Directories Vendors, Stock, Software, Companies, Job Boards, etc Software Directory This is automatically populated from the Software section. A lot of this software is cross-platform. If it isn't, chances are there's an analog with a different name.  Some software has breakout pages for pro-tips and tutorials.  Software To Design, Create, & Edit Ableton Live Audio editor and music composer - great for mixtapes Adobe After Effects (AE) VFX, Compositing, Motion Graphics Adobe Audition (AU) Audio Editing Adobe Bridge (BR) Local file management, batching, renaming Adobe InDesign (ID) Making decks, presentations, making books, making portfolios Adobe Lightroom (LR) Raw editing and photo library mgmt/ cloud services Adobe Media Encoder (AME) Export, watch-folders, transcode Adobe Photoshop (PS) Photo editing, still compositing  Adobe Premiere Pro (PR) Video Editing, Titles, Color Apple Keynote Making decks and presentations, but you can use it for a lot of things Apple Pages Contemporary ClarisWorks.    It's just like Office or Google Docs except you don't have to pay for it and your data isn't being tracked 🙃 Avid Video NLE Software   I’ve never used it, and it's never been a requirement or a desired software for any company or project I’ve worked on. I’ve only seen it in the wild once or twice. That said: it is used for feature film and documentaries and sometimes tour dorks use it to edit their show before they throw it into Disguise 🤢 BMD DaVinci / Resolve Great and free video NLE and color software, but I need ADLs (Adobe Dynamic Link) too much. My need to have things colored does not outweigh the need for me to easily speak with After Effects.   EDLs (Edit Decision Lists) are a pain in the ass that should be done by the editor’s assistant’s assistants. Good luck verifying any speed ramps!! The BMD universe and Adobe CC interpret speed ramping differently. The solve is to either bake the ramp before an EDL, or do your color before your ramp! EXIFTOOL A command line file auditing tool.   Very similar to FFPROBE, which is FFMPEG’s auditing tool. Slightly different. I tend to use EXIF to pull metadata details from video files so I can remember what lens was on the camera, or what aperture, etc. FFMPEG / FFPROBE Command line/terminal transcode, packaging of audio and video files. Very powerful. Faster than AME but steep learning curve for non-code folks.  Handbrake An FFMPEG top that's very very good. Been around forever.  Immersive Designer Pro (IDP) A dongle locked x64 only projection engineering tool. It’s pretty great, but it is Windows only and x64, so you can’t run it on ARM or Apple Silicone (even using Parallels).   Much of these tools can be manually rebuilt in Vectorworks with one massive piece missing: you can NDI or spout/syphon into IDP for real time previz and mapping tests. Very powerful. Every few months I try to run this on Paralells and it continues not to work (April 2023, last checked). iZotope RX Audio Editor Noise removal, steam creation, audio swiss army knife. Pricey but best in class utilities.  Jokyo HAP Encoder A proprietary new version of the HAP encoder. It is an evolutionary version of the OG Vidvox HAP → Disguise HAP. Jokyo’s encoder is much better with banding and noise within gradients and introduces a new HAP format as well (HAPr). The tweakable options with Jokyo are superior as well. Can recommend.  Neat DeNoise A great video / photo denoise tool (plugin for AE/PR), get its own section in software because it's so good.  Omnigraffle A paid drawing app that is great for flow charts, system diagrams, projector rasters, etc. Better than drawing manually in Vectorworks, but harder than drawing automatically in Vectorworks (using ConnectCAD).  ShutterEncoder A front end GUI (or “top”) for FFMPEG, FFPROBE, EXIFTOOL and more. Very good. Will do the trick for 90% of use cases. Thanks Melinda Sihalath for this one.  Sketchup (SKP) A simpler tool for CAD that was free for at least a decade before it was sold by Google to another company. Lots of Millenials know how to use it. There is a free “viewer” companion app. Topaz Video Enhance AI A+ video upscale and restoration tool Vectorworks (VWX) CAD for theatrical and event design (but also for architecture, landscaping things). There is a free “viewer” companion app.    Really good for projection engineering even if you're doing it manually (the built-in projector tools are not so thorough)     A lot of this software is cross-platform. If it isn't, chances are there's an analog with a different name.  Some software has breakout pages for pro-tips and tutorials.  Software To Display, Interact, & Perform Ableton Live Audio editor and music composer - great for mixtapes Garagecube MadMapper (Mad / MM) Projection Mapping & Blending, Pixel & LED mapping   I use it for those things, but also: Load-Testing Quick + Dirty Media Review Quick + Dirty Media Audits  Garagecube Modul8 VJ party time Isadora (Izzy) A node based creative software that’s a great tool to quickly build multimedia projects with. Good for performance, theater, dance, etc.  Open Frameworks (OF) Creative code and scripting environment QLab Mac only audio / video cue system. Generally speaking, the standard tool for show audio control. This is a good thing to know how to use. It’s video capabilities are great for cueing as well, but not great for mapping IMHO. Pro-Tip NDI your video cue to another program or Syphon out for final output.  Resolume VJ software; multi-display; video generators; cueing.  TouchDesigner Like Isadora but does more things (except projection map as well). All the Izzy dorks now use Touch.  Unity Like Unreal, but now kind of like “Beta” - By that I mean penultimate. Though I think it still has logic advantages.  Unreal Engine A video game engine that CT uses for complex and interactive playback where game logic is helpful or there is a requirement for real-time realistic rendering VDMX Affordable, accessible, multi-platform custom playback and mapping software. Software For Data, Numbers, & Management AirTable Super powerful spreadsheet adjacent tool that's great for managing all kinds of data.  Kanban, Gantt, Automation, Calendars. Really great.    I've heard it called "a better smarsheet" but I don't know what that is. Apple Numbers It's just like Excel or Google Sheets except you don't have to pay for it and your data isn't being tracked 🙃 Google Sheets Probably the best spreadsheet purist tool out there. Excel feels like ancient technology in comparison (though in some cases, you still need to use it).  Software For Communications Discord Slack for board-game nerds iMessage Contemporary AIM Slack Discord for businesses and political action Calculators, Unit Conversion, & Measurements This section is a combination of apps and web apps that will help you do tons of different math things and save you some time.  Standalone Calculator Applications Netmedia.dev’s Timecode Calculator Mac OS App Timecode Calculator. I've asked them to add in custom timecode... let's see! Numi A contextual calculator that will save custom functions, define variables, as well as formulas and you can use markdown within a calculator set (thanks to Sean Leo for this one). Highly recommended.  Units Master Converting things like feet and meters, also a calculator for feet / inches / fractions. All about size things. You can do a lot of this in-line in Vectorworks, but this is a little faster. Their hotkeys are a little weird and can’t find the doc right now but “F” will do feet (not ‘) and “I” will do inches (not “).  Or just use a spreadsheet 😉 - Google Sheets is free and good. Apple’s Numbers is free and fine – the better feature is that Apple’s Keynote and Pages have tables that allow you to use spreadsheet formulas. Microsoft’s Excel is good, too, just bulky as hell and why pay for something if you can get it for free… oh yeah because nothing is free in this life.  Here’s an example Numi recipe for calculating file transfer times over x bandwidth: // manual entry // // enter target file size MBs in variable vFileSizeMB // vFileSizeMB = 3370363.64 MB = 3,370,363.64 MB vFileSizeBG = vFileSizeMB in GB = 3,370.36 GB vFileSizeTB = vFileSizeMB in TB = 3.37 TB // enter bandwidth in megabits per second // vMbiPS = 700 Mb = 700 Mb // auto calc // vMByPS = vMbiPS in MB = 87.5 MB vEstimateSeconds = vFileSizeMB/VMByPS = 38,518.44 VEstimate = vEstimateSeconds*1seconds in hours = 10 h 41 min 58 s Web Application Calculators FOV Calculator for when you need to calculate the field of view for a camera based on sensor size / lens MM / etc. Very useful. The person who made this is a very smart psychopath.  Projector Central Throw Distance Calculator Brand agnostic. Definitely the go-to calculator for quick things. Good for estimating brightness. Usually not as up to date as brand calculators – there’s a lag for new projectors and lenses. You should always verify with brand calculators and sometimes, you just need to get the projector on a bench and try it out. There are some calculators that are off, but it’s usually marginal and it’s rare.  Projector Screen Rando Calculators Collection of projector calculators - fL, viewing angle, throw distance etc. They’ve got most projector, models. If they don’t check a manufacturer directly. Remember a .5:1 throw isn’t 100% 1:1 between models. Chip sizes change this match just a little bit. Point being :5:1 on one model isn’t the same as .5:1 on another, but they’re close!  Proportional Calculator For when you’re feeling lazy about doing proportional algebra and you don't want to open a Google Sheet or use Numi or a calculator. PPD Calculator Viewing Angle and Screen Door Math Custom Calculators My buddy Avery built out a calculator to determine a max scale based on a series of values .    The goal with this tool was to be able to find what the largest scale possible is that results in whole numbers based on multiple numbers. You need whole numbers when you’re working with pixels!  Brand Specific Projector Calculators BARCO throw calculator Epson throw calculator NEC throw calculator Optoma throw calculator PANAsonic throw calculator Measuring Documents Digitally For when you don’t want to open Vectorworks, or when you want to get information quick + dirty If you’re given a ground plan or elevations and they are to-scale (eg ¼” = 1’0”), you can open up the Preview app (on a mac), press Command-I, go over to the crop options, and change the units to inches.   Then you make a selection box in preview, and get the approximate dimensions of that selection.   In this example, I’ve made a selection that is 1x1” (the width and height).   This is the equivalent of 4x4’ in ¼” scale.  A good way to verify whether or not the drawing is to the scale that it is indicated to be using, is to measure it against something you “know” In ¼” scale:  sheet goods are often 4x8’ AKA 1x2” doors are often 2’6”-3’ wide AKA 0.625-0.75” Any scale indicators on the page (annotated dimensions FTW) A spec for something that you can look up (like projector dimensions, for example) Unfortunate Caveat: It is fairly typical to receive drawings with indicated scales that are wrong or are inconsistent from drawing to drawing on a single page. This is something I’ve dealt with from MEPs, GCs, Architects, Scenic Designers and Manufacturers!  The best thing to do is ask for something with a correctly indicated scale, but that isn’t always possible.  Or learn some 3D CAD and/or 3D visual fx software and ask for the CAD! General Use Tools 1Password If you’re not using 1Password, or a program like it, do so immediately. 1Password is a tool that you use to track all your password and login information. You just need to know the primary password and have the secret key on hand somewhere for initial setup. I use 1Password across multiple devices, systems, and OS’ to track all my passwords. It’ll change your life. Worth every penny. DropBox offers a similar service for free (with a Pro account or higher), but I’ve never bothered. I’m sure it’s fine, but don’t know anyone who uses it! DaisyDisk Mac OS application that indexes drives / folders so that utilization can be better analyzed through visualization. If you’re trying to free up some space, or you have some unknown bloat, this is a good tool to find out why and where (see also Grand Perspective).  Czkawka Duplicate file finder and more! Requires some homebrew commands to be able to use the GUI version.  FreeFileSync Free, donation ware. Very similar to Sync Folders Pro, but available across different operating systems and more widely used. Have seen the fastest possible web transfers using this program. Thanks to Dylan Steenkamp for this gem.  Grand Perspective Mac OS application that does exactly the same thing as DaisyDisk except it’s way less sexy. The block format, however, may be preferred over DD, which has files represented circularly. I thought they stopped developing a while ago, but they are still going as of summer 2023. Happy to see that! Jump Desktop Enterprise screenshare tool with really low latency used for Post Production work (and good for almost everything else, too).  Magnet Mac OS level shortcut that allows you to use hotkeys to arrange application windows. Very good, but some Magnet shortcuts have conflicts with specific software, like After Effects. This automatically disables Magnet shortcuts when that is the active app. This is rare! I believe conflicts can be avoided, but it is a manual process of cross checking between apps. I’ll update here if/when I figure out a smarter way to fix that.     Another bug is that Adobe Illustrator will work dumb slow in some cases with Magnet enabled.  MonitorControl Gives you control of Audio and Brightness settings for external monitors. You know when you plug in a display and you can’t mute or use the Mac volume buttons to change the levels? This allows you to use your OS volume and brightness keys to control an external monitor – just make sure to allow it to work in Privacy & Security → Accessibility Parallels A way to run Windows OS on an Apple ARM Silicone. On older devices (MacIntel), BootCamp is preferable. On ARM, you can’t run contemporary AAA games, but you can run Star Wars Battlefront II (the OG one from 2005).  Parsec A screenshare software that is very reliable and has a good frame rate. Developed originally by Unity for cloud gaming. Good for remote management, but has a very annoying setup protocol that I’ll breakout here at some point. Can hit servers with tons of screens, but not Mosaic. Windows/Mac.  Restart on Crash Windows utility that you can set to automatically launch a crashed program. Be warned: increase the timeout so you don’t launch tons of application instances. Also, doesn’t work if theres a system dialog that hangs the program…  ScreenConnect A nicely priced screenshare software with tons of iT features, tiered access levels, managed accounts, the ability to brand the application to your company. Can hit servers with up to 8ish screens, including Mosaic. Windows/Mac. Latency aggressive for post-production work but good for IT.  Sync Folders Pro Great auto-sync, backup, merge tool. Build and save actions. Recommended. Velja Mac OS level shortcut application that allows you prompt for browser selection for any link clicked on the OS level, or to set rules to open specific browsers, or do specific actions based on a link type.    Here’s some rules I set up so that all things google happen in Firefox. This means that I can be logged into G-Suite in Firefox, but not use it for anything except for G-Suite (except google.com for searching). If logged out of Google in Safari, this prevents Google from tracking my searches against my email data. I originally created this information with Google Docs and I’m surprised I haven’t got a DDS agfp9jadgm’;dgz aefdsii ///// shutdown /s /  VLC (Video Lan Client) A utilitarian AV player for Mac/Windows that’s been around since forever. It can play most, but not all, things. It’s free. You can playlist assets. A very good swiss army knife. Has command line controls, too!   WebKiosk A lockdown app for Mac OS by xproline.io to turn a Mac into a locked kiosk running a WebApp. Paid version. Used it in 2024 for a bunch of webapp demos and it works real good. Link .  WiFi Explorer Mac OS application that allows you to see all the available wifi networks around you. This can help you narrow down channel usage to prevent congestion. It's also helpful to determine WAP placement. Some pro-tips here .  WinDirStat A Windows application that does the same thing as DaisyDisk or Grandperspective: visually indexes hard drive utilization to help manage computer storage.  Vendor Directory In general, try to support the smaller companies when you can over big box stores !! Vendor Type Description 4Wall   AVL Installer, Rentals, Labor, Production Support     Big AVL rental house and integrator. Global. Decent rates. Good folks. Adafruit   Parts   Like Digi-Key or Mouser but much more accessible and is a great resource when it comes to making electronic things (education, best practices, etc). They also make some parts. They sell all things Arduino and Pi. They are based in NYC, but they do not have a storefront and they don’t allow pickups. I have tried many times. Better to call around other Creative Tech companies or your homies and ask if someone can hook you up from their stock if you need something day-of or last minute.   Adoroma   Film/Photo/Audio/Video/Grip/Lighting Rentals & Purchases   NYC based film/photo/video/grip/lighting company. Same holiday schedule as B&H. Smaller, less inventory, but better sales engineers. Good to get to know folks here. All great people. Used dept will take pretty much anything and is a great place to get good deals on things. For example: I got an open box B+W 72mm UV filter for $5 (value is close to $100). Good to support these guys. Located in Chelsea. Pro-tip: they have a membership you can pay for (think it’s called Adoroma pro or something). With this membership, every item you purchase is automatically enrolled in an unlimited 1 year warranty. If you’re buying a lot from these guys, get this membership. It has saved me a couple of times.   B&H   Film/Photo/Audio/Video/Grip/Lighting Purchases   NYC based film/photo/video/grip/lighting company. Strictly follows Jewish Orthodox calendar. So they’re closed for high holidays, all Saturdays and early on Fridays. Bigger, huge inventory, but better corporate sales dept. Pro-tip: set up a biz account and do “quotes” and you’ll get a steeper discount the bigger your order is and whatever margin flexibility they have on the specific items. Ditto on the used prices, but they don’t accept as many things as Ado does. Has a significant projector, mount, CCTV, and display inventory, too. Shipping times are incredible. Midtown  😵‍💫   Boxx   Custom Computers   Online retailer that produces powerful Windows servers that can be used as media servers or as high-end VFX and creative software machines. Desktop or rack mount. They also produce laptops but have never bought or used one. From 2018 to 2023, I’ve purchased about 18 rack models. Different builds. Always satisfied and have never had a problem (!!)   Brytesoft   Operating System Resellers   Online retailer of Windows licenses. I think I can thank Kurt Lorey for this find, but have been using it for years. On the surface it seems very suspicious: Windows licenses at <%20 of retail. All my research has led me to - yes they are legit. Also: there’s no way they’d be able to operate this long (at least since 2017). You need to consume licenses within 30 days of purchase. Can recommend.   Canal Sound & Light   Audio/Grip/Lighting Purchases   A small NYC store that doesn’t publish an online inventory but has a lot of the things you might need in a pinch. Cables. Lights. Displays. Speakers. Their return policy is, without exception: no. Surprising discounts that make you a little suspect. I’m not saying their gear fell off of a truck, but it is a confusing situation. Canal SoHo / Chinatown   Digi-Key   Parts   Online-only retailer of electronic parts, sensors, switches, and micro-controllers. More blue-collar than Adafruit; very utilitarian. Shipping is never free, so order in batches when possible!   Fotocare   Film/Photo/Video Purchases   NYC based film/photo/video/grip/lighting company. Smaller. Weekdays only but follows general corporate calendars so is open when Ado and B&H are not. They get stock of new products faster than the big boys. They also do photo printing / processing and carry all kinds of film. Quick turn around on in-house repairs. Have had sensors cleaned here and can recommend. Staff is fantastic. Try to support these guys over the big ones. Chelsea.   FullCompass   Film/Photo/Audio/Video/Grip/Lighting Purchases (specializes in AVL)   Online only A/V retailer. Like Sweetwater but with more of an emphasis on video and corporate installation gear. Also decent projector and display inventory,. Fun fact: I bought my first projector from FullCompass in 2006. Believe it was a BenQ. Time flies and then you die!   K&M Camera   Film/Photo/Video Purchases   NYc film/photo store that’s like Fotocare, but with hardware store vibes. Some would call it “the set shop of Fotocare.” Has helped me with rando grip over the years. Downtown. Moved in the last couple years to one of the Villages. Can’t remember which!   Miyar Adventures   Gear   West coast retailer of outdoor gear with very competitive pricing. Kind of like REI but carries a lot more photo things for gearheads. Best pricing on Peak Design gear by a significant margin. Can recommend.   Mouser   Parts   What’s the difference between these guys and Digi-Key? Marginal pricing, I guess. Shipping is never free, so order in batches.   Rentex   AVL Rentals   AVL rental house.   Sam Ash   Audio/Support Purchases   Like guitar center but quieter and not as many locations. Speakers, instruments, audio things in general. They carry some video things as well but limited to cables and there is a premium. Helpful and knowledgeable staff. Great place to get cabling. They also stock a decent selection of lighting, though mostly of the ADJ variety.   Set Shop   Grip/Lights/Electrics   NYC based grip and (I think former) scenic fab company. They’ve got the gels, the paper, the clamps and a very NYC hardware store vibe. Chelsea.   SimplyNuc   Custom Computers   Online retailer of NUCs. Wide variety of specs and chassis to choose from. Great pricing. Lots of upgradeable options that have been well thought out. Have purchased about 30 from them in 2022-2023. Great build quality. Particularly like their fanless units.   Sweetwater   Film/Photo/Audio/Video/Grip/Lighting Purchases (specializes in AVL)   Mostly audio online-only retailer. Some video things but not as much as FullCompass. Great sales engineers.     Stock Directory What is Stock and How Does It Work? Stock can be incredibly expensive or it can be free.  There are several models for stock - you can: Get “royalty free” for free all over the place (sound, video, photo) Pay per item Pay for a batch or package Pay for “credits” Pay for a library unlimited / subscription license  License Types There are a bunch but what you want is: to use something however you want (modify, composite, throw poop emojis in front of it) without having to credit the source. Unless it’s theater or whatever, then throw that shit in the program and no one cares.  Some clients will ask for “ warranties ” with the product you deliver that uses stock. I’m not really sure what this means, but many subscription and/or free stock sites don’t offer this level of protection. My guess: this is why GETTY is so spendy. Most clients DGAF about this - that being said, proceed at your own risk. In a decade plus of using Stock, and with at least 100 clients, this has happened to me 3 times. People don’t really care as long as you have the rights in general to the footage. In my experience: the odds that someone is going to sue you or the end client is incredibly low - because there’s a building in the background that’s somebody’s intellectual property (like the Eiffel Tower at night, for example). Can you imagine the people that troll through all the stock? Don’t sweat it dude. Buy it, make some assumptions, hope for the best. That said: want to do something potentially offensive on top of a face? Make sure you’re covered.  “Royalty-Free” does not mean a clip is free, it means you don’t need to pay additional royalties for use of the stock item. It also often but not always means that you don’t need to provide attribution. A clip can be both “free” and “royalty-free” but they are not the same thing.  Video Stock Resources Art.grid   Paid subscription model   The quality is consistently 💯. Less spendy.  I’ve used this and people are surprised it wasn’t shot by me haha. Unfortunately- Can only buy it annually. I think $600. Worth it if you’re doing a lot of stock edits. All things you download you own forever. You have to dig a bit but this why I have hundreds of high quality flares and burns all organized in a PR file. I cannot “resell” this…   Beachfront B-Roll   Free   Some B-Roll this guy used to give away for free Mitch Martinez   Free    Everyone and their mom has used a Mitch Martinez clip in something at least once    Pexels   Free Storyblocks (formerly Videoblocks)   Paid subscription model   Generally a wider net, but the quality is lower. You can engage monthly (cheaper annually tho). Make sure you get a bigger license than a personal if your company is paying for this.    Think it’s biz license. If you’re paying for it and you’re using it as a freelancer then it doesn’t matter. Videoblocks also has tons of Mograph templates with varying degrees of quality. All things you download you own forever.    Your Own Library   Free Start keeping track of all of your footage so you can use it your projects!   Image & Textures Stock Resources Start your engines and start downloading and organizing royalty-free, free stock.  You can pay for things if you want to save time. There are dozens of options: all are “just fine” - Getty, iStock, etc.  Here's some mostly free stuff: Free Images Free   pretty shitty but you can get lucky Life of Pix   Free pretty good but search is bad Lost And Taken   Free   Mostly textures - grain, grunge, paint, vintage - if this site ever goes down, I’ve saved most of these packs in my personal Utility folder. Very useful.    Loc.gov   Free    old shit   Morgue File   Free   pretty good but not a lot to choose from  Pexels   Free    pretty good bad search tho - textures and photos Unsplash   Free Real nice   Vecteezy   Free & Paid   Great source for free vectors - if you’re worried about using something commercially and don’t understand the terms for free usage, you can buy a license. Also, there are paid assets in here, too. I always have a few credits in my account here for an emergency.    Music and Sound Resources Free Music Archive Free I’m pretty sure this is what Nathan Fielder used for Nathan For You. The music in this video is exclusively from here. Great for making things interesting, but not necessarily objectively good   Free Sound Project Free   For all soundscapes, sound FX, and texturing, I always recommend Freesound. incredible library. Donate to them if you can!    Marmoset Paid Stock music - Really easy to navigate and find things for the vibe you need.  MusicBed Paid Stock music - Really easy to navigate and find things for the vibe you need.  Jobs Job Boards & Creative Company Directories Below are some places to begin or continue your job search.  Awesome Creative Technology A Git Repo with lists of Creative Technology organizations, museums, vendors, agencies (and more) broken out by category and location. There are also company-specific job pages. Good stuff.    Dexigner Directory This is a design news website that has a pretty good directory of design and design related companies. It's a good place to find specific companies that do specific things.    Futurespaces Job Board   Creative tech jobs manged by creative tech people. Seems pretty good.  Interactive Immersive HQ Job Board A pretty good Creative Technology job board with high quality, relevant roles at companies you've probably heard of.