Renumbering Breakdown Scene Numbers

Scene numbers keep everyone on your production talking about the same scene. Think Crew can renumber scenes for you in two places: in a script on the Script page, and on a board on the Schedule page. This article explains both, and when to use each one.

Script or Schedule: Which Should I Renumber?

Scripts and schedules keep their own scene numbers:

• Script page: Renumbers the scenes in a script, in script order. Use this when you’ve imported a script without scene numbers, or before you lock the script and start scheduling.
• Schedule page: Renumbers the strips on a board, in the order they appear on the board. Use this when you want scene numbers to follow your shooting order, or to tidy up numbers on a schedule that wasn’t created from a script.

Renumbering a script doesn’t change any schedules you’ve already created from it, and renumbering a schedule doesn’t change the script. To bring script changes into an existing schedule, see Revising Scripts.

Note: Renumbering replaces each scene number completely. Letters and parts, such as 12A or 12pt1, are replaced with plain numbers.

Renumbering Scenes in a Script

To renumber every scene in a script:

1. Open the script from the Scripts page
2. Switch to the Script view using the view toggles at the top right of the menu bar. The Renumber button is only shown in this view. See Script Views (Scene, Breakdown, Script).
3. Click the “Renumber” button at the top left of the menu bar
4. In “Start from”, enter the first scene number. This is usually 1, but you can start from any whole number.
5. Click “Renumber”

Every scene in the script is numbered in order, starting from your number. If the script didn’t have scene numbers, they’re added.

Renumbering Scenes on a Board

To renumber the strips on a board:

1. Open your schedule
2. Click the “Breakdowns” menu in the schedule menu bar and select “Renumber Breakdowns…”
3. In “Select Board”, choose the board you want to renumber. The list shows the boards in your current scenario.
4. In “Starting number”, enter the first scene number
5. Click “Renumber”

The strips on the board are numbered from top to bottom in their current order. Banners and day breaks are skipped, so they don’t use up a number.

Because the strips are numbered in board order, you can sort your board first to choose the order. For example, sort by script page to number the scenes in script order, or leave the board in shooting order so scene numbers follow the shoot. See Sort & Add Days.

Renumbering Part of a Board

To renumber only from a certain point onward, for example to add numbers for new scenes at the end of your board:

1. On the board, select the first strip you want to renumber
2. Open “Renumber Breakdowns…” from the Breakdowns menu
3. Check “Number from selected breakdown”
4. Enter the starting number and click “Renumber”

The selected strip and every strip after it are renumbered. Strips above it keep their numbers. Make sure the strip you select is on the board you choose to renumber.

Things to Know Before Renumbering a Board

• Scene numbers are shared between scenarios. Strips are shared by all of the scenarios in a schedule, so renumbering a board changes those scene numbers in every scenario. See Managing Schedule Scenarios.
• Only the chosen board is renumbered. Strips on other boards and in the recycle bin keep their numbers, so you might end up with two strips that have the same number. Move strips onto one board first if you want them numbered together.
• You can undo it. If the result isn’t what you expected, press Ctrl/Cmd + Z to undo.

You can also change a single strip’s scene number at any time by selecting it and editing the Scene field in the breakdown pane. See Adding Data to a Breakdown.

Think Crew’s renumbering tools make sure that, however many changes your script and schedule go through, everyone on your production is always working with the right scene numbers.

Here’s a tutorial video about working with scripts: