The Problem Every AD Faces
Setting cast call times is one of the most time-consuming parts of building a call sheet. The AD has to mentally walk through the day's shooting schedule, figure out when each actor's first scene is, work backward to account for makeup and blocking, and set a call time that gets everyone camera-ready at the right moment. Multiply that by 15 cast members and it is an hour of careful math that has to be redone every time the schedule shifts. G-Casper Pro is currently the only call sheet tool that automates this.
How the Engine Works
The auto-draft engine reads the day's scene schedule in shooting order and builds a minute-by-minute timeline of the day. For each cast member, it identifies their first and last scenes, then works backward to calculate four precise times:
- On-Set Time: When the cast member's first scene is scheduled to start, based on all preceding scenes' page counts and durations
- Makeup Time: The blocking/rehearsal call, calculated as a configurable number of minutes before on-set (default: 60 minutes)
- Call Time: The actor's arrival time, calculated by subtracting their personal HMU duration (or a default of 30 minutes) from the makeup/blocking time
- Lose At Time: When the cast member's last scene ends, plus a configurable wrap buffer (default: 15 minutes)
- Scene schedule: shooting order + page counts
- Build minute-by-minute day timeline — Accounts for banner strips (SETUP, LUNCH, COMPANY MOVE) and configured pages-per-minute rate
- Per cast member: calculate times in parallel
- Track: Call Time and On-Set
- Find first scene → estimate start time from page counts
- Subtract blocking lead (default 60 min) → On-Set time
- Subtract HMU duration (default 30 min) → Call Time
- Track: Lose At
- Find last scene → estimate end time from page counts
- Add wrap buffer (default 15 min) → Lose At time
- Draft Call, On-Set, and Lose At times ready for all cast
Configurable Settings
Every production moves at its own pace. The auto-draft engine is fully configurable from the Globals tab:
| Setting | Default | What It Controls |
|---|---|---|
| Avg Blocking Lead | 60 mins | How far before on-set to call for blocking/rehearsal |
| Avg Pages per Minute | 0.125 (1 page = 8 mins) | How fast your production shoots, used to estimate scene durations from page counts |
| Default Makeup Duration | 30 mins | Fallback HMU time when a cast member has no personal duration set |
| Wrap Buffer | 15 mins | Extra time added after last scene for wrap activities |
| Lunch Banner Duration | 30 mins | How long lunch breaks last when no duration is specified in the schedule |
Per-Column Toggles
Not every production needs every column auto-drafted. You can enable or disable individual columns from the Globals settings:
- Blocking / On-Set: Toggle whether the engine drafts makeup (blocking) and on-set times
- Makeup / HMU: Toggle whether the HMU duration factors into the call time calculation
- Lose At: Toggle whether wrap/lose-at times are auto-drafted
The 50% Opacity Draft Workflow
Auto-drafted times appear on the CS Front tab at 50% opacity - visually distinct from confirmed times so the AD always knows which values are suggestions and which are locked in. This visual cue is intentional: it signals 'this is a draft for your review' without cluttering the call sheet with separate draft columns or modal dialogs.
- Draft times appear at 50% opacity on CS Front
- AD reviews each drafted time
- Decision: What does the AD do?
- Path: Approve as-is
- Click checkmark → locked at full opacity and stored as confirmed
- Path: Adjust then approve
- Edit value → click checkmark → locked and stored
- Path: Leave as draft
- Stays at 50% opacity. A re-run recalculates this value.
- Re-running the engine does not overwrite confirmed (full-opacity) values
- Approved times included in the distributed call sheet
Approve with One Click
Each drafted field has a small checkmark that appears on hover. Click it to approve that individual time - it locks in at full opacity and becomes a confirmed value. You can also approve an entire cast member's row at once, or adjust the drafted time before approving. Approved fields are stored separately from draft calculations, so re-running the engine does not overwrite your confirmed decisions.
Why This Is an Industry First
Other call sheet tools offer department-level precalls - where you can push an entire department 30 minutes early. That is a blunt instrument. G-Casper Pro's auto-draft engine is fundamentally different: it reads the actual scene schedule, understands which cast members are in which scenes, calculates when each scene will shoot based on page counts, and derives individual cast call times from that data. This level of automation requires tight coordination between the schedule, the cast list, and the call sheet. G-Casper Pro was built to handle exactly that.