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Are you actually getting everything you
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can out of the gear you already own?
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When I actually started using my iPad as
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a professional film making tool the
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right way on set, it completely
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transformed my workflow. Because before
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that, I was making the same mistake I
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see so many other filmmakers making and
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totally underestimating what it can do.
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Whether you're a solo shooter, a
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director, or working with a crew, by the
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end of this video, you will see why so
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many filmmakers are building entire
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systems around their
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iPads. Let's start with one of the most
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obvious uses when on set for an iPad,
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and that is lighting control. These
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days, nearly every single lighting brand
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has an app that lets you control all the
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settings of your light remotely. This
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has not always been the case, but in
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recent times it's become pretty standard
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across the board. One of the most known
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ones and one of the best in my opinion
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is the Sidus link app from Aperture. If
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you own an Amaran or Aperture light and
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are not using this app, you are
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seriously missing out. This thing is
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absolutely packed full of features. It
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pretty much gives you DMX style controls
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just via a Bluetooth app. And also baked
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into the app is a digital handbook. This
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is basically all the specs and
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information for each lighting fixture
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made by Aperture. It gives you
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information like output of lights at
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different distances, etc. All really
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nerdy deep dive stuff, but it can come
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in really handy when you're setting up
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lights and pre-planning. There is also
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another really powerful feature packed
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inside the Cidus link app, but we're
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going to deep dive into that in just a
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sec. Don't worry though if you don't use
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Aperture or Amaran lights as across the
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board now most modern lights have some
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type of app control. I use pretty much
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every one of my lights via a Bluetooth
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app onto my iPad. The way I like to do
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it is I like to create a folder called
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lighting control apps and just have them
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all in one place inside there. My pro
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tip here is though when you are using
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the hue wheel to change color or even
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the slider wheel to change Kelvin
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temperature don't rely on the numbers
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and what you are visually seeing on the
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app. What I have found in my experience
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is each app behaves and interprets these
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numbers slightly different. Most of the
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apps now also have the cool feature
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where you can use the camera built
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inside of the iPad to snap a color
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temperature and then it will try and
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match the fixture to it. I find this to
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be much more accurate than just matching
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numbers across the apps. Before we move
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on to the next group of apps, I quickly
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want to mention audio apps. We're not at
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the adoption level as well with lighting
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apps and like camera control apps. I
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tend to use the sound devices Wingman
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app. I also use the Zoom app and the
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Coma app. I know that DeA have a really
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good app as well from what I've seen.
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Uh, and this list grows and grows all
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the time. The ability to see if a lav
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mic is still recording, checking on
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levels that not is distorting, checking
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on battery life is really priceless.
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Let's talk about camera control apps. We
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are pretty much at the same adoption
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levels as lighting apps with this. Every
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single major camera brand now has some
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kind of app or way to control via
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Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and this depends on
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the capabilities of your camera. The two
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that I use the most in my workflow are
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the Sony monitor and control app and the
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Lumix Flow app. The biggest win for the
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Sony app relay is also Sony's biggest
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downfall as inside of Sony cameras when
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it comes to video they don't really give
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us many tools but inside their app
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strangely they give us all the tools. So
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you get stuff like false color vetocopes
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waveforms and this is what most of their
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very expensive cameras are missing. You
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can connect via a USBC cable to get a
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lag-free connection, but I think that
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makes less sense with an iPad, and I'll
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touch more on the best workflow for that
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in a sec. The most killer feature of all
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for the monitor and control app is for
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multicam setups. Sony have this amazing
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feature where you can connect up to four
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Sony cameras and monitor all four feeds
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at once and hitting one singular record
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button to trigger all four cameras and
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leaving them in sync, saving you time on
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syncing all the angles and audio later
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in postp production. This is actually a
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massive deal and saves on so many cables
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and products and time. It just kind of
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takes something that used to be quite
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complicated and simplifies it way down
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and makes it essentially free if you've
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already bought the Sony cameras. Now,
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let's talk about the Lumix Flow app.
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This is a much much newer app, but is
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showing massive promise. Just like this
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Sony app, you can use it wired or
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wireless, and it comes with your vector
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scopes and false color. The biggest
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downfall for it at the moment is that
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there is no view log assist or look
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support. Now, here for me is the
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elephant in the room. When it comes to
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camera control apps, I don't know if it
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makes the most sense to have a big iPad
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controlling the camera settings at a
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distance from the camera. But for me,
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where the real benefit of an iPad is is
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camera monitoring. And while the
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manufacturers camera apps do an okay job
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here, there is a way to take this to the
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next level. Axon are the sponsor of this
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video. And for those who do not know
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their ecosystem, it is genuinely one of
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the best things to come into film making
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in many many years. What Axoon are
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essentially doing is allowing us to take
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our smart devices like an iPad and turn
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it into a truly professional film making
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tool. Their Axon C app is by far the
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best monitoring app I have ever used.
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Honestly, this app puts even high-end
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really expensive professional monitors
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to shame. It has more scopes inside it
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than Da Vinci Resolve. It has every
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exposure tool you have ever heard of.
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We're talking zebras, waveforms,
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histograms, false color, vectors scopes,
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custom look support, frame guides, even
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image overlay, which adjust with opacity
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for shot matching and planning
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transitions. Combine this with how good
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smartphone screens and iPad screens have
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gotten, especially knowing that Apple
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aren't going to put a cheap display
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inside the iPads, and they color
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calibrate every single screen from
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factory. But here is where Axum really
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separate themselves and turn this into a
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pro film making ecosystem. They sell
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dedicated transmitters and receivers at
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a pro level to give you a solid
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connection from your camera, taking HDMI
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and SDI connections. And these products
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come in all different price points,
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features, and sizes depending on what
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rig you are trying to build. For small
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mirrorless setups, I love using the Cine
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View Nano. This is such an underrated
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device in my opinion. It is essentially
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a phone holder with a built-in wireless
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transmitter. It runs off MPF style
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batteries and also has a DC and USBC
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output, meaning that you can draw power
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from the MPF battery while also powering
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the transmitter into your camera, giving
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you external power source and running
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the mirrorless camera for longer. You
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essentially have an external monitor
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with a color accurate display that gives
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you false color and all the features
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your camera does not have and also
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allows you to control and change all
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your camera settings. And they've even
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made a dedicated cage for the iPad,
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allowing you to mount accessories like
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external handles, which just makes it
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feel really professional. Pass that to
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the director or the client. And
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honestly, it will be the best external
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monitor they have ever used. It's big,
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it's bright, it's clear, it's color
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accurate, and the Axon C app has every
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feature that you could ever want. You
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can also mount an MPF style battery
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plate on the back of the Axon iPad cage,
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meaning that you'll be able to run that
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iPad external monitor for a director or
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a client all day without worrying about
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battery. And it all comes at really
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affordable price points. So, I will link
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all the products I've mentioned here at
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the top of the description below and
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make sure to check those out. So, let's
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dive into how we can use the iPad for
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nailing shots and planning and prepping.
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We're back inside the Cidus Link app now
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because I did mention earlier there is
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that one killer feature inside this app.
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It's one of my favorite things to do and
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it is the lighting diagram builder.
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There is a free version and a paid
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version inside this app, but the paid
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version is really really affordable. I
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did used to make all my lighting
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diagrams in Photoshop and then kind of
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save them out and put them on the iPad
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and that is totally a fine way to do it.
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But when I started using the Sidus link
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diagram builder, the fact that I can use
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a touchcreen, it's like drag and drop
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and all the PNG lighting fixtures are
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just built in the app, I just found it
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so much faster and easier. A little
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bonus tip here, and I will link this in
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the description below, is to go and
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follow the diagram master Instagram page
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by Sidus Link. This shows you before and
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after post someone's built the diagram,
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then how they lit it and how it looked
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when it was finished. This is a gold
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mine for inspiration and just learning
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how other really talented people are
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like building their diagrams and
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executing their lighting. You can't
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mention apps without talking about the
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Sun Seeker app. If you're filming an
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exterior scene or setup, this can make
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the biggest difference when blocking out
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positions and storytelling because what
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it does is it uses your in camera app
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and AR to place the sun over the scene
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like you can see it in real life and it
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will show you a line where the sun is
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going to be at different times of the
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day. Now, let's take a look at
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storyboarding and shot listing. And
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first up for storyboarding, I want to go
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back to the Lumix floor app. Now, do not
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worry if you've never used a Lumix
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camera and never plan on using a Lumix
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camera cuz this is a bit of a cheat code
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here. Inside the Lumix floor app, there
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is a built-in storyboard in kind of
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feature. Now, this is totally free and
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you don't need to connect any Lumix
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camera to access it. You can upload
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images for backdrops and you can drag
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and drop these like dummy characters.
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You can rotate them, reposition them.
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You can put in tons of detail. This is
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hands down the most feature-p packed
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free storyboarding app that I know of.
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But when it comes to shot listing, I
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much prefer to create them on my laptop
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or computer. So for those, I use Notion
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and Millerote. So I will use Notion for
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the really simple ones that I just want
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to quickly do. And for the more complex
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project, I will use Millerote as I find
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its interface just the most freeing and
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best for just drag and drop any type of
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item. So, when on set on my iPad, I will
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open up the Millanote app and I will
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have a to-do list style checklist of all
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my shots and tick them off as I go
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through the day. The great point about
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Mil Note here is because everything is
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in one place, you're normally one or two
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taps away from pulling up reference
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frames or the storyboard or any
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information about the shoe at all. The
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next app I want to mention is Dainci
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Resolve for iPad. Now, this is a super
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powerful kind of dedicated editor that
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you can do so much with when not
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shooting all by itself. But the really
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niche use case scenario I have is pretty
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cool. On those big Hollywood style movie
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sets, they have a station built
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purposely for DIT. Now, this person will
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ingest footage, back it up, make sure
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it's safe, organize it, label it, all
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these really important jobs. And one
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extra job they do sometimes is they will
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have Da Vinci Resolve with a color
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grading monitor and a color grading
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surface. And on set they will load up
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images and start pushing and pulling
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them to see if they are getting
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everything they want out of the lighting
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framing and everything else. Now 99% of
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projects out there don't have the time,
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people or budget to set up and have a
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DIT station on set. But with an iPad you
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can get pretty damn close. And the Da
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Vinci Resolve app actually has pretty
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much all the fullyfledged color grading
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features on the iPad app that you would
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get normally on the PC and Mac app. So
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you can just start pushing and pulling
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out images right there. And we know that
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the iPad display is going to be really
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color accurate as it was calibrated by
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Apple at factory. This is not going to
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be something that you do on every single
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set. Those little unique experiences,
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this is going to make all the
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difference. And if you want 12 other
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ways to improve your workflow while on
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set, watch this video right here.
