The film, before it is shot
Frameboard is pre-production software for film and video. Every reference becomes a shot, the screenplay becomes scenes, and the plan becomes a shooting day. The shot list, storyboard, lighting plans, gear list and call sheet are written as you go.
It starts with a reference
A film starts as a moodboard: stills, clips, notes and storyboard sketches, dropped anywhere on an infinite canvas. Nothing to name and nothing to file, because none of it is going in a folder. Every card is where a decision can start.
- Images, clips, notes, sketches, comments and tables.
- Infinite, with pan on wheel, zoom on ctrl, and snapping that can be turned off.
Every reference becomes a shot
Press T and the card is a shot. It takes a number, a size, a lens, a movement and a duration, and it keeps the frame it started as. The moodboard, the storyboard and the shot list are one card read three ways, so none of them falls out of date.
- Automatic, and it survives reordering. Type 12A by hand and it stays 12A.
- Body, frame rate, shutter and aperture, and a line on why the shot exists, in your own words.
The screenplay becomes the production
Import the screenplay as Fountain, or connect the Google Doc it is written in. Every slugline becomes a scene with its location, INT or EXT, and day or night, and the shots sit inside the scene they belong to. Script, scenes and shot list stay one structure.
- Slugline, location, INT or EXT, day or night, and a target runtime the shot list measures against.
- Fountain in and out, so a screenplay becomes scenes and the scenes become a script.
Now you know how you are going to shoot it
Scene by scene, the production adds up: where it is shot, who is in it, how many shots it takes and how long they run against the time you have. Change a shot once and the shot list, the storyboard and the shooting script change with it.
- Every scene against its target, so an overlong shot list shows up before the shoot does.
- Shot list, storyboard and shooting script PDFs on every plan, printed from the same production.
Draw the lighting plan. The gear list follows.
Put the shot in a real room: walls and windows in metres, lamps at a stated height, the camera where the shot is taken from. Light falls off, adds where beams cross and stops at walls and flags. The packing list is written from the drawing.
- The subject lit by the rig, updated as you move a lamp. A preview, not a render: it does not predict exposure.
- Derived from the plans and the shots. Change a lens and the gear list changes too.
Turn the plan into a shooting day
Put scenes on a day in the order you will shoot them, add lunch and any company move, and the times work themselves out, down to an estimated wrap. The call sheet is that same day, printed, with the scenes, cast, locations and nearest hospital already known.
- Timed from the crew call and the scenes, not typed. Breaks anchor to the scene they follow, so moving a scene carries the company move with it.
- You add the date, the crew call and the unit base. The rest is already written.
Then it is Tuesday, and you are shooting
On the day, Frameboard is a phone in one hand. One shot at a time, and it is the shot you planned from a reference weeks ago: the same number, the same lens, the same scene, called at the time the schedule gave it. Log the takes, mark the NG, circle the one you want, and move on to the next shot owed.
- Status, takes, circled takes, pickups, and a count of what is left.
- Logged on the shot they belong to, with the roll they were on, for the edit to find.
One production. One workspace.
The reference is still on the shot, the shot is still in the scene, and the scene is still on Tuesday's call sheet. Plan it once, and every department reads the same film.
Printed the way each department reads it
A shot list a first AD reads on a phone at 6am. A storyboard, four or six to a page. The shooting script, the lighting plans and the call sheet. All of it from the one production, as PDFs on every plan.
Shot list
Scene 2, INT. GYM - DAY
4 shots · 0:15
| Size | Lens | Move | Dur | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02 | WS | 24mm | Static | 0:05 | The floor, before anyone |
| 02A | MCU | 50mm | Slow push | 0:04 | Sam by the banner, side light |
| 02B | INS | 85mm | Slider | 0:03 | The pads, on the mat |
| 02C | ECU | 100mm | Static | 0:03 | Hands, wrapping up |
There is no AI in Frameboard, and there will not be.
Deciding where the camera goes is the job. A tool that offers to do it for you is selling off the part you were hired for. Frameboard holds your references, your frames and your numbers, and stays out of the decision.
To be exact about it: the software is written with the help of an AI coding agent, the way most software is now. What it will never do is put a model between you and your film. Nothing you make here is read by one, trained on, or generated for you.
What is in it
- Infinite, with pan on wheel, zoom on ctrl, and snapping that can be turned off.
- Images, clips, notes, sketches, comments and tables. Any of them can become a shot.
- Automatic, and it survives reordering. Type 12A by hand and it stays 12A.
- Slugline, location, INT or EXT, day or night, and a target runtime the shot list measures against.
- A plan in a real room, with light that behaves like light: beams fall off, add where they cross, and stop at walls and flags. A preview of the subject under the rig, and a packing list written from the drawing.
- Fountain in and out, so a screenplay becomes scenes and the scenes become a script.
- A scene belongs to a shoot day. The day derives its own schedule, cast, locations and gear, and prints a call sheet.
- One shot at a time on a phone: status, takes, circled takes, pickups, and a count of what is left.
- Live. Edits stream as patches, cursors and selections show, and two people on different cards never overwrite each other. Comments thread on a shot, and a client can sign off on a share link.
- Shot list, storyboard, shooting script, lighting plan and call sheet PDFs on every plan, plus CSV, PNG, Fountain, and the whole production as JSON you can keep.
Free, no account
The single documents, on their own, free. What you make stays in your browser, and the PDF is yours.
- Pre-production checklistTick it off by shoot type, with due dates
- Shot list templateNumbered by scene, PDF or CSV
- Storyboard template makerPrintable frames in any aspect ratio
- Field of view calculatorWhat a lens sees, and where to stand
- Call sheet makerThe day as a PDF, or text for the group chat
- Lighting diagram makerRooms to scale, real fixtures, light that behaves
On the craft
All writing- StudioBinder vs. Frameboard: How Production Information ConnectsLooking for a StudioBinder alternative? Compare StudioBinder and Frameboard for shot lists, storyboards, lighting, call sheets, and film pre-production.
- How many storyboard frames does a commercial need?One frame per shot: 10 to 15 for a 30 second spot. Frame counts by length, client boards vs crew boards, and a day by day plan for a board due Friday.
- Call sheet vs shooting schedule: what each one is forThe schedule plans the whole shoot, the call sheet runs one day. Who makes each, when, what goes on them, and how tomorrow's call sheet comes out of today's schedule.
- What lens for an interview? Distances, rooms and faces35mm, 50mm or 85mm for a seated interview: where the camera stands for each framing, how big the room has to be, what each lens does to a face, and crop sensor equivalents.
- How to light a green screen on a budgetA clean key with four lights: light the screen evenly, move the subject away from it, light them like the plate, and the camera settings that save the edges.
- Shot list or storyboard? You are asking the wrong questionThey are not two documents. A storyboard is what a shot looks like; a shot list is when it gets made. How the two stay in sync, and what breaks when they don't.
Questions people ask
More on plans and billing on the pricing page, and everything else in the Help Center.
What is Frameboard?
Frameboard is pre-production software for film and video. References become shots, the screenplay becomes scenes, and the plan becomes a shooting day, so the shot list, storyboard, lighting plans, gear list and call sheet are written as you plan instead of typed up separately afterwards.
Who is Frameboard for?
Directors, cinematographers, gaffers, assistant directors and producers planning commercials, music videos, short films, documentaries, weddings and brand films. It is built for small crews and production companies that do their own pre-production.
Is Frameboard free?
Yes. The Free plan has 3 productions in total, every export including PDFs, and up to 3 people editing a production, with no time limit. Right after signing up you can also choose a 30-day Pro trial instead: it needs a card, nothing is charged during it, and you can cancel any time before it ends.
How much does Pro cost?
Pro is €19 a month, or €15 a month billed yearly, excluding VAT. It adds unlimited productions, your library of kit, lighting setups, crew and locations, and exports with your own logo instead of the Frameboard line. Studio, for companies, starts at €75 a month for 3 editors, and each seat costs less as the team grows.
Can I import my screenplay?
Yes. Import a Fountain file, which Final Draft, Highland and most screenwriting apps export, and every scene arrives as a board with its slugline, location and day or night filled in. A Google Doc can also be connected, and Frameboard shows what changed when the draft does.
Does Frameboard make call sheets and lighting plans?
Yes. A lighting plan is drawn to scale in a real room, with real fixtures and light that falls off, mixes and stops at walls, and it writes the gear list. Each shoot day works out its own timetable from its scenes and prints a call sheet with cast, crew, locations, weather and the nearest hospital.
Can my crew and clients see the plan without an account?
Yes. A share link opens the production read-only for anyone who has it, on a phone or a laptop, and prints cleanly. A client can approve the storyboard, shot list or lighting plans from the same link. Viewers are free on every plan and never counted.
Does it work on a phone on set?
Yes. On Set turns the shot list into the day's running order on a phone: one shot at a time with its frame and notes, a button to mark it shot, takes with a circle for the good one, and a count of what is left.
Is there AI in Frameboard?
No, and there will not be. Nothing you make in Frameboard is sent to a model, used to train one, or generated for you. Deciding where the camera goes is the job, and the tool stays out of it.
How is Frameboard different from StudioBinder?
The difference is how the information connects. In Frameboard the reference, the storyboard frame and the shot list row are one card, so changing a shot changes it everywhere, and the lighting plan writes the gear list. Every export is on the free plan, and there is no AI. The full side-by-side is in our StudioBinder vs. Frameboard article.
What it costs
Free is genuinely usable rather than a trial with the lights off. Every export is on it, PDFs included, because the crew needs the document. Pro takes our name off the footer and puts yours on.
Prices exclude VAT, which is added at checkout. Cancel any time and keep the plan until the period you paid for ends.
€0
For the film you are making now.
- 3 productions in total, no card required
- Screenplay import, lighting plans, documents
- Shoot days, call sheets and On Set mode
- Every export, PDF included
- Up to 3 people editing a production
€19/ month
For the films you make for a living.
- Everything in Free
- Your library: kit, crew, places and lighting setups, kept between productions
- Unlimited productions
- Exports with no Frameboard line
- Up to 10 people editing a production
€75/ month for 3 editors
For the company.
- Everything in Pro, for the whole team
- A shared company workspace for every production
- One company library of kit, setups, crew and places
- Team roles: admin, editor, viewer
- Productions managed centrally, moved in or out of the company