A schedule gets its strips from the scripts linked to it. You can link scripts when you first create a schedule, add more scripts later, for example when new episodes arrive, or remove a script you no longer need. This article explains how.
Linking a script brings all of its scenes into a schedule as new strips. If you want to update a schedule with a revised version of a script it already uses, use the Revise Script tool instead. It updates your existing strips without losing your scheduling work. See Revising Scripts.
Linking Scripts When You Create a Schedule
The easiest way to link scripts is when you create a schedule:
- Go to the Schedules page and click “New”
- In the “Ingest scripts” list, click each script you want to include. Click a script again to remove it from your selection, or click “Clear” to start over.
- Fill in the rest of the schedule details and click “Create”
Think Crew creates a strip for every scene in the selected scripts and places them on the schedule’s first board in script order, ready for you to start scheduling. The scripts’ categories and elements are combined into the schedule. If you’ve chosen a template, it’s applied too. See Create a Schedule and Templates.
Scripts need to be imported into your project before you can link them. See Importing Scripts.
Adding a Script to an Existing Schedule
To add another script to a schedule you’ve already started:
- Open the schedule’s manager. Inside the schedule, click the “Manage” menu and select “Schedule…”. Or, on the Schedules page, right-click the schedule’s card and choose “Manage schedule”.
- In the Scripts section, click “Add another script”
- Choose the script from the list. Only scripts that aren’t already linked to the schedule are shown.
If the script hasn’t been imported yet, choose “Go to script upload” at the bottom of the list to go to the Scripts page and import it.
Where the New Strips Go
So that your existing schedule isn’t disturbed, the new strips are placed in the Recycle Bin of every scenario, and a message lets you know. Open the recycle bin and drag the strips onto your boards where you want them. See Recycle Bin and Drag and Drop Scheduling.
Tip: To quickly put the new strips in order, drag them onto an empty board and use Sort & Add Days. See Sort & Add Days.
How Categories and Elements Are Combined
When you add a script, its categories and elements are combined with the ones already in your schedule:
- Categories with the same name as an existing category are combined. Categories that are new to the schedule are added.
- Elements with exactly the same name as an existing element are treated as the same element. For example, if both scripts have a character called “JOHN”, the new strips use your existing JOHN, with the same ID number and settings. Elements that are new to the schedule are added.
Element names must match exactly, including upper and lower case, to be combined. If a character is spelled differently in the new script, for example “Dr. Smith” and “DR. SMITH”, you’ll get two separate elements. You can combine them afterwards with “Merge Elements” in the Element Manager. See Managing Elements.
Removing a Script From a Schedule
To remove a script from a schedule:
- Open the schedule’s manager
- In the Scripts section, click the remove button next to the script
- Confirm that you want to remove it
Removing a script permanently deletes its strips from the schedule. Every strip linked to a scene in that script is removed from every board and scenario, along with any elements that were only used by those strips. Elements that are still used by other strips are kept. This can’t be undone.
The script itself isn’t deleted. It stays on your Scripts page, and you can link it again later. Any scheduling work you did on its strips will be lost, though.
Tip: Before removing a script, consider duplicating the schedule so you have a copy to go back to. See Duplicating Schedules.
Who Can Link Scripts
You need permission to edit the project to add or remove scripts. If you don’t have it, the Scripts section in the schedule manager is grayed out. See Managing User Permissions.
Linking scripts to your schedule keeps your strips connected to the script they came from, so you can grow your schedule as new scripts and episodes arrive.
