Count Shoot Days From Setups, Not Shot Lists — Free
A shot list with thirty items is not thirty setups, and a location move costs another one. Multiply shots by setups, divide by the setups you can light in a day, and round up to whole days.
The proof surface
Call-sheet tools build the day once it is scheduled. This estimates how many shoot days a scene list needs from setups, so the schedule is built on the work rather than on shot counts.
Why the flat version breaks
Equating shots with setups
Every new framing needs at least one setup.
Assuming a perfect day
Weather, moves and technical problems reduce the day’s output.
Scheduling without breaks
Crew hours and rest rules are not part of this arithmetic.
How to work the shoot day card
A wide and its reverse are two setups in the same room. Multiple takes of one framing are still one setup, so record the number of lighting and camera positions each shot needs.
Use the number your crew actually completes with the equipment and locations in the plan. The illustrative eight is a planning input; interviews in a fixed studio usually move faster than a company move day.
Ten kitchen shots at two setups each is twenty setups, which needs three days at eight per day. The whole sample list needs five days, and a group that leaves a part day is flagged.
A flagged group ends mid-day, which is usually where a pickup, a rehearsal or the location handover fits. Confirm locations, permits, crew hours and rest rules before locking any schedule.
What the shoot day card replaces
| Question | Before | Visible working |
|---|---|---|
| Equating shots with setups | Every new framing needs at least one setup. | Enter setups per day honestly |
| Assuming a perfect day | Weather, moves and technical problems reduce the day’s output. | Round up each scene group |
| Scheduling without breaks | Crew hours and rest rules are not part of this arithmetic. | Read part days as schedule slack |
A local arithmetic aid replaces hand calculation, not expert review. No paid AI service is needed.
Run it on the samples, right here
FIRST-LOAD
Research prototype — checkout unavailable. Input is processed locally and a draft is saved automatically in this browser profile when storage is available. Reset to sample clears that draft; Pro history has its own clear button. A state link encodes your inputs in its URL: share only non-sensitive rows. Browser history, clipboard and anyone receiving the link may retain it. Optional AI use below leaves this device; it is not required.
This is scheduling arithmetic from your own count and rate and is not a production, safety or permit plan. Confirm locations, permits, crew hours, rest requirements and risk assessments with the people responsible before shooting.
Data note: Everything runs in this browser tab on the shoot day card: your scene group | shots | setups per shot stays on this device, nothing is uploaded, and the reading is rebuilt only when you press run.
Go deeper: the companion app files the same reading as a stapled evidence packet
The article demo above runs without limits. The companion app keeps a local history, exports the rows as CSV, prints the shoot day card reading, and holds your drafts on this device — one complete free run; the proposed $4 one-time filing layer is not currently for sale.
The shoot day card reading is complete for free. The optional $4 layer adds print, row CSV and the last five local reading summaries; it does not add hidden answers. Checkout is not configured yet; the article demo remains unlimited.
Open the count shoot days from setups, not shot lists companionBoundary
This is scheduling arithmetic from your own count and rate and is not a production, safety or permit plan. Confirm locations, permits, crew hours, rest requirements and risk assessments with the people responsible before shooting.
What this is built on
- Method: Ten kitchen shots at two setups each is twenty setups, which needs three days at eight per day. The whole sample list needs five days, and a group that leaves a part day is flagged.
- All sample records are invented examples. The app does not fetch measurements, policies, files or personal records.
- Google’s official pricing page, fetched 2026-09-29, lists free-tier access including AI Studio. Optional formatting only; limits and availability can change. Free-tier content may be used to improve products. Never paste private records there.
Before: Every new framing needs at least one setup. After: the shoot day card shows the working beside each named row so the reader can change the assumption and inspect the consequence.
Optional AI formatting, not calculation
For this shoot day card, use the free AI Studio interface only if available to you, with no paid API key. Manual entry completes the same workflow for free. Supply only fictional or non-sensitive notes. Review its output against the source; never paste unresolved questions into the numeric rows.
Format my non-sensitive notes for a shoot day card. Return plain rows only: scene group | shots | setups per shot. Preserve supplied quantities exactly. Do not guess missing values; list questions separately. Do not calculate or add advice. I will check every row before pasting into the local tool.
Accepted schema: scene group | shots | setups per shot. No AI response is executed as code.