Film Lighting Australia has released a set of free browser-based planning tools for directors of photography and gaffers. The suite runs on phones, tablets and laptops and is intended for use during recces and shoot preparation.
The sun-path tool maps sunrise, sunset, blue hour, golden hour, direction and solar elevation. A shoot-day weather view provides hourly wind and gust information with frame-specific warnings, plus rain, cloud, temperature and UV forecasts up to 14 days ahead.
A photometrics calculator estimates lux, foot-candles and T-stop for lights in the company's inventory at different distances and through diffusion. The lighting-plot tool adds a top-down plan with beams, camera view, talent marks and the sun, with link sharing and PDF export.
The tools are supplied by a rental company and their photometric data is tied to its inventory. Forecast accuracy, fixture calibration and real-world loss still need verification on location, so the outputs should guide planning rather than replace a meter, weather authority or safety assessment.
