PostMicroTools
Utility
Digital slate generator
Fill in your shot info and get a clean slate, a suggested file name, and a QR that opens this exact slate on any phone — handy for on-set logging and continuity.
What is a digital slate?
A digital slate (clapperboard) links picture and sound and carries the metadata each take needs: production, roll, scene, take, camera settings and whether it's SYNC or MOS. This tool builds a clean slate in the browser, suggests a matching file name and keeps everything in the page URL — so the QR code opens this exact slate on any phone, with no app and nothing uploaded.
Frequently asked questions
What is a digital slate?
A digital slate (clapperboard) is an on-set board that records each take's key metadata — production, roll, scene, take, camera settings and whether it's SYNC or MOS — so editorial can match picture to sound and keep continuity. This generator builds one in the browser and encodes it in a scannable QR code.
What does MOS mean on a slate?
"MOS" means the take has no usable sync sound (motor only / "mit out sound"). Mark it on the slate so editorial doesn't hunt for audio that was never recorded.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The slate lives entirely in the page URL and is rendered locally in your browser; the QR code just opens that same URL. Nothing is sent to any server.
Related tools: set your motion blur with the shutter angle calculator, name deliverables with the shot naming generator, then inspect the cut as an EDL or convert frame rates with the timecode converter.
A slate that survives into the metadata
A slate exists so that whoever touches the footage next — the DIT that evening, the assistant editor next week, the VFX vendor next month — knows what they're looking at without asking. This digital slate shows the standard fields (production, roll, scene, take, director, DP, date, fps) full-screen on any phone, tablet or laptop you already have at the shoot, with a big tap-to-flash frame for a visual sync mark.
The QR code is the part that pays off downstream: it encodes the slate's fields as JSON, so a photo of the slate carries machine-readable metadata into the media. A DIT or assistant can scan the frame during ingest and populate scene/take columns without retyping — and without the transcription errors that hand-written slates produce at hour eleven of a shoot day.
It works offline once loaded and nothing is sent anywhere, which makes it usable on location without coverage. It complements rather than replaces a timecode slate: for dual-system audio sync you still want a clap or jammed timecode.
Does this replace a clapperboard for audio sync?
For a visual reference yes; for precise dual-system sync you still need a sharp transient — the tap-to-flash plus a hand clap works, or use a timecode slate. The QR metadata is the part a physical board can't give you.
What exactly is inside the QR code?
A compact JSON object with the fields you filled in: production, roll, scene, take, date, fps and notes. Any phone camera or QR library can decode it, so ingest tools can parse slate data straight from a frame grab.
Can I use it without internet on location?
Yes. Once the page has loaded it runs entirely client-side; airplane mode doesn't stop it. Fields persist locally between takes so you only bump the take number.