cinemasetfreeExporting and deleting a project
Export writes the project as an .opf JSON file. Delete is a soft delete with a recovery window. Export before you delete. It takes seconds, and it is the only thing that makes deletion genuinely safe.
Why an open format
The export is JSON with a documented structure, so the data is readable by anything: a script, a spreadsheet, another application, a person. That’s the point: your production’s data should not be hostage to whether you keep paying for the tool it was typed into.
It’s also the honest answer to “what happens if you go away”. A proprietary export that only this app can read is not a backup.
What the export carries
Story
Scenes with their headings, page counts and status; characters; locations; wardrobe; props; and every link between them.
Planning
The shot list, the breakdown elements and their scene tags, the schedule with its days and call times, and the call sheets.
Production
The budget by department and line item, the team roster with positions, and the deal memo terms.
What it doesn’t carry
Generated images and uploaded footage are large binary assets and are not inlined into the JSON. A project with a full cast of portraits would produce a file too large to be useful, and the images are already retrievable.
If you’re leaving and want the pictures too, download them from their tabs before you delete. The export is the structure of your production, which is the part that took the work.
Deleting a project
Deletion is soft. The project stops appearing in your list, but the data is retained for a recovery period, so a mis-click is recoverable and a decision made at 2am is reversible at 9am.
Individual records across the app behave the same way: every list tab has a Show deleted toggle with a Restore button. Almost nothing in this application is actually destroyed when you press delete, which is deliberate.
Export first. Always. It costs seconds, and it is the difference between a recoverable mistake and a lost production.