SceneItAllDocs

Reports

Generate sides

Sides are the script pages actors hold on set — a shooting day’s scenes, in reading order, formatted for the page. SceneItAll generates sides for a shooting day or an individual character, with optional surrounding scenes for context. This article covers opening a selection from the sides library, reading it, adjusting the reader, and exporting.

Shoot-day and character sides always use the active scenario and the latest script revision accepted for production. They update automatically when cast, breakdown elements, shoot days, or strip order change. You do not need to save or refresh them first.

The script text is read-only, and exporting uses the document currently shown. The separate Full script tab still lets you open a complete older revision. See Reports you save and reports that stay current.

Before you start

  • You have a project with an episode, a parsed script, and a scenario that is active or locked.
  • Any project member can open and read sides. Exporting sides requires the Admin role.

Open a selection from the sides library

Open Reports and select the Sides card. You land on the sides library, a card index with three tabs:

The library header summarizes the available shoot days and characters.

  • By shoot day — one card per shooting day, with the date, page count in screenplay eighths, scene chips, cast pips, and a status pill. Sort Chronological or By pages, and use the filter button to hide wrapped days.
  • By character — one card per cast element. Sort A-Z or By size.
  • Full script — one card per script revision in the episode’s revision chain, with its page count shown in screenplay eighths. Selecting a card opens that exact revision, even when a newer revision is currently active.

Search by date, scene number, or Set (days) or by character or actor (characters). Select a card to open the reader with that selection pre-applied. On Full script, the revision in the Scripts reader and its address both remain pinned to the card you selected rather than switching to the latest revision. A back arrow at the top of the reader returns you to the library with your tab, search, and sort preserved.

Read sides

  1. Open the day or character you want sides for from the library.
  2. The sides render in reading order from the current schedule and latest production-ready script — there is nothing to create, sync, or refresh.

Each page is headed by a slate that names the side — Character Sides: NAME for a character, or Day Sides: N of M, date for a shooting day — with the page index (Page 1 / 7) on the right. Turn on Project name in Display Settings to prefix the production’s name.

If the schedule has no matching scenes for the selection, you see “No scenes found.” Because sides are live, any change to the script or the stripboard shows the next time you open the reader.

What a side block shows

Each scene shows:

  • A screenplay-formatted heading (scene number, INT/EXT, location, time of day).
  • One character roster directly beneath the scene’s first heading. It shows only the Characters in that scene, with headshots or silhouette fallbacks when images are enabled. Repeated or split chunks of the same scene do not repeat the roster.
  • The page count and optional synopsis on one metadata line. Page count uses screenplay eighths in the reader; the synopsis is the same summary you write on the breakdown.
  • The full script text in screenplay format.
  • Dialogue cues use the same screenplay alignment as the Scripts reader, including when a character headshot appears beside the cue.
  • The optional revision colour metadata.

Which metadata appears is controlled by Display Settings (see below).

Adjust the reader

When the reader is open, the Reports left rail holds the view controls. These only affect the on-screen reader, never the script:

  • Reader controls — a Text size stepper with A− and A+ buttons (11 px to 24 px, saved per project).
  • Context Scenes — use Show previous and Show next to include the nearest scene before or after your selection. Context scenes appear lighter and crossed out so they are not mistaken for part of the side. Use Lines to show the Whole scene or a shorter excerpt. SceneItAll keeps dialogue blocks together where possible and marks cropped text with an ellipsis. Omitted scenes are skipped.
  • Display Settings — choose whether to show Synopsis, Page Count, Revision Color, Project name, and Character images. Synopsis and Character images are on by default. Turning Character images off hides images from the roster, Characters panel, and dialogue cues without hiding names. The PDF uses the same choices. Admins can save different settings for each sides selection.

The side panel lists every included scene under Scenes. Select one to jump to it. Under Characters, select a name to focus that character’s lines.

The page roster shows linked Cast as Actor Name · #N — CHARACTER NAME. Unlinked Cast shows only the actor name. Characters without a headshot use a person silhouette, while dialogue cues remain text-only.

Export

The side panel’s actions:

  • Export PDF: opens the Export Sides dialog. Leave Watermark a copy for each recipient off to download one plain PDF. Turn it on to pick which cast members get a copy (use All / None). Linked recipients are identified as Actor Name · #N — CHARACTER NAME; unlinked recipients show only the actor name. Select Export to download a single ZIP holding one PDF per person, each watermarked with their own name. Use this for actor-specific delivery; the watermark discourages leaks.

To distribute the result, open Crew → Mailing List, copy the relevant addresses or open a draft in Gmail, Outlook, or your default mail app, and attach the PDF or ZIP.