Linear view vs Production view

Linear and Production are two views of the same shots. Linear is in script order — the way the director and script supervisor read it. Production is in shoot-day order — the way the 1st AD plans the schedule. Everything else in this guide is about the differences.

This guide assumes The basics and Shot list essentials.

Switching views

Toggle in the view header above the list. Shift + L toggles the column layout (fit ↔ scroll) — useful when you want to see more columns at once.

Both views show the same shots. Edits made in one show up in the other immediately.

The partial-scene split rule (Production only)

In Production view you’ll reorganize shots by shoot day. Most of the time you’ll move whole scene blocks. But if you move part of a scene to a different day, CineLog splits the scene at the source: the moved shots become a separate segment at the destination, and the unmoved shots stay where they were under a separate header. Both segments still belong to the same scene narratively, but they’re scheduled independently.

This is the only way the schedule can represent “we shot half of scene 14 on Tuesday and the other half on Friday.” It can look like a bug the first time it happens; it isn’t.

Selecting in Production view

Production view enforces a scene-scope rule on multi-selection to protect the shoot-day grouping:

• You may select any subset of shots within a single scene.
• You may select one or more whole scene blocks (with their headers).
• You may not mix partial selections from different scenes.

If your selection is invalid, the drop target won’t open a gap when you drag — the row will spring back to its original position on release.

Linear view has no such restriction. Mix freely.

Selecting a whole scene (auto-selected header)

You don’t grab the scene header directly. Select every shot under it — once they’re all selected, the header is added to the selection automatically. Deselect any one shot and the header deselects too. Drag any selected row and the whole scene block moves together.

This is the mechanism by which “move a whole scene” works in either view.

Banners

Banners are non-shot rows that mark meal breaks, company moves, wraps, or other schedule markers. They exist only in Production view.

• Add a banner. In Production, Cmd / Ctrl + N adds a banner instead of a shot. Or use the toolbar.
• Move a banner. Same drag mechanic as shots.
• Delete a banner. Right-click → Delete.

Inserting a banner mid-scene splits the surrounding scene at the banner: shots above stay under the original header, shots below get a new header inserted above them. Deleting a banner that sits between two segments of the same scene merges them back into one.

Cross-view sync

Edits and reorders are immediate and bidirectional within the same view, but the two views update each other a little differently:

• Edit a shot’s description in Linear → the same edit is visible in Production.
• Add a shot in Linear → it appears in Production once you assign it to a day.
• Reorder in Linear → does not change the Production schedule; the schedule has its own order.
• Reorder in Production → changes only the schedule, not the script order in Linear.

Delete differs between views

This trips up new users:

• Delete in Linear removes the shot from the project entirely. It disappears from every Production day too.
• Delete in Production removes the shot from the schedule for that day only. The shot still exists in Linear and can be rescheduled later.

So “delete in Linear” means remove; “delete in Production” means unschedule.

PDF export adapts to the view

Cmd / Ctrl + P exports the active view to PDF. Rendering is local — no upload, no server-side render.

• From Linear — grouped by scene, in script order. Useful for the script supervisor.
• From Production — grouped by shoot day, in scheduled order. Useful for the 1st AD.

Large media on shots is downsampled before export.

If this isn’t working

“My scene got split when I rescheduled part of it.” That’s the partial-scene split rule. Move the whole scene block to avoid the split.

“I can’t drag my multi-selection in Production view.” Your selection probably crosses scenes. Either narrow it to a single scene, or select whole scene blocks (with their headers).

“I deleted a shot in Production but it came back.” You’re seeing it in Linear, where it still exists. Production delete means unschedule, not remove.

“My banner deleted a scene header when I removed it.” When a banner sits between two segments of the same scene and you delete the banner, the segments merge back. The header you saw was the second segment’s; that’s expected.