System Requirements

Operating System	macOS 10.13 High Sierra or newer Recommended: macOS 13 Ventura or newer for best performance.
Processor	Universal binary — runs natively on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel No Rosetta translation layer required on Apple Silicon Macs.
Storage	~25 MB for the application Project files vary by size of imported photos, scripts, and floorplans.
Internet	Not required — CINEside is fully offline Internet is only used for software download, license activation, and software updates. All data stays on your machine
Display	1280 × 800 minimum, Retina recommended

Native File Formats

.cnsd

CINEside Project

Main project file. Stored as a folder containing the project data and all associated photos. Open by double-click or drag onto the app.

CINEside

.cnsf

Share Package

Role-based export for collaborators. Export for Director or Export for Cinematographer — strips fields not relevant to the recipient. Fully editable by the receiver.

CINEside

.cnct

CONNECT Package

Read-only export for CINEside CONNECT. Allows collaborators to annotate and leave notes without access to the full project data.

CONNECT

.cnsn

CONNECT Notes

Notes package returned from a CONNECT collaborator back to CINEside. Imports directly into the corresponding project on double-click.

CONNECT

Import Formats

PDF Screenplay import (text extraction, scene detection, block-level anchoring). Also supported as photos and floorplans — each PDF page is converted to a JPEG automatically.

JPEG · PNG · TIFF · HEIC · WebP · GIF Reference photos, storyboard frames, floorplans, lighting plans, sun position screenshots. Compressed and stored locally in the project folder. Exotic formats (RAW, PSD, multi-layer TIFF) are not supported.

Export Formats

PDF — Shots & Script Facing-pages layout — shots on the left, script on the right. A4 or US Letter. Optionally includes scene photos, shot photos, floorplans, lighting plans, scene tags, and links. Generated entirely on-device.

PDF — Shot List only Shots without script pages. A4 or US Letter. Same include options as above.

PDF — iPad / Tablet Same facing-pages layout as Shots & Script, with larger text and a wider margin on script pages for Apple Pencil annotations. Designed for reading in landscape on a large tablet — shots on the left, script on the right. CINEside is a Mac app; this is a considered response to on-set tablet use, not a native iPad app.

PDF — Notes Sheet Scene-level notes, CONNECT annotations, and lighting notes compiled into a separate document, sorted by scene and recipient.

PDF — VFX / SFX Sheet Extracted list of all VFX and SFX-flagged shots across the project.

PDF — Schedule Multi-day shoot planning — assign scenes to shooting days, then arrange shots within each day by drag and drop. Export a PDF for one day or all days at once, with a clear day header. Optionally includes a scene overview with flags, crew, equipment, photos, floorplan, and lighting.

PDF — Location Dossier Per-location document for tech scouts and reccies. Covers notes, reference photos, floorplan, and lighting plan for the location, followed by all scenes and shots at that location. Supports locations and sub-locations — a theatre with separate rooms, a house with garden and interior. Multiple locations can be exported in a single document.

PDF — Addt'l Equipment All additional equipment entries across the project, filterable by category: Camera, Cam Support / Dolly, Lighting, and Grip. Useful for sending category-specific lists to individual departments.

PDF — Addt'l Crew All additional crew entries across the project, grouped by role — each role listing the scenes it applies to. Useful for generating a crew overview per department or role.

.cnct · .cnsf Collaboration packages for CONNECT and role-based sharing (see above).

CSV Shot List and Schedule export as comma-separated spreadsheet — importable into Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets, or any scheduling software. Includes all shot data: scene, size, angle, movement, anchor, VFX/SFX flags, notes, and estimated time per shot.

Licensing & Purchase

CINEside for Mac — Early Access

€79 excl. VAT

Regular price €129 from v1.0 · Sold via Gumroad · License key delivered by email

One-time purchase
Free updates — no subscription
Full offline use
Atomic saving & rolling backups
Unlimited PDF exports
CONNECT export enabled
No watermarks
Early Access pricing locked in

Without a license key, CINEside runs in demo mode: the app is fully functional for evaluation, but saving, CONNECT export, and PDF export are restricted (PDFs are watermarked). A license key is entered once in the app — a brief internet connection is required for activation, after which the app runs fully offline. No account or login required.

CINEside CONNECT

Free companion app for collaborators

Collaborators — directors, script supervisors, or anyone reviewing the shot plan — use CINEside CONNECT to receive a read-only view, leave annotations and notes, and send them back. No CINEside license required.

Free — no license required

Data & Privacy

Data storage	All project data is stored locally on your Mac. Nothing is uploaded to any server.
Cloud sync	Not built in — project folders can be placed in iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or any sync service of your choice. Avoid opening the same project simultaneously from two machines.
Backups	Project files are written atomically — a crash or power loss during a save can never leave a half-written file. CINEside also keeps automatic rolling backups in a hidden `.backups/` folder inside each project folder, and opens the most recent good backup automatically if a project file is ever unreadable.
License activation	Requires a one-time internet connection to validate the Gumroad license key. No account is created.
Analytics / Telemetry	None. CINEside does not collect usage data.