Shot breakdowns

On a project page, open the Shot Breakdowns chapter and press + Add Shot Breakdown. The popup asks for three things:

• Name. Leave it empty and it is called Main film.
• Type. Shot breakdown: numbered shots (010, 020, …), Single film, the full edit is the whole job, or R&D: research shots (010-R&D, 020-R&D, …).
• Number of shots. Up to 50 at once, numbered 010, 020, 030. Leave it at 0 for a breakdown you fill in later. Names are optional; there is a box per shot if you want to type them now.

Then pick where it starts from (see the next section) and press Add Shot Breakdown. Press Create and set up instead when you want to adjust the statuses and columns before the first shot: the breakdown is made and its settings open straight away.

Most projects need exactly one breakdown. A campaign with a 30-second and a 60-second cut gets two, and each can have its own shot 010. Once a project has more than one, the breakdown's name appears in front of a shot code wherever the two could be confused: 30 seconds · 010.

Start from offers a starting point, so a new breakdown arrives ready to use:

• Standard is selected on a project's first breakdown. It brings four statuses (Not started, In progress, In review, Done), no extra columns, and your studio's standard shot tasks.
• Same as "…" is selected once the project already has a breakdown. It copies that breakdown's statuses, columns, code hint, frame rate and shot tasks. Never its shots.
• More templates folds open the rest: your studio's own templates, the four examples from Kadrenta, and the other breakdowns in this project.

The four examples are a quick way to see what a breakdown can hold:

• CGI, 25 fps. Statuses: Pending, In progress, In review, Delivered, Omit. Columns: Frames, Priority, Assets, Deadline. Shot tasks: Scene blocking, Animation, Shading, Lighting, Rendering.
• VFX, 24 fps, codes like SQ0010_SH010. Statuses: Not started, In progress, Pending review, Final, Omit. Columns: Sequence, Frames, Cut in, Plate. Shot tasks: Matchmove, Roto, FX, Comp.
• Film, 24 fps, codes like 12A. Statuses: Planned, Scheduled, Shot, Selected, Cut. Columns: Scene, Take, Camera, Lens. Shot tasks: Edit, Clean-up, Grade.
• Motion, 25 fps, codes like Intro. Statuses: To do, Styleframe, Animating, Approved, Dropped. Columns: Duration, Format, On-screen text. Shot tasks: Design, Animate, Render.

A line under the cards always says what your pick brings, before you press anything. A template is copied, never linked: you can change everything in the new breakdown, and changing or deleting the template later leaves breakdowns made from it exactly as they are. The breakdown's settings remember where it came from (Made from VFX).

Every shot has a number, and it may also have a code.

The number goes in tens, 010, 020, 030, the way studios name their folders on disk. The gaps leave room to slide a shot in later: press Add Shot, pick a position (Between 010 and 020), and it becomes 015. A shot number is never renumbered, because by then it is already in file names and conversations. Numbers run up to 990. When two neighbours sit right against each other, that slot is shown greyed out rather than squeezed.

The code is the name your pipeline uses: SQ0010_SH010, 12A, Intro. Type it in Code (optional) when you add a shot, or later under the shot's details. Once a shot has a code, that code is what Kadrenta calls it everywhere: the shot list, task chips, review titles, search and notifications. The number still sets the order and the folder (Shot 030 · folder 030/). Leave the code empty and the number is the name.

A code is unique within its breakdown (upper and lower case count as the same), can never be another shot's number, and can be up to 64 characters. The same code can be used again in a different breakdown.

Want everybody to type codes the same way? Set a code hint in the breakdown's settings, under Code. It shows as the example in every empty Code box, for instance e.g. SQ0010_SH010. It is only a hint; any code is still allowed.

A breakdown can carry its own list of statuses, up to 20. Every shot shows its status as a coloured pill on its row and on its own page. Press the pill, pick another status, and it changes on the spot.

To set up the list, press the gear on the breakdown's line to open Breakdown settings, then Statuses. There you can:

• Add a status with + Add Status, and rename one by clicking its name.
• Pick a colour from six swatches.
• Choose what it counts as: Not started, Active, Done or Omitted. That is how the project page adds up shots across breakdowns, so Delivered in one and Final in another both count as Done.
• Reorder by dragging the grip, or with the arrow keys. New shots always start on the first status in the list.
• Delete a status. If shots stand on it, you pick where they move first, then press Move and delete.

Adding the first status puts every shot already in the breakdown on it, so no pill is ever left empty. A breakdown with no statuses simply shows no pills.

Once a breakdown has statuses, the project header shows a Shots bar next to the task progress, counting shots per status, and the project's tile on the dashboard shows a small version of it. Above the list, Every status filters the shots: Only one status, or All but one.

Columns hold what your shots need beside a code and a name. Open Breakdown settings → Columns, type a name, pick a type and press + Add Column. A breakdown holds up to 30 columns, of six types:

• Text, a free line, for a plate name or a note.
• Number, with an optional Unit shown after it (tk, px).
• Frames, shown As frames or As timecode. You can type 112 or 00:00:04:12; both are stored as frames.
• Choice list, with your own options, each with a colour, added with + Add Option.
• Person, picked from your studio's team.
• Date, picked from a calendar.

Show on row decides whether a column appears on every shot row. Switch it off and the column shows only inside the opened shot. With more than three columns on the rows, they move to a line of their own under the code and name, with a header naming them once, so they line up like a table.

Filling in a value: click the cell on the row, type or pick, and press Enter (Escape cancels). Or open the shot: its Columns section lists every column, and each field saves when you leave it. A value that does not fit the column is refused with a sentence saying why, and nothing is saved.

Sorting and filtering: sort the list by any column on the rows (empty values always go last) and return with Back to shot order. Filter on a choice, a person, or Filled in / Empty. Column filters and the status filter work together.

Changing a column later: rename it by clicking its name. A text column can become a choice list (its existing values become the options) and back, and a number column can become frames and back. Before a type change, Kadrenta counts the values and tells you how many fit. Nothing is thrown away: a value that no longer fits shows as plain text, and fits again if you switch back. Need a different type altogether? Add a new column. Archive puts a column out of view with every value kept, and Restore brings it back.

Each breakdown has one Frame rate, set at the top of its settings: 24, 25, 30, 48, 50 or 60 fps. Every frames column in the breakdown reads timecode at that rate, and a CSV import reads timecodes at it too. Changing the rate never rewrites a frame count; only how frames read as timecode changes.

When you add shots, the box Give every shot your standard tasks puts a set of tasks on each new shot. It starts unticked, so you decide each time.

By default those are your studio's standard shot tasks (see Tasks). A breakdown can have a list of its own instead, for example Roto and Comp in a VFX job: open Breakdown settings → Shot tasks and press Make a list for this breakdown. New shots in that breakdown then get those tasks, in that order; shots already there keep the tasks they have. Use your studio's shot tasks again switches back.

The ☰ on an opened shot follows the same list. It says at the top which one it is showing, This breakdown's shot tasks or Your studio's shot tasks. Tick what this shot needs and each line becomes a task. You can add or remove lines right there too, and the change goes to that same list.

Every breakdown has one row without a number: the full edit, shown as FULL EDIT on the list. It is where the cut comes together, and it goes only when the whole breakdown goes.

For a short job that is one continuous piece of film (an eight- or ten-second spot), choose Single film as the type. There are no numbered shots, and the full edit is the work: it carries the status pill, the columns and the tasks. Add a shot later with Add Shot and it becomes an ordinary breakdown; the full edit then steps back to being the place the cut comes together, and the numbered shots carry the statuses and columns.

An R&D breakdown keeps a research pass apart from the shots it is research for. Its shots are numbered 010-R&D, 020-R&D and so on, and it always sorts above the other breakdowns.

1. Save or export your list as a CSV. In Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets that is Save as CSV or Export to CSV; from ShotGrid, export the shots page. The first row should hold the column names, and one column should hold the shot code.
2. Press Add Shot, then Import a CSV at the foot of the popup, and pick the file. It is read in your browser.
3. Tell Kadrenta what each column is. Each column of your file can become the code, the name, the description, the status, one of the breakdown's columns, or a new column. Kadrenta makes a first guess (ShotGrid's Shot Code, Status, Cut In and Due Date are recognised); change anything that looks wrong. Columns you do not need stay on Skip.
4. Press See what this does. The preview counts what will be added, updated, left unchanged or skipped, and shows each change with the old value beside the new one. Statuses or options the breakdown does not have yet are listed: add them, or pick Or use one that exists.
5. Press Import rows (the button names the count). Nothing is written before this press.

A few rules keep imports safe:

• Importing the same list again updates, it never duplicates. Shots are matched by code, ignoring case, and a shot without a code is found by its number (010). Run the same file twice and the second run changes nothing.
• An empty cell never clears anything, and shots that are not in the file stay as they are. An import never deletes a shot.
• A row with a problem is skipped whole, with a sentence saying why: no code, a code that appears twice, or a value that does not fit (dates are written as 2026-10-15). Fix it in the file and import again.
• New shots go at the end, numbered in tens. Existing shots are never renumbered.
• Up to 1,000 rows per import.
• Standard shot tasks for new shots are a tick box in the preview, off unless you tick it.

Delete a shot from the bin on its row or on its own page. Its tasks go with it, and the popup says how many. Its number becomes free again for a new shot.

Delete a whole breakdown with the bin on its line (or Delete film on the films page). You type its name to confirm, and the popup says what goes: "Deletes its 4 shots and their 20 tasks. The full edit goes too."

Both can be taken back: after the delete, a Deleted · Undo bar appears for a few seconds, and Undo brings the shots back with their tasks, statuses and columns. Tasks that were already deleted by hand before stay deleted.

Set up one breakdown the way you like it, open its settings and press Save as template. Choose A new template and give it a name, or replace one you already have. A template holds the statuses, columns, code hint, frame rate and shot tasks, never the shots. Breakdowns already made from a template keep what they have when you replace it.

Your templates live under Admin Console → Studio settings → Breakdown templates. There you can see what each one holds, rename it, delete it, or make a copy of one of Kadrenta's examples to start from. Saving, renaming and deleting templates needs the studio settings permission; anybody in the studio can start a breakdown from one.

Statuses and columns can also be set from outside the screen, through the same rules as the shot list:

• The Kadrenta API can read one shot and change its code, status and column values with one call, by shot id or by code (PATCH /v1/projects/:projectId/shots/:shotId). It needs a delivery key with the review reach, which is in early access on the Pro plan. The full reference is at the API page.
• Claude can set a shot's status (set_shot_status) and fill in its columns (set_shot_fields) when writing is switched on for you. It names columns, statuses and choices by their words, in any case. See The Claude connection.

Neither one ever creates a status or a column. An unknown name is refused with the list of names that do exist, so a typo never adds a stray status to your breakdown.

The shot list sits in the Shot Breakdowns chapter of the project page; the Films link beside it opens the same breakdowns on a page of their own, one tab per breakdown. Opening a shot shows its versions, tasks and columns. For what you can do with the work on a shot (versions, sending to review, transfers), see Projects.