cinemasetfree.comReading the Timeline
TL;DR — Strip start times are computed from each day’s first shot time. Lunch, company moves, and wrap are inserted automatically. Solar markers and Day for Night / Night for Day badges help you catch lighting conflicts.
Strip Times
Each strip shows an estimated start time on the right. Times run from the day’s first shot time and accumulate as the day goes on — each eighth of a page is budgeted at about 20 minutes of shooting, plus the automatic events below. Set or change a day’s first shot time in its inline edit form and the whole day’s times shift with it.
Automatic Events
The timeline inserts three kinds of events on its own. You can’t move or delete them — they recalculate as you rearrange strips.
Lunch (green bar)
Inserted once about 4 hours of shooting have elapsed, with a 1-hour duration. It appears between strips as soon as the running time crosses the threshold.
Company Move (orange bar)
Inserted between two strips at different locations, with a 30-minute estimate. It shows the “from → to” locations so you can see where the crew is travelling.
Wrap (purple bar)
Marks the end of the day at the computed wrap time — handy for spotting when a day runs too long.
Solar Markers
When a day has a date, a column on the left shows dawn, sunrise, golden hour, sunset, and dusk for that date, lined up next to the strip or event they fall during. These are approximate estimates (computed for a default Los-Angeles latitude), but they’re close enough to check whether your exterior work lines up with the light you need.
Day for Night / Night for Day
The schedule flags conflicts between when a scene is written to take place and when it’s actually scheduled to shoot:
DAY FOR NIGHT rose badge
A night or evening scene scheduled before dusk — i.e. while it’s still light out. You’ll need ND filters and controlled lighting to sell the nighttime look.
NIGHT FOR DAY sky badge
An interior daytime scene scheduled after dusk. You’ll need lighting rigs to simulate daylight through windows.
Both badges only appear when the day has a date (so solar times can be computed) and the scene has its INT/EXT setting recorded. Night for Day applies only to interior daytime scenes — exterior day scenes never get it.