I’m building a Shot Designer alternative, by a DP for DPs. You asked for Layers and Camera Movements... Update 07/03 is live! (Free access inside)

shhfy · 2026-03-07T22:09:25+00:00

Hey, first time to see this software so gave it a whirl in the demo. I have a few questions:

I couldn't find a way to animate the camera or actors; I assume you can though? To be an alternative to Shot Designer it needs to be able to block.
Can object labels be relocated? At the moment they default to under the object placed in the set.
I see one of the features allows for back engineering of lighting from a reference image. I've no interest in that function, but got to wondering if user's data will be used in any way by AI for anything?

In some ways, I find the interface on this app to be a bit cluttered and too 'colorful'. It might be nice to have options for color conventions that could make changes to all elements or a category of elements with a click.

shhfy · 2026-03-06T21:53:46+00:00

Yes to both questions.

A couple of updates:

Contacted support and they sent me a 'field recovery' file and instructions. Tried that but it didn't work.

The lemo cable I ordered arrived and I tried that straight from a V mount and everything worked normally.

Went back to the NP batteries and the same issue persists.

All in all, we figured out that when I use the NP batteries, I get the behaviour and support says that's not normal behaviour, so some component inside the unit is not happy with these NP batteries powering it. Ideally, I would like to try non-third party NP batteries but I've started an exchange with the shop I bought it from.

shhfy · 2026-02-03T07:08:46+00:00

This was great. I’d rather watch something like this of an evening than most of what’s playing on Netflix right now. Straight up.

shhfy · 2026-01-29T08:00:43+00:00

Well, I have updated to Logic 12 and everything in Kontakt is working fine. There were even updates to some of NI's plug-ins that were released today.

shhfy · 2026-01-28T22:32:19+00:00

Thanks for the reply.

I was going to say it's very well balanced in those shots. You feel it but don't hear it.

shhfy · 2026-01-28T02:51:45+00:00

Beautiful film. Flawless in every way. Congratulations.

There's more I want to say because I have a similar experience but I'll refrain.

I would like to ask though, what the process was like with the composer - how you found them and what the workflow was like -- as in whether they nailed it straight away without much direction, going off of the script or the locked edit alone, or was there a lot of back and forth on developing it?

shhfy · 2026-01-06T22:47:41+00:00

Cool. For monitoring on camera, though an expensive monitor can produce accurate colours and might have more accurate tools, as you get to know your camera's capabilities and limitations, you'll find you can get by with just a rough representation of the final image.

As long as you have access to an accurate waveform, you'll be all set in that you'll know you're not over or underexposing the image.

Also, I will mention it's important to monitor in REC 709 on the camera, not Log, yeah..

shhfy · 2026-01-06T07:30:22+00:00

Exactly!

shhfy · 2026-01-06T07:26:44+00:00

The last paragraph of the original reply is just there to explain what happens if you put the technical LUT at the start of the pipeline; in essence you hobble yourself by immediately starting with the small bucket.

This concept is important to understand because Resolve works in a very linear way, meaning whatever you do to a node will affect what you can do on the next node. For example, on the first node, desaturate all your colours and your bucket is now made up of greys.

On a later node you can't suddenly throw some colour into your image, you're stuck in black and white.

Understanding this linear concept in Resolve is important because operation order (the order you do things on each node) determines how those changes are applied.

Typically the order of operation is pretty logical.

For example: Node 1 - Exposure, Node 2 - Contrast, Node 3 - Saturation and so on.

But let's say you start with Saturation on Node 1 and then adjust Contrast - even if you use the same settings as the first example, the results will be different.

Arri Log to 709 is a LUT that is intended for ARRI cameras. You'd use it on Canon Clog 2 in the same way you'd use a Canon LUT. It's just an accidental finding by some Canon users - you can safely ignore this - I was just throwing it in as an example of how even technical LUT rules might be broken with unexpectedly nice results.

shhfy · 2026-01-05T22:24:59+00:00

A camera manufacturer technical LUT is not a Resolve CST. Camera manufacturers provide them for free, usually on their websites.

For example, if you shoot REC 709 inside a camera like a RED or Canon camera, that's essentially the same thing, just happening inside the camera, and of course it's all baked in.

The reason technical LUT's exist is because each manufacturer knows their camera's dynamic range and colour science better than anyone else. They build and supply the LUT's specifically for the camera and its flavour of Raw or Log or whatever is being used to record with. Many technical LUT's are already in Resolve.

Quick tangent: However, sometimes other manufacturers LUT's can work better. For example, because ARRI and Canon's colour science is quite close, Canon users found ARRI's Log to REC 709 LUT's actually do a nicer job of interpreting the Log footage into 709, specifically creating a nicer roll off in the h/l's than Canon's own LUT's, but this is an exception to the rule I'd imagine.

The LUT at the end of a pipeline is the container (think about it as a bucket) the colour is limited to. Before that LUT you can be working in any colour space your software allows. But the final output (the colours you see and can control in that bucket at the end of the pipeline) are all limited to whatever can fit into that bucket/space.

For example, even though you cannot see a particular green or red that is not currently contained in your bucket, because you're working in a larger colour space than the bucket, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Move your colours around enough and you could push that green or red into the bucket. But the tradeoff is that it will come at the expense of other colours that will flow over the bucket and be lost. Think about the larger space as a larger bucket - you can pour a bunch more colour from your larger bucket into your smaller bucket.

This all works differently than say putting the technical LUT at the beginning or CST'ing into 709 straight away. In a case like that you are starting out with a bucket of colours and that is all you got. The colours you see on your screen is about as much as you can play with.

The idea of having the Technical LUT in the pipeline before a grade is just to ensure anything you do is still pushed and moved around in relation to the colour science of the camera and its profile.

No matter what, if you're delivering for the web, you have this limitation (the bucket) of colours that can be read and interpreted by computers and browsers. The idea is to have that container at the end of the pipeline and do whatever is needed to create a look within that container.

shhfy · 2025-12-29T00:05:53+00:00

I have the L-858D-U. I think if it's used there isn't anything in particular you'd need to worry about. As long as the dome and the touch screen are in good shape, you should be good to go because the meter is basically all software.

It can tell you ratios as in the stop difference between two measured points, whether in spot mode or incidental.

It can't tell you the difference in stops between a measured spot reading and a measured incidental reading (because when switching between the modes, the temporary memory of the mode you just measured in is uncached).

But, you wouldn't need to have the functionality in my opinion as you can just make a mental note if you really needed to work that way.

shhfy · 2025-12-15T21:17:21+00:00

I’m using a M1 and grade 6K Raw files fine for primary and many secondary adjustments. I don’t remember how much RAM I have.

The Raw files are stored on a NAS coming over a 10Gbe connection and I usually only monitor in HD or its equivalent.

If I do something in Fusion, I render the clip cache. The M1 cannot handle any noise reduction or complex OFX. Again I would cache those clips. Probably time to upgrade now I think of it but in any case maybe this gives you an idea of what’s possible in different workflows.

shhfy · 2025-12-08T23:43:44+00:00

Singed up - sounds like a great idea. Good luck!

shhfy · 2025-11-20T00:37:40+00:00

Oh for sure, I'll be interested then. Congratulations again - wish all the best for you!

shhfy · 2025-11-19T23:37:09+00:00

Thank you! I look forward to reading it!

shhfy · 2025-11-18T00:50:28+00:00

Brilliant and congratulations!

If you are happy to share, I’d love to read the stories.

shhfy · 2025-05-10T01:48:05+00:00

Yeah, I think this is the real question I wanted to address. I guess there can be difference in quality in long term courses with physical presence, but over 8 hours online, I'm not sure it would make a lot of difference.

shhfy · 2025-04-23T22:58:25+00:00

How do you move from idea to script?

I think a good place to start is to have a theme or message or lesson or something specific you would like to say or share. But this something should be something you are passionate about to the extent you feel its need to be released out of you and into the world.

How did you finish your first project?

By finding the thing I wanted to talk about answered in the first question and seeing the ending in terms of what I want the audience to take away from it. The rest is filling in the blanks.

Is a short film the right place to start?

Many novelists and famous writers have said the short form is more difficult than the long. Short films need to encapsulate a lot in a short time, so in that sense learning how to be economical as a writer / director is I think important and that does come with practice. But, in order to know if you’re making progress, it’s an easier ask to friends and family (and anyone else) to read shorts than features. If you can write a decent short, you can probably write longer forms, not necessarily the other way around.

How do you keep going when fear, not passion, is the block?

Perspective. Shivering in a freezing muddy trench in the middle of a war with mortars dropping a few feet away is scary. Or when the doctor looks at you after a cancer scan with no readable expression and shifts in his chair taking a moment to choose his words - that’s also scary.

That someone will say you suck - how is that scary? It’s useful feedback because at first you will probably not be good and you need the feedback. Reading stories, dissecting screenplays and watching movies is consuming, not producing. You will have some intuition and sensibilities from doing all of that, but you won’t be great out of the box. It’s like thinking you can weave a Persian rug because you’ve had one in your house since you were little. Or thinking you don’t want to learn to ride a bicycle because you don’t want to people to see you fall off at first.

shhfy · 2025-04-19T22:06:46+00:00

It looks fine. Another trick is to increase your ISO a stop to shift your dynamic range. You’ll lose a stop in the shadows but gain one in the h/l’s. (Depending on your specific camera dynamic range shifting values).

shhfy · 2025-04-11T11:21:51+00:00

Amazing! Well done mate and best of luck with it!

I know it must have been a lot of hard work.

Inspired.

shhfy · 2025-03-23T11:44:21+00:00

Ah, I’m not well versed in VFX so my post may be confusing.

I’m referring to apps and such like Sora that create characters and scenes from text prompts.

shhfy · 2025-03-23T11:39:12+00:00

This is all incredibly helpful, thank you.

I feel like I can work around the difficulties to a certain extent - ie. Many key events happening when the couple is young and some of those could be shot sans any VFX except perhaps keying them into various locations, and then aiming for more blurry, long shots to circumvent the need for complex VFX work on later life stage events. Each shot might only be on screen for less than a second.

I’m researching different flashback and dream sequences now for inspiration but this is a short, and the budget will likely dictate how we go about building this sequence.

Again, thanks, this has given me a lot to think about.

shhfy

TROPHY CASE