Who uses an iPad on set?

MichaelPaul

MichaelPaul

Very recently there was an Apple/PC battle on another thread so the last thing I want to provoke is more of that so consider my question to cover your app laden smart phones as well.

If you do, what apps do you use and why? What have been your successes and failures. Laptops have been on sets for years, and especially these days if you're shooting digitally and need to download memory cards on set. But with the changes in tech and the abundance of apps growing out there, I'm curious what if any people swear by or against.

Personally my iPad has a couple different slate apps, a DOF calculator and a couple different sun trackers.

I crashed a commercial shoot earlier this summer and the AD was showing me the iPhone app they were instructed to use to scout locations. They used the app Sunseeker on the iphone in order to scout sunrise location views so the sun in the shot would be where the director wanted. They then took a photo from the app and emailed it to get location approval.
 
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DSLR Slate on the iPad is killer. I also have CeltX, Pages and Numbers which are all used for preproduction.

On the iPhone I keep DSLR Slate, Suntracker, DOF tools, etc. With the ultra high Res screen, the MUA and whoever is doing continuity can use the iPhone 4 camera for continuity pictures. Pretty handy.

I gave my laptop away a while back. Need one again though for memory cards/logging and what not.
 
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When our PBS show followed 6 teams last year on the 48 Hour Film Project, I saw the iPad in action as a slate and for logging. It was really cool. I don't own one, but I can completely see how helpful they would be on set.
 
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I use my iPad all the time as a slate (totally agree with Paul about DSLR slate) but it's also just a great thing to have on set in case you fancy showing people a video or playing some music. The amount of times I've been on set and someone's said 'oh it's like that scene from so and so'... well it's probably about 6 times, but it's been useful to have an iPad there.

I also use my iPhone and have some cinematography apps on there but I think the iPad is a superior on set device and, as an electronic slate, it's hard to beat.
 
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I use DSLR Slate on my pad as well. Has anyone used Movie*Slate? It seems to have a lot of shot logging built in and actual timecode capabilities. Does anyone have any experience with this one?

My phone is a Droid but I have not dug into what apps are available on it that would be handy on set. For continuity photos I have a small pocket digital. Why I haven't moved that to the phone's camera I don't know but the memory card on my digital slips right into the side of my MacBook on set so it has never seemed like something that needed to be "more efficient."
 
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This is a reply to the "on the set" question . . .

What a distraction for the director I say. Why would she be looking at an iPad when she should be rolling film and getting as much coverage, cutaways and alternative takes as possible, then move on to the next shot ASAP. A simple shot list is all that is needed.

Then there is the budget issue. An iPad isn't going to appear on the screen (no production value).

iPads could be useful during pre-production, before stepping onto the set, or assigned to certain crew members to speed tasks, but let's not forget the importance of rolling film and moving on to the next shot ASAP!
 
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I don't touch my iPad once I'm on set, other people do. What director (when there's ample crew) slates his own footage?

Sure there's an ooh-agh feature at first, but it's incredibly practical. They're also common enough now that it's not a big deal, just a useful tool.

Pen and paper is fine. So is typing on an iPad.

Not to mention an actual slate with timecode costs around $1500.
 
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It's only a distraction if you let it be. Like everything else on set. And personally I flush everything that isn't related or needed on set off the pad. It's all backed up in iTunes anyway. But that's an easy way to insure no one is loading up games or watching some video or finding another excuse to use it for anything other than what it's intended for.

For shot list I still keep that on paper. For notes I use a pen. Typing on the pad just isn't fast enough.

I would never recommend someone needs to get one for set use. Too expensive to justify (except maybe for the time code slate). But they're prevalent enough and people have them for a wide range of reasons I was just curious who happens to bring theirs to set and why.
 
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Forget about slate, I was at a rock show where the lighting engineer was using his iPad to control his whole lighting rig! Color wheels on the iPad to control temp/color remotely....BADA$$.
 
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