Paperwork To Go
You know all those times you’ve been up a lift
fixing a light, and just wish you had the focus
paperwork with you so you could focus it back to the
right place?
You know all those times you’ve got arm-ache
from carrying a binder full of focus plots around the
stage?
No more...
Now you can have paperwork to go - without the paper
- by teaming FocusTrack up with your iPad, iPhone or
iPod Touch.
What You Need
To make this work, you need the latest version of
FocusTrack (2.200 or later).
You also need to purchase FileMaker Go for iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. This is very reasonably
priced, and will let you run any FocusTrack, any
SpotTrack, or, come to
that, any other FileMaker Pro file on your
mobile device. You can buy this from the App
Store (there’s one version for the
iPhone/iPod Touch, one for the iPad).
You’ll need iOS4 running on your iPhone or iPod
Touch.
Paperwork To Go
Open your FocusTrack folder and you will find a
selection of files. The ones you’ll want to
move to your i-device are probably:
FocusTrack.ftr - all of your FocusTrack information
RigTrack.ftr - all of your RigTrack information
Cue List.ftr - your cue information
Before moving them onto the i-device, there are a
couple of things you should do:
1. Traditionally, any pictures you add to FocusTrack
or RigTrack have lived in the ‘Focus
Pics’ folder, and any pictures you add to Cue
List have lived in the ‘Cie Pics’ folder.
FocusTrack has then just referenced the pictures.
This has stopped the FocusTrack files becoming
enormous, but has also meant you’ve needed to
keep the pictures in your FocusTrack folder. This
doesn’t work with the i-devices because there
is no easy way of moving the pictures onto the
i-device. Instead, there’s a new option in
FocusTrack: in any of the picture import screens
you’ll see a new checkbox, ‘Embed
Pics’.
If this is checked, photos will be stored within the
FocusTrack databases. This means you can then get rid
of the original image files you want to (though you
probably shouldn’t...), but more importantly
means you can move one file onto your i-device and
all your pictures go too. If you’ve already
imported pictures, check this box then hit the
‘Import Photos’ button again.
2. Make sure you QUIT FocusTrack before moving the
files.
Making The Move
1. Connect your i-device to your
computer and run iTunes (if it doesn’t run
automatically).
2. Wait for it to finish syncing, if that happens
automatically.
3. In iTunes, select your device from the list on the
left.
4. Select ‘Apps’.
5. Scroll down and you’ll find a section called
‘File Sharing’.
6. Select ‘FileMaker Go’.
7. In the ‘Documents’ section, click
‘Add...’. Pick the files you want to
upload, then press ‘Sync’.
8. iTunes will push the files onto your iPad.
Opening The Files
1. Run FileMaker Go. Note that if
FileMaker Go was active when you uploaded your files
you may have to switch to the home screen then
re-select FileMaker Go to see your files.
2. Open the ‘Files on Device’ list.
3. Open one or more of the files you’ve
uploaded. Once you have them open, you’ll find
a FocusTrack interface that is, hopefully, familiar!
You can switch between files by clicking on the icon
top-left then swiping left or right to the other
files.
Getting The Files Back
1. ‘Close All’ files on
the i-device.
2. Connect to your computer and run iTunes.
3. Select the device, select ‘Apps’,
scroll down to file sharing, pick ‘FileMaker
Go’, pick the files you want.
4. Click on ‘Save to...’ and pick where
you want to save the files.
You could save these files over the top of the
original files on your computer. Ideally, though KEEP
A COPY of your original files just in case. And make
sure FocusTrack is quit before moving new files into
the FocusTrack folder.
Very Important Note!
At the moment there is no syncing or
merging of data between your computer and your
i-device. You can manage this most simply by only
having the files open in one place (on your computer,
on your i-device) at once. Work on your computer.
Move to your iPad. Work there while on-stage,
updating information or taking notes. Move back onto
your computer, over-writing the original files there
(though you may want to make a backup copy of these,
just in case).
You can have the files open in both places at once,
but if you do this you need to decide which one
you’re making changes on. Make changes on both
at the same time and things could get messy. At
least, for now.
Feedback Wanted
This is a first pass at this. If you
use it, we’d love to hear what you think -
whether it’s useful, how we could make it more
useful.... Send us an email and let us know!