We will put the most common support questions here on this page as they come in.
Q. “Is there a “How To” guide?”
Q. “Where should I go for help?”
Q. “What are the different ways to send schedule revisions to people?”
Q. “How can I rename a project?”
Q. “I have a problem backing up and restoring with Dropbox”
Q. “Do I need a live data connection to run ShotList?”
Q. “I need to shoot some of my shots at fixed times. How can I see those times on the stripboard?”
Q. “Is there a way to get data from other sources, such as “EP” or “Final Draft” into Shotlist?”
Q. “Where should we send comments, suggestions and requests?”
Q. “Is there a “How To” guide?”
We have put together a comprehensive User guide, which should be the first place to look for help and advice when learning how to use ShotList.
You may also find viewing this walkthrough video helpful
Q. “Where should I go for help?”
If you can’t find the answer on this page or in the User Guide, please email shotlist@solubleapps.com and we’ll do our best to help.
Q. “What are the different ways to send schedule revisions to people?”
There are now several ways to do this-
- As a Oneline Schedule email, which anyone can read on the simplest devices.
- As a PDF attachment in an email.
- By printing physical copies, using Airprint.
- or by sharing the project using the free Dropbox service.
Q. “How can I rename a project?”
To rename a project, go to the page that shows your project names, and tap “Manage” in the top right corner, then select the project you want to rename.
Q. “Do I need a live data connection to run ShotList?”
No, as ShotList stores data locally on your device, you won’t need a data connection to view or edit your project.
You will only require a data connection to email out schedule updates, or to backup or exchange information with colleagues using the DropBox feature.
To keep mobile data use to a minimum, we reduce the resolution of all storyboard images stored in MailShot to match your device resolution, and we only send or download images that have changed since your last exchange with Dropbox.
Q. “I need to shoot some of my shots at fixed times. How could I see those times on the stripboard?”
As this idea was useful to one of our users, we are including it here in case it is helpful to others.
If you want to be able to see a critical start time, especially for planning purposes, add it to the Description field (e.g. “12:15 Barney ties Fred up with twine”) and it will be clearly visible on the stripboard as you shuffle your other scenes around it.
If you want to store more complex information about a critical time, such as “Location available from 2:00pm until 4:00pm, but we can’t use firearms until 2:30” then it is best to store it in the Notes area.
Q. “Is there a way to get data from other sources, such as “EP” or “Final Draft” into Shotlist?”
ShotList is designed as a lightweight free-standing solution. We see it as having two typical roles- on its own, to plan smaller shoots in detail, and as almost a specialised “To Do” list app for larger productions, where you would just enter scene numbers, along with only the specific notes, storyboard frames etc. you wanted with you on the day.
We have added the ability to export and import in a popular spreadsheet format, to allow editing your project on a desktop. See this page in the User Guide for details
We’d like to hear which applications you would like to see the addition of optional modules to import from. “Final Draft” is one possibility, it depends on the availability of documentation on the file formats of the other apps.
TIP You can of course use a Bluetooth keyboard (including the Apple Wireless Keyboard) to enter data directly into Shotlist on an iPhone or iPad. This is worth considering when initially entering data for a larger production.
Q. “Where should we send comments, suggestions and requests?”
Please send all comments, suggestions or requests to suggestions@solubleapps.com.
We always love to hear from you, and have already gained a strong reputation from users of our MailShot app for listening to our users and updating our apps after launch to add features based on requests.
Soluble Apps 
One thing I miss, and I think you guys could think about working on it, is the same app for mac, so you can type everything on your computer and just import to shotlist on your ipad or iphone. I mean, I just got the app today and spent over 6 hours preparing a shooting schedule for next week on the ipad. It is great, very well made, but Im sure that if I had a way of making it as easily on my computer and THEN import it to shotlist, that would be sweet. PLEASE do it! =)
Thanks for your comments Andre.
We are interested in creating a companion app, but in fairness I should say that this isn’t currently scheduled within the first few updates, which will mainly focus on enhancing the app itself (see the last post on the support page for the latest news of what’s already in the bag for the first update at the end of this month).
One thing we do have tabled for the second update, the following month, is import from and exporting to a universal spreadsheet format. This was requested by a number of our users, and should help reduce bulk data input using the iPad keyboard for users on both PC and mac platforms. We plan to streamline operation on iPad over the next few updates too, with greater use of popovers and other iPad-specific features to reduce page flipping when entering lots of data.
Longer term we are also looking into importing from a number of industry standard desktop scheduling and scripting programs, where data formats allow.
Thanks again for your input. Cheers.
Peter
I’d like to see integration with celtx for import options.
Copy a whole project ( duplicate project)
Choose custom color for strips
Save as PDF to Dropbox
Cast photo
Film maker details DP, Director, Camera Man
Project Cover Image
Image notes or wheel to select camera movement type, ie, dolly, pan track
Thank you for your quick response! Very nice to see that you rellay care about your customers.The thing I rellay miss during shootng is the possibility to add other data. Now I have to leave your app and switch to another app just to read my callsheet, crewlist or rental-list. For example; I want to add a callsheet or a crewlist. This can be done in the beginscreen, but can also be a feature in the project so that I can import text (doc or pdf) in the notes’ section, or perhaps copy/paste it. Another thing is that I would like to add a time to my scenes, so I can see if I’m behind schedule or not. Other features could be weather and locationmaps. The xls import, pdf-export, print-option and adding scenes in the next update sounds super!If you can add a possibillity to add documents so I can stay in your app would be fantastic, if not; also goodI still enjoy using your app.Greetings, Joost
Please add the day. Example when you choose the date May 22,2012 it should say Tuesday May 22,2012. Having the day in front of you helps double check your Scedule.
Hi
Thanks for your request. We have now added the day to the strip board view, as well as in the new, prettier, .PDF format schedules which you will be able to send by email or print directly from your mobile device in our next update (in a few weeks time.)
TIP: In the current version the day is displayed above the calendar rollers, so you could always check it in the strip board view with a single tap on the date strip.
Peter
I would also prefer an Import-Function for CELTX more than FD… Great Work, Guys! 🙂
Be nice if the user guide were in pdf so we could carry it aroud in iBooks where we dont have web access.
Hi Joe, thanks for the suggestion.
We did produce a PDF manual for MailShot, one of our other apps, but we found relatively few people used it compared to the online version, and it was difficult to keep it fully up to date with every change we made to the online version.
We will certainly do this if there is a demand. If you are reading this and would find a pdf or iBooks version useful, please let us know (and mention which version would be most useful).
Peter
How about a day-out-of-days module? Now you’re talking schedule program!
It’s something we are interested in doing, and would seem like a sensible extension as Shotlist already knows which cast members are needed for each shooting day.
Anyone who is interested, drop us a line by email and let us know what you would like to see, or need for this. There will be some opportunities to join our test program and feedback on features as they are developed.
Watch for the new free update that adds printing, xls read and write, per-shot data, and sending PDF copies of the schedule. It should be available in around a weeks time.
Peter
Soluble
Good afternoon, i do not understand why i can not transform muy recording plan to Excel from my iPad 2. The program closes immediately. Thanks.
To others: This turned out to be due to using accented characters in project names, which upset the XLS file output process.
This has been fixed and a new update will be available as soon as the App Store reopens after Christmas.
I love this app immensly for my own organizing and workflow, but how do I share my work file with my AD? Is there a way to simply share so we can work off the same document/project/file at the same time when we both have the app?
You can save your project to Dropbox, and share it with your AD ond others for them to load and view.
You can’t both make changes to a file simultaneously, though. You would have to notify the other person to reload the file from Dropbox after you had made changes and saved them out, before they make new changes.
Peter
It would be helpful to be able to be able to extract a Master Shot list. While I just made all my shots in the app and printed them out page by page in screen shots, it would be helpful to have a Master List or the shots. I can do that with a separate spreadsheet but it would be helpful to not have to take that extra step. Thanks, enjoying it so far.
Hi
If you have an Airprint printer, you can print a project directly from the app by selecting it on the Project page, then tapping the share button at the bottom of the screen.
Or you can export it as a PDF into Dropbox from the Dropbox page, email a PDF from the email page, or email a one-line schedule from the email page.
In most of these cases you can select whether to output just a strip board view or also a scene by scene breakdown.
Peter
I have used this app for close to a decade and it has been a wonderful tool. However, it is in dire need of an update. Two important things come to mind:
1. The app desperately needs to be able to import xlsx files. I’m guessing many of the users are Mac based and unless you have Excel there are hoops to jump through to generate an xls file. Numbers no longer exports to xls.
2. Dropbox integration has been fine for years, but it is time to add Google Drive and/or iCloud. iCloud integration would allow for backup and easier file sharing across devices than is currently available via Dropbox.
Thanks Lawrence.
Great to hear you have been making good use of ShotList.
I have just added an .xlsx export and import feature to the app, which will be in the next release (13.1) in around a week.
Thanks for letting me know about Numbers, I wasn’t aware they had dropped .xls support.
I will next take a look to see if iCloud can be supported, now its file sharing has had a chance to mature.
Peter
Hello. If I prefer to use “Wide Shot” instead of “Long shot” and “Ground level” angle am I able to edit the options under the dropdowns? Thank you.
Hi
Great to hear the XLS fix has solved your issue, thanks for your help in bringing it to my attention.
XLS output is actually the reason that redefining a shot name could be more complicated than it appears. The app uses that name to determine which type is which, what order they are displayed in and how the shot appears if you don’t have a storyboard frame stored for it. If you were able to redefine the type names for shots, you could no longer import spreadsheets from before you changed it, or from other people using a different naming system.
An alternative could be to retain the code “LS” in the spreadsheet, but it could be confusing to have “Wide” appear in the app, and LS appear there. I will continue to think on this.
I am always keen to get requests, and try to look for ways to accommodate them if I can without compromising the simplicity of use which was one of the app’s design goals. This is only the second request for this feature I have received over the lifespan of the app. If others would need it, please let me know.
Thanks so much and yes the xls fix is perfect!
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div>Thanks also for thinking about my issue. I