What auto-draft does
Auto-draft reads the day's scene schedule and drafts two things: how long each scene takes, and cast call times. It works from page counts, schedule order and the timing factors you set. Nothing it drafts is final until you accept it. There are two modes, passive and active.
Passive mode
With auto-draft on, the CS Front shows faded draft times in empty cast time cells as you arrange scenes. Nothing is saved until you approve one. Hover a faded cell and click the green check (Approve draft time). To take every draft on a row at once, hover the row and click the round green check in the left margin (Approve all draft times). To go back to the draft, right-click the cell and choose Reset to Estimate.
Active mode: Apply to All Days Now
Active mode writes scene estimates and cast call times to every shoot day at once. Turn on the Auto-Draft switch in the CS Front sidebar. The Auto-Draft Enabled dialog offers two buttons: - Apply to All Days Now: runs it straight away and updates every call sheet. - Use Passive Mode Only: skips the batch run. Drafts still appear on the day you are working on. On import, the Auto-Draft Scene Durations & Actor Call Times switch does the same run.
How the day timeline is built
For each shoot day, auto-draft builds a timeline in order: 1. Crew call 2. Setup period (either from a SETUP banner at the top of the schedule, or the "Avg daily setup" setting) 3. Scenes in schedule order, with banners advancing the clock 4. Estimated wrap Each scene starts when the previous one ends. Banners like LUNCH, COMPANY_MOVE, and SETUP advance the clock by their duration without shooting any scenes during that time.
| Sc | Set | Pgs | Start | Est. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | INT POLICE STATION | 2 4/8 | - | |
| 22 | EXT ROOFTOP | 1 4/8 | - | |
| 31 | INT DINER | 1 6/8 | 45m | |
| 45 | EXT PARKING LOT | 2 | - | |
| 52 | INT HOSPITAL CORRIDOR | 2 2/8 | - |
| Character | CALL | BLK/REH | SET | LOSE @ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NORA | ||||
| SAM | 9:30A | |||
| JO |
Banner detection
Auto-draft reads the banners already in the day's schedule before it estimates anything.
- Meal banners (LUNCH strip, or any banner with text containing 'lunch', 'meal', 'dinner', or 'break'): auto-draft will NOT insert a second lunch banner, and deducts the banner's duration from available shoot time.
- SETUP banner at the top of the schedule (position 0): its duration is used as the day's setup period instead of the 'Avg daily setup' setting. The clock starts at crew call and the banner advances it.
- Other timed banners (COMPANY_MOVE, STRIKE_WRAP, mid-day SETUP, OTHER): their durations are subtracted from available shoot time. Scenes cannot be shot during these intervals.
Available shoot time
The time available for scenes on a given day is calculated as: Available = Avg shoot day - Setup duration - Meal break duration(s) - Other banner durations This remaining time is split proportionally across scenes based on page count.
How scene durations are estimated
For scenes without an existing time estimate, auto-draft calculates a minutes-per-page rate for the day: minsPerPage = (available shoot time minus the estimates already set) / total unestimated pages Each unestimated scene gets its pages times that rate, with a minimum per scene. A scene with a typed or imported estimate is never modified. An estimate an earlier auto-draft run wrote counts as unestimated and is worked out again.
How cast call times are drafted
Each performer's times come from their first and last scenes of the day: - On Set: first scene start - Makeup: On Set minus the blocking lead - Call Time: Makeup minus their makeup duration. It is never drafted earlier than crew call. When it gets pulled back to crew call, an amber ! shows on the cell - Lose At: last scene end plus the Wrap Buffer (15 minutes by default) Performers who are not in a scene that day are not drafted.
Configuring auto-draft settings
The factors live in the Auto-Draft Call Times card, under Scheduling Factors: - Globals tab: this production only. - Preferences: your defaults for every new production you import or create. The Scheduling Factors are:
| Setting | Default | What it controls |
|---|---|---|
| Avg. Daily Setup | 120 min | Time from crew call to first scene (ignored if a SETUP banner is at position 0) |
| Avg Day Shoot Duration | 720 min | Length of the working day, used to work out the time available for scenes |
| Avg Makeup Duration | 60 min | How long makeup takes before blocking |
| Avg Ready to Block Before Scene | 30 min | How far before On Set to call cast for blocking |
| Lunch Duration | 30 min | Used when auto-draft inserts a lunch banner, or when a meal banner has no duration |
Per-cast makeup duration
Set Avg. HMU on a performer in the Cast tab and it replaces the default makeup duration for them. It moves their Call Time earlier or later. Their Makeup time stays tied to the blocking lead.
Approving and resetting drafts
- Approve one cell: hover it and click the green check. - Approve every draft on a row: hover the row and click the round green check in the left margin. It covers Call, Makeup, On Set and Lose At, where they are still drafts. - Go back to the draft: right-click the cell and choose Reset to Estimate. It only appears when a draft exists for that cell.