Aspiring filmmakers are often surprised at how much work it takes to go from idea to final product. While the idea of turning on a camera and letting it record is simple, the reality is that there are many steps involved in going from that idea to the final product, making it difficult for those with little to no experience.
One of the first things you need to do is sift through all of the great filmmaking apps available today. Unfortunately, wading through all of these apps can be nearly as difficult as making the video itself. That’s where we come in! We’ve scoured the app store looking for some of the best filming apps out there, and we’ve compiled them here so that you can spend your time making videos instead of searching for apps.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Filmmaking
theGripApp
The 11 Best iPhone Apps for Filmmakers: theGripApp
TheGripApp is basically your pocket guide to being an on-set grip. It includes a complete database of every dolly, knot and clamp with pictures, diagrams and specifics on how they’re used. The filmmaking app is perfect for beginners looking to learn or seasoned pros to use as reference.
- ShotList
The 11 Best iPhone Apps for Filmmakers: ShotList
ShotList is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a digital way to manage, view and edit your shot list on your iPhone. The filmmaking app also allows you to add photos and manage a storyboard as well.
- Green Screener
The 11 Best iPhone Apps for Filmmakers: Green Screener
This handy app works similar to a light meter for lighting an even key. While not a complete replacement for a light meter and good eye, the app helps by breaking down color variables to show you different color levels.
- MatchLens
The 11 Best iPhone Apps for Filmmakers: MatchLens
MatchLens is a nifty little filmmaking app for iPhone that allows you to match the same field of view between cameras and lenses. It’s most useful when planning to match location scout photos or footage to your production camera for focal lengths and fields of view.
- 3D ST
The 11 Best iPhone Apps for Filmmakers: 3D ST
Shooting 3D footage is no easy task. Luckily apps like 3D ST exist to help with depth of field, parallax and convergence calculations for stereoscopic 3D. The app also includes a detailed glossary of terms and information when trying to navigate in the third dimension.
- Artemis Directors Viewfinder
The 11 Best iPhone Apps for Filmmakers: Artemis ViewFinder App
Have trouble visualizing what your shot would look like through different lenses? Of course you do. Everyone does. This filmmaking app for iPhone lets you take a photo with your iPhone and view overlays that show the difference between different fields of view.
- DSLR Filmmaker Toolkit
The 11 Best iPhone Apps for Filmmakers: DSLR Filmmaker Kit
The DSLR Filmmaker Toolkit is several useful apps rolled into one. The app has a leveler, slate, shot log, viewfinder, depth-of-field calculator and sunrise/sunset table. Pretty neat. Very helpful.
- AJA DataCalc
The 11 Best iPhone Apps for Filmmakers: Aja DataCalc
The DataCalc computes storage requirements for your video files. The filmmaking app works with pretty much all of the industry formats and compression methods. You can also use the app to calculate time results in a variety of formats as well.
- Cinema Forms
The 11 Best iPhone Apps for Filmmakers: Cinema Forms
Cinema Forms is a producer’s dream. The iPhone app is a paperless (obviously) compilation of any and every form you’ll ever need from pre-production through post. You can work on the forms interactively through the app or share as a PDF through Dropbox or email.
- Kodak Cinema Tools
The 11 Best iPhone Apps for Filmmakers: Kodak Cinema Tools
Kodak’s grab bag of filmmaking tools is sweet haul of practical gadgets. The pack has your standard depth of field and sunrise/sunset calculators along with some nifty Kodak-specific info tools for their products and film stocks.
best apps for filmmakers 2021
- Scriptation
When you’re in the middle of shooting, what’s more annoying than script rewrites? Nothing. There is nothing more annoying. You get a revised draft, have to incorporate the new pages, quickly figure out what has changed, and rewrite all of your notes onto the new pages.
That’s where Scriptation comes in. The Emmy® Award winning app for iPad, iPhone, and Mac allows you to mark up scripts using a wide range of customizable annotation tools and then intelligently transfer those notes into script revisions with the tap of a button. According to TV director John Scott (The Magicians, You), Scriptation’s note transferring feature saves him 5 hours of prep time each week!
Rainn Wilson from “The Office” stars in Scriptation’s “Script Change Hell”
But Scriptation isn’t just for those “Hollywood types.” Aspiring and indie filmmakers use the production app to read scripts, mark up documents, share notes, highlight lines, bookmark scenes, and separate annotations conveniently into layers. As one App Store reviewer advised emerging filmmakers: “I guarantee this app becomes standard on set.” So be prepared to use it on your next big production. Try out Scriptation’s free script annotation app and see for yourself. Price: Free
FILM PRODUCTION SOFTWARE
- Studiobinder
StudioBinder is a fundamentally new way for filmmakers, production companies, and agencies to streamline their production workflow for the 21st century. Offering web-based filmmaking software with a suite of integrated products, Studiobinder has a plethora of features including:
Call Sheets – Create & send personalized call sheets and track RSVPs.
Script Breakdowns – Import scripts and tag elements like props and wardrobe.
Shot Lists & Storyboards – Robust, customizable shot list and storyboard builder.
Shooting Schedules – Drag-and-drop interface to plan and schedule multi-day shoots.
Contact Lists – Manage and send messages to talent, crew, vendors, clients and more.
Tasks, Calendars, and Files – Collaborate and comment on tasks, files, and production calendars.
Price: Free
BEST FILMMAKING APPS
- Artemis Pro
Artemis is the first digital viewfinder for smartphones. Over the years it has become an indispensable tool for professional filmmakers used by Oscar winners and film students across the world.
Artemis allows you to input your camera specific sensor, choose your lenses, and see your true field of view, right on your phone screen. In 2018, Artemis was awarded an Emmy for its contribution to filmmaking.
Price: $29.99
Best Filmmaking Software iPhone iPad Artemis Pro
APPS FOR FILMMAKERS
- Helios Pro
Helios Pro is a light-tracking app designed for cinematographers, photographers, and designers. Not only can you pinpoint the position of the sun, the moon, and stars, Augmented Reality and light simulation allows you to visualize exactly what shots will look like at any location, at any time of the year or day. You can see precisely how light will illuminate and the shadows fall.
Chemical Wedding created these dynamic 3D meshes for terrain landscapes to show how the light will change throughout the day across the hills, mountains and valleys. Likewise, OpenStreetMap building data creates a 3D reconstruction of the buildings and streets. So, no matter where you’re shooting, you can see exactly how the light will strike buildings or mountains throughout the day.
Price: $29.99
FILM PRODUCTION APPS
- LumaFusion
LumaFusion is a powerful multi-track video editor created for mobile devices. Called a “desktop class” editing software, the features of LumaFusion make it truly comparable to traditional video editing.
The filmmaking app has a familiar non-linear editing workspace with three tracks for video and audio and three additional audio tracks for narration, music, and sound effects. There are also several preset layout options to customize your workspace to your editing style.
The app supports various frame rates and aspect ratios, options for insert, overwrite, ripple, and slip editing, the ability to mark in/out points from the source, live audio mixing, and even keyframes.
Outside of basic editing, LumaFusion provides many built-in effects, titles, video transitions, animations, color correction abilities, and even royalty-free music. And, virtually everything custom you create can be saved as a preset for future use. Price: $19.99
Best Film TV Video Production Software LumaFusion
FILMMAKER APP
- Upcast
UpCast is a filmmaker app that instantly connects talent and casting professionals through the entire casting process. Models and actors can audition from their phones by instantly submitting photos and videos directly to casting professionals. You can swipe through roles, submit photos/videos, and get cast right from your couch. Price: Free
Best App for Filmmakers UpCast
2022 FILM APPS
- FiLMiC Pro
FiLMiC Pro is an incredibly advanced film production app for iOS and Androids that enables you to make the most out of your device, virtually turning it into a professional camera. This app gives you fine-tuned control over your phone’s camera, including manually changing the exposure, ISO, shutter speed, focus, zoom, and more. In addition to unlocking the full potential of your phone’s camera settings, FiLMiC Pro has many customizable options including the ability to record up to a dozen different resolutions and aspect ratios, advanced audio recording features, four encoding options to balance between quality and file size, video sharing capabilities through apps such as Facebook, DropBox, Vime, and 3rd Party Hardware Support for several popular lens adapters and gimbals. And, FiLMiC Pro has the ability to adjust video settings (exposure, contrast, saturation, tint, color temperature) after capture. A multi-time iOS Video Camera App of the Year, FiLMiC Pro has been used on high profile video projects and was most recently used by Steven Soderbergh’s on the Netflix feature “High Flying Bird.” Price: $14.99
Best Filmmaking Production Apps FIlmic Pro
BEST FILMMAKING APPS
- Adobe Premiere Rush
Adobe Premiere Rush is a lite version of Premiere Pro available for iOS devices. While a lite version, it is still very comparable to its desktop version and Premiere editors will feel right at home. On mobile, filmmakers can shoot, edit, and share their video content all in one device from anywhere. You can also create between your devices, including desktop, by opening your Rush files right in Premiere. The intuitive and very familiar multitrack timeline allows users to arrange video, audio, graphics, and photos by dragging and dropping. You can adjust audio, enhance color, add titles, transitions, voiceovers, and more. Price: Free
Best Apps for Film Adobe Premiere Rush
BEST APPS FOR FILM
- Greenscreener
Green Screener does away with light-meters and waveform-monitors, and shows you exactly how even your green screen is, using just your phone or tablet.
Available on iOS and Android, Green Screener is a new kind of tool for lighting a green screen that breaks your green screen up into bands, so you can easily see how to light it.
Price: $9.99
Best FIlmmaking Software Greenscreener
BEST FILM PRODUCTION APP
- Frame.io
Frame.io is a collaborative space for filmmakers and clients to work together and give feedback. No more email chains with vague time stamps. Frame.io offers time based comments and video annotations so you can draw directly on video frames to accurately communicate your feedback. Likewise video transcoding in the cloud allows you to upload any video format and never worry about playback compatibility. Frame.io also features version control so you can see all of your past versions of projects and Comment Replay, which loops a 4 second range around any comment so you can get a sense of what it means in context. Price: $17/month
Conclusion
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