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Brief Import lets you skip the manual setup that comes with every new project. Drop in the file you already have, a production brief, a client deck, a breakdown document, and CineFlow reads it, extracts the production data, and builds out a project for you. Scenes, shots, shoot days, crew, equipment, callsheets, and budget lines are all populated in one pass.

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What gets created

When you import a brief, CineFlow reads the document and creates:
  • Project title and details: production title, type, status, director, DP, aspect ratio, and shoot dates
  • Shoot days: each date in the brief becomes a shoot day entry
  • Scenes and shots: narrative scene headings become scenes; individual setups or coverage lines become shots linked to their parent scene
  • Crew: names and roles extracted from the brief; day rates and hourly rates are added when stated explicitly
  • Equipment: gear items with category (camera, lighting, grip, sound, etc.) and quantity
  • Callsheets: one draft callsheet per shoot day when the brief includes date and location information
  • Budget lines: cost items and a total budget when the brief contains a budget table
CineFlow only adds information that appears in your brief. It never invents crew names, equipment, dates, or scenes. If a field is missing from the document, it’s left blank for you to fill in.

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Supported file types

The maximum file size is 3.5 MB. If your file is larger, compress images inside PowerPoint or export the document as a PDF first.

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How to import a brief

1

Open your dashboard

Go to your CineFlow dashboard. You’ll see your projects and a New Project card.
2

Drop your file onto the New Project card

Drag your brief file from your file manager and drop it directly onto the New Project card. You can also click the brief import button on that card to open a file picker.
3

Wait for your project to be created

CineFlow uploads your file and navigates you to the new project immediately. A status banner appears at the top of the project page while the AI reads your brief and populates the data. This usually takes under a minute.
4

Review and refine the imported data

Once the banner confirms your project is ready, check each section, shot list, crew, gear, callsheets, and fill in anything the brief didn’t include.

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The import status banner

While your brief is being processed, a banner at the top of the project page keeps you informed:
  • Processing: the AI is reading your brief and setting up your project. You can navigate away; CineFlow sends a notification when it’s done.
  • Ready: setup is complete. The banner disappears and a success notification appears.
  • Error: something prevented the import from completing. You can delete the project and try again, or keep the project and fill in the details manually.
When import completes, CineFlow sends a confirmation email to your account address.

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Tips for best results

Briefs with clear headings, labelled sections, and consistent formatting produce the most accurate imports. Scene headings like INT. WAREHOUSE - DAY or labelled columns in a shot list table are read reliably. Briefs that mix scene descriptions and setup notes in a single paragraph may result in fewer shots being extracted.
Brief Import creates shoot days only when it finds dates in ISO or common date formats (for example, 2025-09-15 or 15 September 2025). Vague references like “Day 1” are used for labels but don’t produce shoot day entries unless a date is also present.
Crew rates are only imported when a figure is explicitly associated with a person (for example, “DOP, $1,200/day”). Aggregate budget lines for crew are captured as finance cost lines, not as individual rate cards.
Some PowerPoint files with heavy image content or unusual layouts can exceed the 3.5 MB size limit or produce sparse text extraction. Exporting your deck as a PDF before importing usually resolves both issues.
If your brief is a scanned document or a single-page image, Brief Import uses AI vision to read it. Results depend on image quality, typed documents produce more accurate results than handwritten or low-resolution scans.

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Powered by AI

Brief Import is powered by Anthropic Claude and is built into your CineFlow subscription. You don’t need to provide an API key or configure anything.
After a brief import, run Gear Reconcile from the Gear page to normalise equipment names and catch any duplicate or missing items the AI inferred from your shot list. See Reconcile your gear list with AI.