User Guide

User Guide

End-to-end walkthrough of Cine Power Planner — the local-first PWA for film, video, and photography production: gear management, scheduling, and German-tax accounting.

Table of Contents

• Getting Started
• Dashboard
• Projects
• Gear List Management
• Device Library
• Accessories Store
• Contact Management
• Templates
• Provider System
• Auto Gear Rules
• Analytics
• PDF Export
• PDF Tools
• Tools & Simulators
• Calendar
• Cloud Sync
• Collaboration
• Call Sheets
• Script to Shot List
• ATA Carnet
• Time Tracking
• Insurance & Valuation
• Accounting & Expense Tracking
• Scan to PDF & OCR
• Maintenance & Lifecycle
• Temporary Assignments
• Search
• Settings
• Backup and Restore
• Keyboard Shortcuts
• Tips and Best Practices
• Troubleshooting
• Related Documentation

Billing & accounting have grown into a full suite with their own dedicated guides — see Billing & Subscription, Quotes, Invoices, Accounting — expenses · EÜR/UStVA · AfA, Banking, and Kassenbuch (cash book).

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Getting Started

System Requirements

• A modern browser: Chrome 90+, Firefox 88+, Safari 15+, or Edge 90+
• JavaScript enabled
• ~50 MB of available browser storage

Accessing the App

Web — Open the hosted URL in your browser and start using immediately.

PWA Install (Recommended):

1. Open the app in Chrome/Edge/Brave
2. Click the install icon (📥) in the address bar
3. The app opens in its own window with offline support

💡 Installing as a PWA gives you offline access and a native app-like experience.

For detailed installation instructions see the Quick Start Guide.

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Dashboard

The Project Dashboard is your home screen. It shows all active projects as cards.

Dashboard Controls

Project Cards

Each card displays the project name, last-edited timestamp, and a status badge. Click a card to open the project.

Context actions (right-click or long-press on mobile):

• Duplicate — Create a copy with options (include items, reset dates)
• Archive — Move to the archive
• Delete — Permanently remove the project

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Projects

Creating a Project

1. Click + New Project on the dashboard
2. Enter a project name (e.g., "Corporate Shoot — Acme Inc")
3. Optionally set:
   • Description — Brief summary of the production
   • Shoot Date — Production dates
   • Production Company / Client — Who is the project for
   • Technical metadata — Resolution, codec, frame rate, aspect ratio
4. Click Create

Project Fields

Editing a Project

Open a project from the dashboard. The project view contains tabs:

• General — Edit project metadata and notes
• Gear List — Add, edit, and organize equipment items
• Documents — Upload and manage project reference files, permits, and call sheets
• Camera Package — Manage camera configurations and lens coverage
• Power Summary — Analyze power consumption and battery needs
• Calendar — Project-specific shoot schedule and logistics
• Weather — Location-based weather forecasts
• Crew — Manage crew roles and assignments
• Rental — Track rental orders and quotes
• Billing — Manage budget, rates, and billing drafts
• Requirements — Track project technical requirements
• Settings — Project-specific settings

Camera Package & Connection Diagram

The Camera Package tab allows you to configure your camera build.

• Select Devices: Choose your camera, monitor, wireless video, battery, and lens control system (FIZ).
• Connection Diagram: As you select devices, a visual diagram is automatically generated showing power, video, and data connections.
  • Interactive: Drag nodes to rearrange them, and zoom in/out to view details.
  • Positions Saved: Your custom layout is saved with the project.

Duplicating a Project

Use Duplicate from the project context menu. Options include:

• Include all items
• Reset shoot dates
• Copy metadata fields

Archiving and Deleting

• Archive keeps the project recoverable from the Archived filter on the dashboard.
• Delete permanently removes the project and its data.

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Gear List Management

Adding Items

From the Device Library:

1. Click Add from Library
2. Browse categories or search for equipment
3. Click Add to Project on items you need
4. Adjust quantities

Custom Items:

1. Click Add Item
2. Fill in name, category, quantity, and notes
3. Click Save

Organizing Items

• Categories — Items are grouped by category (Camera, Lenses, Lighting, Audio, Support, etc.)
• Drag and Drop — Reorder items within a category by dragging the handle (⋮⋮)
• Reorder Categories — Drag category headers to reorganize the list

Editing Items

Click on an item row to expand the inline editor. You can change:

• Name, category, quantity
• Notes and remarks
• Provider assignment (owned / rental / crew)
• Checked/packed status

Bulk Operations

Select multiple items (checkbox column), then use the bulk action bar to:

• Assign a provider to all selected items
• Update item statuses across the selection
• Move items to a different category
• Delete selected items

Damage Reports

Track and document damaged equipment directly from the Gear List.

1. Select an item and click Report Damage
2. Fill in the incident details and upload photos
3. The item is marked as damaged and removed from active booking availability
4. Generate a professional PDF Damage Report for insurance claims

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Device Library

The built-in Device Library contains equipment across 16+ categories:

Managing Owned Gear

Navigate to Owned Gear in the sidebar to track equipment you own. Items marked as "owned" are automatically flagged when added to projects.

For details see Device Library and Owned Gear.

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Accessories Store

Browse and order essential production consumables and accessories directly from the app.

Features

• Catalog Browser — Search specific items
• Add to Project — Directly add purchased items to your active project gear list
• Shopping Cart — Manage your order

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Contact Management

Navigate to Contacts in the sidebar.

Adding Contacts

1. Click Add Contact
2. Fill in name, role, company, phone, email
3. Optionally upload a profile picture (crop tool included)
4. Click Save

Using Contacts

• Reference contacts in project details (Director, DoP, etc.)
• Contacts sync across devices when cloud sync is enabled

For details see Contacts.

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Templates

Save time on recurring shoot types by using templates.

Creating a Template

1. Set up a project with your standard gear list
2. Open the Dashboard and click View Templates
3. Click Save as Template
4. Name the template (e.g., "Standard Interview Kit")

Using a Template

1. Click + New Project
2. Select a template from the template selector
3. All items are copied into the new project
4. Customize as needed

⏱️ Templates are ideal for recurring production types (interviews, events, documentaries).

For details see Templates.

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Provider System

Track where each piece of equipment comes from.

Provider Types

Assigning Providers

• Click on an item → select a provider from the dropdown
• Use bulk operations to assign providers to multiple items at once

Exporting by Provider

When exporting to PDF, you can filter by provider to generate separate lists for each source — e.g., a rental order for the rental house and a packing list for owned gear.

For details see Provider System.

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Auto Gear Rules

Automate repetitive equipment additions with configurable rules.

How It Works

The Auto Gear engine evaluates rules in an IF → THEN format whenever you add an item to a gear list:

1. Trigger (IF): A condition based on category or specific device — e.g., "When an item from category Cameras is added"
2. Action (THEN): Items to add automatically — e.g., "Add 4× V-Mount Batteries and 2× CFexpress Cards"

Managing Rules

1. Navigate to Settings → Workflow → Auto Gear
2. Click Create Rule to set up a new automation
3. Define the trigger condition (category or specific device from the catalog)
4. Define the action items (capabilities or specific devices)
5. Save the rule — it applies to all future gear list additions

Capabilities vs Specific Items

Factory Defaults

The platform ships with factory-default rules that mimic the legacy "Parity Capability" system (e.g., cameras needing support). You can disable these at any time.

For details see Auto Gear Rules.

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Analytics

Gain insights into your gear usage and spending.

Rental Analytics

• Spending Trends — Track rental costs over time
• Category Breakdown — See where your budget goes

ROI Dashboard

• Owned Gear ROI — Track utilization and return on investment for your owned equipment

For details see Analytics & ROI.

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PDF Export

Generate professional, shareable gear list documents.

1. Open a project
2. Click Export in the toolbar
3. The PDF is generated and downloaded automatically

What the PDF Includes

• Project name, dates, and metadata
• All equipment organized by category
• Quantities and notes
• Provider assignments (if applicable)
• Technical metadata (resolution, codec, frame rate)

Export Options

• All items — Full gear list
• By provider — Separate sections per provider
• Custom filters — Choose categories to include/exclude

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PDF Tools

A full offline PDF toolkit with 86 tools — all processing happens locally in the browser.

Navigate to PDF Tools in the sidebar.

Organize & Rearrange

• Merge PDF — Combine multiple PDF files into one
• Split PDF — Divide a PDF by page ranges
• Extract / Delete / Reverse / Rotate Pages — Rearrange pages
• N-up — Place multiple pages on a single sheet
• Add Blank Pages — Insert blank pages

Edit & Annotate

• Edit PDF — Modify text and images
• Watermark — Add text or image watermarks
• Headers/Footers — Add page headers and footers
• Page Numbers — Insert page numbering
• Crop — Crop pages to specific dimensions
• Sign PDF — Draw or type a signature and place it anywhere on a page

Security & Privacy

• Encrypt / Decrypt — Password-protect PDFs
• Sanitize — Remove hidden data and metadata
• Flatten — Flatten form fields and annotations
• Remove Metadata — Strip identifying information

Conversion

• Image to PDF — Convert JPG, PNG, HEIC, WEBP to PDF
• PDF to Image — Export pages as JPG or PNG
• JSON ↔ PDF — Convert between JSON and PDF
• TXT to PDF — Convert plain text to PDF

Metadata & Attachments

• View / Edit / Remove Metadata — Manage PDF properties
• Add / Extract Attachments — Embed or extract files
• Compress PDF — Reduce file size

🔒 All processing happens in the browser — your files are never uploaded to a server.

For details see PDF Tools.

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Tools & Simulators

Navigate to Additional Tools in the sidebar. (The Tools section above it holds Search, Device Library, Contacts, Calendar and Time Tracking — the simulators live one section down.)

Frame Line & Leader Composer

Design custom frame line overlays for on-set monitoring and post-production.

• Select from standard aspect ratios (1.33, 1.78, 1.85, 2.00, 2.39, etc.) or define custom ratios
• Add anamorphic lens squeeze factors (1.3×, 1.5×, 2.0×)
• Configure line styles: solid, dashed, or dotted with adjustable thickness and color
• Generate frame leaders with production metadata overlaid on the image
• Export as transparent PNG for monitor overlay or XML
• Dark-themed UI for comfortable on-set use

Depth of Field Simulator

Calculate and visualize depth of field for any camera/lens combination.

• Select sensor and lens from presets or enter custom values
• Linked Focus/Subject Distance sliders for synchronized adjustment
• Toggle between Metric and Imperial units
• Side-by-side comparison of two setups
• Character-art scene visualization with near/far focus boundaries

Lens Coverage Calculator

Verify whether a lens image circle covers your sensor.

• Select sensor from presets or enter custom dimensions
• Instant visual showing coverage vs. vignetting zones
• Useful for matching vintage or cinema lenses with modern sensors

Camera Simulators

• Interactive links to manufacturer-specific menu simulators (ARRI, Sony, RED, etc.)
• Practice camera menu navigation offline before shoot days

For details see Camera Tools.

Everything in the section

The four above are the ones this guide walks through in detail. Additional Tools holds fifteen entries in total — these are the exact sidebar labels, in the order they appear:

Each tool carries its own in-app help — press ? on any tool page.

Calendar

Global Calendar

Navigate to Calendar in the sidebar to see all projects on a unified timeline.

• Month/Week view — Toggle between views
• Event cards — Show project name and dates with hover tooltips
• Double-booking detection — Highlighted when projects overlap

Project Calendar

Each project has a Calendar tab with:

• Shoot days
• Travel days
• Prep/wrap days
• Reminders

External Sync

• Google Calendar — Import/export events
• Outlook Calendar — Import/export events via ICS

For details see Calendar and Notifications.

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Cloud Sync

Cloud sync is optional. The app works fully offline by default.

Enabling Cloud Sync

1. Go to Settings
2. Click Sign In and create an account (email/password)
3. Cloud sync activates automatically once signed in

How Sync Works

• Data is stored locally first (IndexedDB)
• Changes are queued and uploaded when online
• If another device modified the same project, conflict resolution appears
• Sync status is shown in the sidebar footer

Conflict Resolution

When local and remote changes diverge:

1. A conflict modal appears
2. Choose a strategy:
   • Keep Local — Your version wins
   • Keep Remote — The server version wins
   • Merge — Field-level merge (pick individual fields from each version)

For architecture details see Sync Architecture.

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Collaboration

Share projects with other users for real-time collaboration.

Sharing a Project

1. Open a project
2. Click Share
3. Enter the collaborator's email
4. Choose permissions (viewer / editor)

Collaboration Features

• Presence indicators — See who is currently viewing/editing
• Live cursors — See where collaborators are working in real-time, labeled with names
• Comment threads — Add contextual comments to projects, reply to threads, and resolve discussions
• Project chat — Real-time messaging within the workspace for quick coordination with collaborators
• Project locking — Prevents edit conflicts while another user is editing
• Project locked overlay — Read-only users see a full-screen overlay while another user is editing
• Activity log — Chronological record of all changes

For details see Collaboration.

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Call Sheets

Generate industry-standard call sheets from your project schedule.

• Single-day and multi-day modes — Generate for one day or an entire shoot block
• Crew grid — Automatically populated from your project crew
• Weather integration — Fetch weather forecasts for shoot locations
• Temporary items — Temporary crew and gear included per-day with TEMP badge styling
• PDF export — Download call sheets as print-ready PDFs

For details see Call Sheets.

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Script to Shot List

Import scripts, create detailed shot setups, map floor plans, and integrate with your project gear list.

• Smart Parsing — Import scripts to automatically generate scenes and narrative flow
• Floor Plan Canvas — 2D visualization with field-of-view calculation and drag-and-drop cameras
• Gear Integration — Assign project equipment directly to specific shots with discrepancy warnings
• Schedule Stripboard — Reorder scenes and shots manually for shooting schedules
• Reconciliation — Diffing engine to handle script revisions without losing assigned data

For details see Script to Shot List.

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ATA Carnet

Manage customs documentation for international equipment transport.

• Carnet packing list — Auto-generated from your gear list
• Case management — Organize equipment into transport cases
• Validation — Verify completeness before export
• PDF export — Print-ready carnet documents

For details see ATA Carnet.

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Time Tracking

Track working hours, overtime, and surcharges for film crew with collective agreement support.

• Daily time entry — Call/Wrap/Pause with day type (Prep, Shoot, Return, Travel)
• Collective agreements — DE (TV FFS), AT (KV Filmberufe), FR (Conv. collective), IT (CCNL)
• Automatic calculations — Overtime tiers, night surcharges, weekend/holiday premiums
• Weekly summary — Aggregated hours, surcharges, and earnings
• Submit workflow — Finalize and lock completed weeks

For details see Time Tracking.

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Insurance & Valuation

Track equipment insurance and fleet valuation.

• Fleet insurance tracker — Monitor coverage for all owned gear
• Project insurance tab — Track production-specific policies
• Project ATA carnet tab — Customs documentation per project

For details see Insurance & Valuation.

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Accounting & Expense Tracking

Currently gated to owner accounts in production (per v0.223.8) — dev / staging shows the full surface. Lifts when Accounting goes GA. See Accounting (Expense Tracking) for the complete user guide.

Capture every business receipt inside Cine Power Planner with German tax-form mapping baked in:

• Three capture flows — Scan (phone camera with auto-quad detection + OCR), Upload (PDF / JPG / PNG / HEIC; smart PDF text-extraction with OCR fallback), Manual (cash receipts, blank form).
• SKR04 categories aligned with tax filings — 34-row German chart-of-accounts seed, each row pre-mapped to its Anlage EÜR line (e.g. Z44 Reisek. Unternehmer) and UStVA Vorsteuer-Kennziffer (e.g. KZ 66, KZ 84+67 § 13b reverse-charge, or null for VAT-exempt).
• Bewirtungsbeleg compliance — when you categorize a receipt as 6822 Bewirtungskosten geschäftlich (70 % deductible) or 6820 Aufmerksamkeiten (100 % deductible), a dedicated fieldset captures the § 4 Abs. 7 EStG record-keeping (place, date, attendees, business reason, signature attestation). A soft-warning banner lists any missing fields — generic phrases like "Geschäftsessen" are flagged because the Finanzamt rejects them.
• Multi-currency — per-expense ISO currency + user-entered FX rate; amountEur is computed and stored at entry time for historical stability.
• Linked to projects + invoices — one project link + one invoice link per expense. Producers see crew-submitted expenses on their projects; expenses can be promoted to invoice line items via the existing pipeline.
• Status lifecycle — self-mode (draft → final → paid) when you own the linked project; collab-mode (draft → submitted → approved → reimbursed) when a crew member submits to a producer's project.
• Settings → Accounting — manage your category list: rename labels, override tax rate / EÜR line / UStVA Kennziffer / deductibility %, hide built-ins, add custom rows, restore defaults non-destructively.

For details see Accounting (Expense Tracking).

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Scan to PDF & OCR

The Scan-to-PDF tool (under PDF Tools) and the receipt-scanner share a reliable OCR pipeline (v0.226.0+):

• Smart PDF extraction — native-text PDFs (Lexware / sevDesk / e-invoices) extract in <500 ms with no OCR cost; image-based PDFs fall back to OCR (capped at 10 pages with a page-cap warning banner).
• Encrypted PDFs rejected — the app never prompts for a password; decrypt locally first via PDF Tools → Decrypt.
• 30-day OCR cache — re-scanning the same blob within 30 days returns instantly with a "from cache" badge; tap Run again to force fresh OCR.
• Typed error messages — failures surface specific messages (timeout, worker crash, unsupported format, etc.) instead of generic errors. See Error Codes — Scanner / OCR Errors.
• Abort on retake — tapping retake or navigating away cancels the in-flight OCR within ~50 ms.
• Per-page status — Scan-to-PDF surfaces ✓ / ⚠ / ✗ per page with retry / skip affordances on failed pages.

For details see PDF Tools Suite — Scanning & OCR.

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Maintenance & Lifecycle

Track condition and maintenance schedules for owned gear.

• Condition levels — Mint, Good, Fair, Damaged, Out of Service
• Condition history — Timeline of condition changes with notes
• Maintenance scheduling — Recurring service intervals with auto-creation of next entry
• Booking prevention — Out-of-service gear blocked from projects; damaged gear shows warnings

For details see Owned Gear.

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Temporary Assignments

Assign temporary gear and crew to projects with date-scoped scheduling.

• Date ranges or specific dates — Flexible scheduling for temp items
• TEMP badges — Amber visual styling distinguishes temporary from permanent items
• Gear List toggle — Switch between Permanent and Temporary views
• Crew Tab toggle — Same toggle for crew assignments
• Per-day totals — Power draw and weight combine permanent + temporary gear

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Search

Quick Switcher (Cmd/Ctrl + K)

The Quick Switcher is a command palette for instant navigation:

1. Press Cmd/Ctrl + K anywhere in the app
2. Start typing to search across projects, features, and settings
3. Use arrow keys to navigate results, Enter to select

Global Search

Navigate to Search in the sidebar for full-text search.

Search Scope

Search across all content types:

• Projects (by name, description)
• Items (by name, category, notes)
• Templates
• Contacts
• Devices

Filters

Narrow results by:

• Content type (projects, items, contacts, etc.)
• Date range
• Category

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Settings

Navigate to Settings in the sidebar.

Appearance

• Theme — Light, Dark, or Pink
• Language — English or German
• Imprint — Legal notice and contact information

Data

• Download Full Backup — Export all data as JSON
• Import Full Backup — Restore from a backup file
• Restore from Device Backup — Recover from OPFS snapshot

Cloud

• Sign In / Sign Out — Manage authentication
• Sync Settings — Configure sync behavior
• Calendar Sync — Google/Outlook integration

Notifications

• Push Notifications — Enable/disable browser push notifications for shared project updates

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Backup and Restore

Automatic Backups

• Auto-save — All changes saved to IndexedDB immediately
• OPFS snapshots — Periodic crash-recovery backups

Manual Backups

1. Go to Settings → Backup & Data → Backup
2. Click Download full backup
3. A .zip is downloaded containing all projects, contacts, templates, preferences and stored images

Restoring Data

From OPFS snapshot:

1. Settings → Backup & Data → Backup → Browse device backups
2. Pick a snapshot and click Restore. (Restore from device backup, beside it, takes no pick — it applies the latest snapshot straight away.)

From full backup:

1. Settings → Backup & Data → Backup → Import full backup
2. Select your backup .zip

⚠️ Importing a backup merges its contents into your current data — it does not wipe what you already have. A safety snapshot of your current state is written first, so an import is recoverable.

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Ctrl/Cmd + P does not export a PDF — there is no Export-PDF shortcut. This table listed one, and listed Ctrl/Cmd + K as "Focus Search", until v0.774.2. Both chords open the Quick Switcher; focus-search is Ctrl/Cmd + F. Keyboard Shortcuts corrected the same Export-PDF claim on 2026-09-07 and this summary was not updated with it.

For a full list see Keyboard Shortcuts, or press ? in the app.

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Tips and Best Practices

1. Name projects clearly — Include client name and date (e.g., "Acme Inc — March 2026")
2. Use categories — Keep long gear lists organized
3. Add notes to items — Include serial numbers or special requirements
4. Use templates — Save time on recurring shoot types
5. Export backups regularly — Download a full backup weekly
6. Archive completed projects — Keep the dashboard clean
7. Install as PWA — Get offline access and a better experience
8. Don't use private/incognito mode — It prevents data persistence

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Troubleshooting

For common issues and solutions see the dedicated Troubleshooting Guide.

Quick Fixes

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Related Documentation

• Quick Start Guide — Get started in 5 minutes
• Provider System — Detailed provider workflow
• Authentication — Account setup and cloud sync
• Collaboration — Sharing and real-time features
• Accounting (Expense Tracking) — Receipt capture, SKR04 categories, Bewirtungsbeleg
• PDF Tools Suite — 86 PDF utilities + Scan to PDF + OCR
• Glossary — Domain terminology
• FAQ — Frequently asked questions
• Keyboard Shortcuts — Full shortcut reference

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Last Updated: 2026-09-09 Version: 0.790.2