The Grip App and Set Lighting App By Enlightened Shenanigans.
There are currently tons of photography Apps and very few Grip and Electric Apps out there. Well the good folks over at Enlightened Shenanigans have taken care of that with The Grip App and the Set Lighting App. Both Apps have tons of info and specifications on almost every product under the sun! The Grip App has everything from Dolly systems to useful knots, my personal favorite. The set lighting app is a great reference for all lighting equipment. I was a little put off by the $9.99 price tag so I hit up the developers with a few questions. Darcy Schlitt and Nat Aguilar were kind enough to respond. Here are their answers. Future updates will include tutorials and user reviews. This is a great addition to any filmmakers toolkit.
Why did you decide to create this app? Who are you and what do you do? Are you in the Biz?
The original creator of the Set Lighting App (Nat), actually built it to practice coding – he figured since he knew lighting (being a gaffer of 6 years), he’d build something quick and practical to reference on set (and it came in handy when he needed to show someone green what light to get from the truck). At that time, I (Darcy) had just left a career in marketing/sales and was still new to G&E. Hired as the swing on a feature Nat was gaffing, I saw that his app had a tremendous amount of potential to help people like myself after using it many times on set. So the two of us began collaborating over the next year and a half while working on shoots. We expanded the foundation Nat had originally created and used: my training, questions I asked/answers crew members gave, and techniques offered by various keys, to structure information; then collected all the content (facts and images) from the manufacturers. Since the Grip and Electric departments overlap, we decided to create a Grip App. A year and half after beginning our work together, we had both The Set Lighting App and Grip App in iTunes, with new (free) updates already under way, two new iPhone apps in the works, and had officially incorporated our start-up tech company under the name, Enlightened Shenanigans.
Why is it better than a simple google search of most of these products?
While on a shoot last year, we were building a truss rig to light a 40 ft stage when a colleague approached myself and Nat and said, “Let’s put your apps to the test…” – he then proceeded to look up the max load capacity for the truss and rigging equipment, to cross check with the weights of the cables, lights and accessories. It took him about 3-4 minutes to find and calculate everything using our apps. Yes he could’ve easily found all of this information by doing a simple Google. But, aside from him wanting to make us squirm while he put our apps to his test, he didn’t have the time to hunt down this information. We designed these apps to be as mobile as we are on set to make our lives easier
I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $250 – $300 on lighting, grip, cinematography and used film school textbooks, and I don’t know how many hours online looking for things that would better prepare me to do my job. We wanted the price of our apps to be fair – and not only for the people buying them but also for us/the creators (keep in mind that only 2 people research, write and code everything your see in both apps). Both apps have been in iTunes just over a year – in that time, we have made 3 Free Updates (and continue to make more) with triple the amount of information from our in our first versions (Grip App went from 88MB to 288MB, Set Lighting App went from 101MB to 413MB).
What are your plans for the future? Are you planning user input/involvement?
We absolutely welcome user feedback and input! Tell us what you like about what we’ve included thus far, tell us things we’ve left out that you want added and tell us what you want more of! If you are a manufacturer or distributor that would like to be included in our apps, contact us! Send all email to: info.enlightenedshenanigans@gmail.com
New things on the horizon:
I. (October 2012) The G&E Lite App was just accepted and can be Downloaded Free in iTunes! Our G&E Lite App is the teaser trailer for our feature presentation! It combines both The Grip App, and Set Lighting App, into goodie bag of information on Hardware, Dollies, Lights, Power Distribution, and Rental Houses, Studios/Stages, Repair Shops, Expendables, and Specialty Items.
II. (January 2013) Currently working on an iPad version that combines the (full) Grip App and Set Lighting App, scheduled for release in January 2013. This will include all new photos, diagrams, expanded sections/equipment lists, expanded PDFs and expanded reference section.
III. (Spring 2013) Currently developing The Grip App and Set Lighting App for Android!
IV. (Throughout 2013) We 3-4 free updates planned for The Grip and Set Lighting Apps with:
a. New functionality allowing you to build your own “favorites” list of gear.
b. Video tutorials, tips and tricks and how-to’s are being discussed with several interested manufacturers.
2. Expanded “Search” sections (i.e. Rentals, Studios, Repairs, Expendables, Specialty Items) to include businesses worldwide.
3. Expanded “Reference” section to include information about your local unions.
4. Continue to add gear to all sections
Source: Planet5D Scoop it.
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