24/7. Every time you ask OOLOO something, our dedicated answer team is ready to help you find what you need! Whether you want to know which restaurants close to you are offering happy hour, or need some suggestions for vegetarian recipes, just pick up your phone and ask OOLOO. OOLOO is making search human. Downside, a slight lag between asking the question and getting the answer..but it's worth the wait if you find, Siri, a little light on the accuracy! And it's free..so give it a try. It's also available for Android.
Live Play by Iron Play
There's a new app called Live Play an on-set automated playback app that lets users review unlimited clips from their iPads on the set - independently and simultaneously! Watch Michael Cioni of Iron Play give a demo of this powerful app that was used on The Amazing Spider-Man, Pirates of the Carribean 4 and more.
Major League Baseball
Okay, an iPhone is great for a lot of things, right?! Checking emails, texting "be there in 5", taking pictures of your niece hanging upside down on the monkey bars at the playground or a video of your nephew jumping up and down when a freight train goes by, playing Words With Friends and... sometimes even TALKING to someone on the phone! What a concept! Sure, you can ditch it and not be reachable at all, not a bad thing sometimes, don’t you agree? But, "here's the thing", as my nephew would say... with an iPhone and your imagination, you have endless 411 and fun right at your fingertips!
Air Grade
This free app is worth a try, it's a color grading app that's remote controlled from the iPhone with virtual rotary and trackball controls. The results are displayed interactively on your Mac monitor in high resolution by Air Grade Engine, a free auxillary downloadable program from Air Grade.
VideoGrade - Color Editor for Video
Priced at $4.99, VideoGrade is a color grading editor for your iPhone. It allows you to modify several different settings to improve your video or change the look altogether. It seems fairly easy to use and quite flexible.
Slomo
Slomo creates both slow and fast speed without any noticeable video degradation. This is a good app but the only downside is that is hasn't been updated yet for the iPhone 5, but is still worth a mention. Priced at $.0.99 you can simply pick a video from your camera roll or just record a new one and select the desired speed you want.
Tilt Shift Video - Miniature effect for movies and photos
This app gives you all the editing features you need to turn your videos and photos into tilt-shift creations without having to use an expensive lense for your DSLR camera or a professional video editing software. Priced at $0.99, it seems designed to be pretty easy to use and all the editing options are easily accessible.
Time Lapse HD
For only $0.99, this app will create 16:9 time lapse. Time Lapse Camera HD automatically captures images and creates a time-lapse video instantly on your iPhone which you can then share on YouTube, Facebook, etc. in a 16:9 format.
SMPTE Score
Priced at $0.99 for both iPhone and iPad SMPTE Score HD can calculate all relationship combinations of; SMPTE timecode, Tempo (beats per minute) and Score length (written measures). SMPTE Score HD has the added features of a beginning and ending timecode fields which allow for many new possibilities of solving your scoring needs.
AJA Data Calc
The AJA Data Calc computes storage requirements for professional video and audio media. It works with all the most popular industry video formats and compression methods including Apple ProRes, DVCProHD, HDV, XDCAM. DV, Cineform, REDCODE, Avid, and more. It's free and easily allows you to change settings and caluclate storage requirements.
Pocket LD
Priced at $19.99 this app is a photometric database and calulation tool for TV and Film lighting professionals. Enter any throw distance to determine beam/field diameter and fc/lux for any selected fixture and lamp. Over 1000 fixture/lamp combinations are included in the library; which can easily be modified and sorted into Favorite Fixtures for quick recall. Winner of the 2010 Live Design Software Product of the Year Award. Also featured in ICG magazine (January 2010) as one of the top five apps for filmmakers & cinematographers.
Technicolor
Developed by Technicolor, this app gives filmmakers tools to make calculations such as what's the running time of 1,000 feet of Vista Vision 8 perf? It's free and is really useful for many film footage to timecode calucations. Available for both iPhone and iPad
Time Code
This app could be a really good tool for script supervisors because it allows you to sync your iPhone with a timecode. Ideal if your stopwatch fails! It's $0.99 and probably worth the buck.
Scout App
If you're a location scout this app certainly deserves a look. This app designed for both iPhone and iPad allows you to geotap, create a database and take pictures, share privately through email or off of the developer's servers. It's price at $1.99 but could be a very useful scouting too.
iFilmfest
If you want to keep track of the most influential top 300 film festivals for features or shorts this app is for you. It's priced at $3.99 but if you've just made that award winning film, it's probably worth the cost of admission.
FoF's World's Top 100 Film Festival
This free app is devoted to the top one hundred festivals all over the world. You can search through their database easily and find festivals closest to where you live and even watch trailers of official selections.
Virgin Media Shorts - the Uk's Biggest Short Film Festival
Now a great number of film festivals have their own apps, so just search for Film Festivals in the iTunes App store and you'll see apps from Sundance, Slamdance, Tribeca, Gay and Lesbian Film Festivals and Festivals from as far away as Edinburgh, Scotland to the Los Angeles Film Festival. There's a plefera of them so check them all out. We thought the Virgin's Free Media Shorts app was really interesting and a chance to get a sneak at the up and coming UK filmmakers.
Hollywood Deadline
If you can't get enough Hollywood news, then Hollywood Deadline is for you. It's free, will keep you up to date on everything entertainment and is considered one of the more trusted mobile news sources. It's 24/7 Hollywood industry news with channels covering breaking news, film, tv, awards, box office, festivals, tv ratings and Hollywood jobs.
My Showbiz Labor Guide
If you're a producer, line producer or production manageer type and want to have at your fingertips all those pesky labor union rules and pay rates, this app puts everything in one place. It's developed by Media Services a payroll company and you can simply click on any union from the menu to find out hourly, weekly, or flat rates for almost anyone in the industry who is a member of a guild or union. Priced at $19.99 and designed for the iPad it's worth adding to your production toolbelt.
Kodak Cinema Tools
So although many films today are shot using digital cameras, Kodak has a great app if you'd like to look at the film options before you make a final decision. It's free for both iPhone and iPad and covers product demos, sample footage of all their negative film stocks, technical specifications, suggested filters in other words a wealth of information if you're going to be shooting on film. It's fun to look at even if you are using digital!
Film Production Terms
There are two apps that give you a complete glossary of film production that might be of real interest to film school students, other people starting out or for those of you who sometimes get stump by some obscure reference! Film Terms for the iPhone and iPad (priced at $1.99) covers over 400 terms from all aspects of filmmaking pre-production to post. And then there's Film Production Terms for the iPad which offers you a database of thousands of entries from every corner of production, priced at $0.99.
FilmSlate
FilmSlate is reasonably priced at $4.99 and uses time of day timecode or you can manually jam-sync. It has some really good features like the ability to email your log files as a tab-delimited table and it supports all different kinds of frame rates. It's a great run and gun slate.
DSLR Slate
If you're a DSLR filmmaker this slate is ideal for you. Works on both the iPhone and iPad. This slate gives you all the familiar inputs for a slate, timecode, color charts, scene, take, frame rate, director, etc. plus some that are very specific to DSRL cameras like ISO speed, Aperture, etc. Priced at $9.99 this app should be able to handle any of your shooting needs
Free Slate
Although bare bones, this is a free app that will work well if you doing some shooting on the run and is perfect for insert shots or animation. It doesn't read timecode so it isn't perfect for those bigger shoots, but if you're in a gorilla mode of filmmaking this app might fit your needs.
Movie Slate
Expensive at $24.95 this is however the all in one slate with many features including digital slate, clapper, shot log, note pad. You can log and take notes as you shoot which could be a real timesaver. It's customizable and a professional slate that you can use on your video project no matter how big or small.
Splashtop 2
Want to control your Mac or PC from your iPhone or iPad, Splashtop does just that. Therer are varying price levels from Free to $4.99 for the iPad version as well as some inApp purchases. But this is really a great app if you need to control your desktop from your mobile device.
Doddle
Need to find a green screen studio in Germany? Well, Doddle can help you. It's an International Production guide at your finger tips. There's a free version, which is probably all your need if you're just looking for a good production guide. The Pro version, priced at $9.99 allows you to create, edit and distribute digitally or send PDFs of your Call Sheets too. The Free version has over one hundred categories to search through. A handy tool if you use production guides.
411 Production Guides
While on the subject of Production Guides, there is of course, the trusty 411 guides. There are currently guides for Los Angeles, Florida, Louisiana and New Mexico. All our free and all are very reliable resources for crews, production companies, post production, sets, locations, props, wardrobe, etc. If you're into production in any one of these cities make sure you download the app. Just search 411 in the iTunes store to see all free apps available.
ProPrompter
Priced at $9.99 this app is really great for anyone who has to use a teleprompter outside of a studio environment. Available for both the iPhone and iPad this is really a very professional app with lots of really useful features. Developed by Bodelin, a manfacturer of telepromter equiment, this app allows you to create, edit and scroll your scripts fairly easily
Scripted
Ever wanted to know how your favorite movie started it's life like Casabalanca or The 40 Year Old Virgin for example! Well, if you have an iPad this app is for you. Scripted is free (or $1.99 if you want to disable the ads) and lets you search through quite an extensive database to find the scripts you love, old and new and then download them to your iPad.
Action Movie FX
Action Movie FX is a free app and is really very cool. This app lets you add Hollywood looking FXs to the iPhone and iPad movies that you shoot. These effects are called Hellstorm Missile, Dragon Fire Drones and The Claw so I think you get the picture. It's lots of fun and allows you to blow just about anything up!
pCam Film and Digital Calculator
Developed by an actual camera assisant, this app although priced at $29.99 is really worth it if you are a working camera professional. The app calculates a myriad of camera functions including depth of field and focal length. It also was awarded an Emmy award in 2010 for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering.
Storyist
Designed for just the iPad Storyist is more than a screenwriting program, it helps you define characters, structure your story and also has an index card function. It allows you create folders so you can keep all the elements about a single project in a separate folder. You can print via AirPrint, or sync with Dropbox. It can also import/export to Final Draft. Priced at $9.99 it's more than just a scriptwriting program.
Final Draft
There are two versions of Final Draft. Firstly, the free Reader version which allows you read scripts on your iPhone or iPad, and then there's the version that lets you write, edit, print on your iPad on the go. Final Draft has long been the industry standard in screenwriting, so don't be surprised at the pricey cost of the iPad version. Priced at $39.99 it may be the only professional screeningwriting program you need. It obviously has both printing and syncing functions to your regular Mac.
Rehearsal 2
If you're an actor or someone that has to learn lines, Rehearsal 2 is a great app to help you do that. It's a script reading program that works only with PDFs from email or from the App's online server. But once you have the script in the app you can highlight your character's lines and it has a nice feature which allows you to black out your lines so you can really tell if you have them memorized. Priced at $19.99 if could be an actor's lifesaver. Available for both the iPhone and iPad
Pocket Call Sheet
Priced at $6.99 this app seems to offer you everything you need to create detailed, industry standard call sheets from your iDevice and send them directly to your cast, crew or any additional emails you like. The app eliminates the need to print call sheets. For indie films this is a perfect app becuase you don't have to rely on having a produciton office to generate your call sheets, you can simply do it on the road.
Easy Release
Easy Release replaces paper release forms with a streamlined application. The app lets you collect all the information and necessary signatures you need right on your iPhone, then you can email mail a PDF and JPEG of the release to your produciton team. Easy Release's language is industry-standard and something you should find pretty acceptable for your video project. Priced at $9.99, the app supports thirteen different languages which will gives it a pretty broad appeal.
Cinema Forms
Cinema Forms offers you a wide variety of mobile production forms including cast list, call sheet, location forms, releases, and breakdown sheets. The basic app is free but thre are lots of in-app purchases. You can export pdfs via email or drop box. You can customize logos and letterheads and it also offers a geolocation maps.
FiLMiC Pro
FiLMic Pro turns your mobile device into a broadcast worthy, high definition camera with a real time 4x zoom. It also gives you control over focus, exposure, white balance and frame rate. It has built-in tools including an aduio meter, aspect ratio overlays and much more. Priced at $4.99 it's inexpensive if you're serious about shooting video on your iPhone.
Almost DSLR
There is both a free and paid version of this app. We know a lot of people are using their iPhones to create video, well this app turns your iPhone into an 'almost DSLR' camera. This app wll allow you to control focus, exposure and white balance. You do have to read the instructions and I would suggest looking at the manual or download the free app to practice with. The paid version, however, is only $1.99 so if you want to turn your camera into something with more controllable features check this one out.
Artemis Viewfinder
Artemis is a digital directors viewfinder for the iPhone and iPad. Designed with both cinematographers and directors in mind, Artemis works in much the same way as a traditional directors viewfinder, though much more accurately and much more conveniently. Camera formats are included and it seems to have been tested on pretty much every format as well as having a custom camera configuration. It's really cool and worth the price at $29.99.
Time Code
Calculating timecodes can be complicated. Timecode is a good choice for performing timecode calculations and film unit conversions. Using Timecode, you can calculate and convert any timecode into any other timecode or unit at the touch of a button. It has a very nice interface with animations and a robust timecode math engine. Priced at $6.99 if you spend time trying to figure out timecode caluclations, this is the app for you.
Cut Notes
If you're still writing timecode notes during a screening this app may be for you. Whether you're screening a DVD, a QuickTime file the Editor sent out, or sitting in an edit bay with your team simply just tap play. Designed for the iPad, Cut Notes can be synchronized directly to your Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere timeline. After you've made your notes, you can email them to yourself, your produce or director, Avid Locator or Marker List Files, which can be imported into NLEs like Avid, Final Cut Pro (with free Cut Notes Marker Import utitlity for Mac OS X). Priced at $9.99, you'll never have to worry about trying to decipher your handwriting again!
Storyboards
Storyboards comes with many features and really which allow you to create professional looking storyboards without any real drawing ability, thanks to the literally hundreds of drawings of actors, props, etc. included in the app. It feels pretty intuitive and the free version allows you create up to two storyboards of ten drawings each. The unlimited Premium version is priced at $14.99, so if you're seriously into storyboards, it's worth the price. There is also a 3D version available.
Shot Lister
This is again rather like the strip board, but it is fully functional and lets you organize and store hundreds of scenes and shots. It will also create a shooting schedule on a shot by shot basis. It's fully customizable to your production needs and has a 'live' function which you might find useful on set. It also lets you print out pdfs of your entire shot list and schedule. You can also import Excel or Numbers documents. Priced at $13.99.
Shot List
This app features the production strip list, which many of you may be familiar with from software applications like Movie Magic. It stores the details you would find on a strip board, like shot number, scene, characters, script notes, etc. It's a handy tool to break down a script or use while you are in pre-production stages or actually on the set, since you can use all kinds of editing functions on the go. Priced at $11.99.
Penultimate
For those of you who can draw or for those of you who would like to try, Penultimate is a great app. However, if you're an actual storyboard or grahic artist, you will really find this app extremely helpful. It's available for both the iPad and iPhone and only costs a penny less than a buck. It's made by the folks who developed Evernote, which is pretty popular. You can draw with your finger or a stylus and it's easy and simple to use, but being an actual artist is a definite advantage, although I've done pretty well with stick figures!