Do you have the proper tools for cinematography to help you be more productive? Here is a list of our top filmmaking tools, applications, and gadgets for professional filmmakers and producers. We have classified tools used for different use cases. Although list may not be complete, but the exhaustive listing will definitely help readers to choose best from it.
Suggested Reading: Cinematography Terms
Editing Tools for Cinematography
Video is sequence of frames/images, which are displayed at certain rates. Normally videos are captured at 60 fps (frames per second), 30 fps or 24 fps. Editing tools are useful to edit the image and video. Video editing softwires are typically CPU heavy, i.e. they required lots of computational power. Typically, cinematographers or editors used GPU to smoothly edit the videos.
- Adobe Premier
- Filmora
- Vegas Pro
- StudioBinder
- Camtasia
- Adobe Audition
- Final Cut Pro
- After Effects
- Hedge
- Shotput Pro
- Pomfort
- Chronosync
- DaVinci Resolve
- HitFilm Express
- Artemis Pro
- Helios Pro
- Scriptation
- LumaFusion
- Upcast
- FiLMiC Pro
- Adobe Premiere Rush
- Greenscreener
- Frame.io
Screen Writing Tools for Cinematography
Story telling is an art. Story telling is the must have skill for directors and cinematographers. If you aren’t a good story teller, or if you dont have good imagination, you cant be good video creator. However, it is difficult to remember and visualize entire movie sequence in single go. Following are the tools which are widely used in screen writing and managing thoughts and visualization.
- Final Draft
- StudioBinder
- The Black List
- Coverfly
- Launch Pad
- Celtx
- Writerduet
Production Management
Once clips are shot, it goes to production. Production is iterative and time taking task. Following tools can be useful to make the production management easier.
- StudioBinder
- Movie Magic
- Gorilla
- Film Budget Template
Crowd Funding
For low budget film makers, or event organizers, crowd funding is necessity. Various crowd funding platforms are listed below:
- Raising money
- Kickstarter
- Indiegogo
- GoFundMe
- Seed&Spark
- Slated
- Patreon
Gear Rental
Of course cinematography is art. It requires lot many gears to make perfect film. However, the gears are very costly. Many gears are used rarely but they are need to take perfect shot. Investing in such gear is not a wise idea. There are lots of platform on which people make their gears available for others to use on rental bases. This is in fact win-win situation for both borrower and provider.
- ShareGrid
- KitSplit
- Parachut
- LensRentals
Essential Gadgets
Apart from software part, some hardware components are also equally important. It is advised that the following things should be kept as a spare. You simply cant trust the equipment all the times. They might be damaged, mall functions, etc. So it is better to always have alternative for such gadgets.
- Sandisk Ultra MicroSD Cards
- BASEQI
- Introcircuit Power Monster
- Nomad Roadtrip Car Charger
- Mophie Juice Pack
- Apple Smart Battery Case
Casting & Crewing Up
In film industry, casting is very crucial for success of movie. Casting can really makes the different between good and better movie. Few of the software for casting and crewing are listed here.
- Backstage
- ProductionBeast
- LAcasting
- Breakdown Services
- Mandy
- Facebook Groups
Documentation and File Sharing Tools for Cinematography
Documentation is as important as any other process in any domain. Let it be programming, marketing, analytics, movie making or whatever it is, poor documentation leads to complicated follow-up. Some cloud based and desktop services are listed here for better documentation.
- Office 365
- Google Drive
- StudioBinder
- Asana
- Trello
- Dropbox
- Hightail
- LogMeIn
Many of these tools are commercial tool and one has to pay handsome amount to use them. However, lots of alternative open source tools are also available which can avail for completely free use.
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Mobile Cameras
Smartphone cameras have come a long way in the last few years. Modern smartphones have eliminated the need for a point-and-shoot camera, and they can catch colors and details that a DSLR or mirrorless camera cannot. While there are numerous phones with the greatest camera hardware for various circumstances, one thing that distinguishes such phones is the software that is in charge of processing the acquired photos. Every OEM uses a unique image processing pipeline for its camera app, and this processing may make or break the transaction.
Few of very popular mobile camera app is listed here for readers:
- Google Camera and GCam Ports
- Open Camera
- Candy Camera
- Footej Camera 2
- Simple Camera
- Camera FV-5 Lite
- Silent Camera
- ProCam X – Lite
- Bacon Camera
Apps for Mobile Video Editing
DIY video creation has skyrocketed since the introduction of cellphones. Amateur and professional videographers may now film, edit, and publish their cinematic works with the help of a powerful pocket film studio. As a result, video editing apps have become quite popular. With so many applications vying for your attention, we’ve compiled a list of the best video editing apps for Android, iPhone, and iPad so you can get to your favorite videos faster.
You’re working on a video project, right? You have your concept and your smartphone, but you’re overwhelmed by video editing tools and don’t know where to begin. Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered. Sure, there are a lot of options, but we’ve reviewed the best of them so you can get right to the point.
- Filmora Go
- InShot
- Premiere Rush
- Quik
- LumaFusion
- KineMaster
- iMovie
- Apple Clips
- Filmmaker Pro
- ActionDirector
- Adobe Premiere Clip
- WeVideo
- Clips
- Splice
- Cameo
- PowerDirector
- VideoGrade
- Pinnacle Studio
- PicPlayPost
- VivaVideo
- Videoshop
- Magisto
- Funimate
- ALIVE Movie Maker
- Vizmato
- VideoShow
Additional Reading: Apps