System Setup and Overview

The FVTMS is designed as a computer application and your cell phone can't serve as a substitute because it can't provide access to the full system on a tiny screen format. Therefore, you will need a computer system.

Note!!! This system uses your web browser to store your information on one computer. You should plan to use the same browser each time to access your data. Although it can be used in a second browser, the user will need to BACKUP his/her data and RESTORE that data in the second browser. Moving to a second computer requires that the user RESTORE the same data on the new system followed by BACKUP/RESTORE when returning to the original system. Be careful not to delete this stored data when using the "CLEAR BROWSING DATA" menu option. If you must clear your browsing data, simply BACKUP your FVTMS data (System menu → Backup / Export, or your Name menu → Backup Data) and restore it after using the CLEAR BROWSING DATA command. Setting up Cloud Sync below gives you a second layer of protection, since your data also lives in your own Firebase project and isn't only sitting in one browser.

System Access & Login

Register during 1st time use:

1. 🔵 Google Sign-In (Recommended): Click "Sign in with Google" on the login screen. Use your existing Google/Gmail account — no new account needed. Your session is remembered so you won't need to sign in every time.
2. ✉️ Email / Password: Click the "Register" tab, then enter your name, email, and a password (minimum 6 characters), and click "Create Account."

Every FVTMS installation is licensed to a single permanent Owner (SRM Programming Dynamics). When you register a new account, you become an Administrator on a 30-day free trial — full access to every menu, project, and AI tool for 30 days from your first login. When the trial ends, a "✦ Subscribe / Enter License Key" screen lets you continue with a paid license:

Plan	Price	Details
Annual	$50 / year	Renews automatically each year
Lifetime	$120 one-time	Pay once, own forever — never expires

Either plan includes unlimited collaborators — Directors, Producers, Department Heads, and Viewers you invite join under your license at no extra cost, and are never themselves subject to the trial/license gate. After purchase, Stripe emails your license key automatically; return to the Subscribe screen and click "Enter License Key" to activate.

To change your password, click your User Name (top right) → 🔑 Change Password.

For AI-powered features (Script Analyst, Scene Synopsis Generator, Dialogue Coach, Character Developer, Costume Concept Generator, Shot List Generator, Location Scout Assistant, Scheduling Assistant, Risk Assessor, Call Sheet Writer, Production Report Writer, Budget Estimator, Stage Adaptation Advisor, and Photo/Location Analyzer — 14 tools in all), you will need a free Groq API key from console.groq.com. Enter it under SYSTEM → ☁️ Cloud Sync & AI Settings → AI (Groq) tab. The optional Photo/Location Analyzer additionally supports a free Gemini API key from aistudio.google.com for image analysis, entered on that same tab.

Finding Your Way Around

Once you're logged in, the menu bar across the top is your home base: FILE (new project, script viewer/import, backup), BREAKDOWN (scene list, shot lists, strip board, element report), PEOPLE (registry, crew roles guide, cast & crew assignment), LOCATIONS (location list, permits tracker, scout reports), PRODUCTION (schedule, call sheets, day-out-of-days, daily reports), ASSETS / BUDGET (props, costumes, equipment, vehicles, SFX/VFX, budget, expenses, vendors), ✦ AI TOOLS (all 14 AI assistants in one panel), REPORTS (proposals, pitch deck, and printable reports), and SYSTEM (Cloud Sync, Collaborators, Activity Log, Backup/Restore, Help). Every menu except FILE and the PEOPLE Registry requires an open project first.

A few extras worth knowing about from day one:

• ☀ Light Mode / 🌙 Dark Mode — the toggle button next to your name (top right) switches themes instantly; your preference is remembered.
• 🎤 Let's Talk (SYSTEM menu) — a floating assistant window where you can ask a question by typing or by speaking into your microphone and get a written answer, without leaving the screen you're on. It uses your connected Groq AI key.
• 📋 Activity Log (SYSTEM menu) — a running history of recent actions taken in the system, handy for tracking what changed and when.
• ❓ Help (SYSTEM menu) — opens the full in-app guide, including a step-by-step "Guided Path" for each project type (Film, Stage, Commercial, Music Video), a Highlights tab, and a complete feature index. This quick-start guide gets you going; the in-app Help is the place to go deeper.

Starting Your First Project

FVTMS is organized around Projects — there is no separate company-wide setup step to complete first. Go to FILE → ➕ New Project, choose the project type (Film, Stage, Film + Stage, Commercial, or Music Video), and enter a title, genre, format, estimated runtime, total budget, and the Studio / Production Company name. Save it, and it becomes your current open project — every other menu (Breakdown, People, Locations, Production, Assets/Budget, Reports) works against whichever project is currently open. You can create as many projects as you need and switch between them anytime from FILE → 📁 All Projects.

Have a script ready? FILE → 📥 Import Script accepts Final Draft (.fdx), Word (.docx), or plain text/Fountain files and automatically extracts your scene breakdown — a fast way to populate a new project instead of entering scenes by hand.

☁️ Cloud Sync Setup

Note: this is completely separate from signing in — logging in and registering always work the same way on every device, whether or not you've connected Cloud Sync yet. Cloud Sync only governs where your project data (scenes, budgets, cast, schedules, etc.) lives.

Cloud Sync Setup — Step by Step

Step 1 — Create a Firebase Project

1. Go to console.firebase.google.com
2. Sign in with your Google account (this can be the same one you use for FVTMS login, or a different one)
3. Click "Add project" or "Create a project"
4. Enter a project name (e.g., "YourStudioName-FVTMS")
5. You can disable Google Analytics — FVTMS does not use it
6. Click "Create project" and wait for it to finish (about 30 seconds)

Step 2 — Create a Firestore Database

1. In the left sidebar, click Build → Firestore Database
2. Click "Create database"
3. Leave the database name as (default) — no name needed
4. Choose a database location nearest to you (e.g., us-east1 for US-based productions)
5. Click "Enable"
6. Once created, click the Rules tab and replace all existing text with the rules shown in Step 4 below, then click Publish
7. Important: Firebase will show a warning saying your rules are "public" — this is expected. Simply click "Publish anyway" to confirm. Your data is protected by the fact that your Firebase credentials (API Key, Project ID, App ID) are kept private.

Step 3 — Register FVTMS as a Web App

1. In Firebase Console, click the ⚙️ gear icon (Project Settings) in the left sidebar
2. Scroll down to "Your apps"
3. Click the </> Web icon to add a web app
4. Enter an app nickname (e.g., "FVTMS")
5. Do NOT check "Also set up Firebase Hosting" — this is not needed
6. Click "Register app"
7. You will see a configuration block like this:

const firebaseConfig = {
  apiKey: "AIzaSyXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
  authDomain: "your-project.firebaseapp.com",
  projectId: "your-project-id",
  storageBucket: "your-project.appspot.com",
  messagingSenderId: "123456789012",
  appId: "1:123456789012:web:abcdef1234567890"
};

You will need these values from this block:

• apiKey — the long string starting with "AIzaSy..."
• projectId — your project name (e.g., "yourstudio-fvtms")
• storageBucket — optional, only needed for photo sync (Step 3c below). Newer Firebase projects may show a bucket ending in .firebasestorage.app instead of .appspot.com — either format works fine, just copy whatever your project shows.
• appId — the string starting with "1:..."

Step 3b — Firestore Security Rules

In the Firestore Rules tab, paste the following rules exactly and click Publish:

rules_version = '2';
service cloud.firestore {
  match /databases/{database}/documents {
    match /{document=**} {
      allow read, write: if true;
    }
  }
}

Step 3c — Photo Sync Rules (Optional)

If you want to sync location and production photos across devices, also set up Firebase Storage:

1. In the left sidebar, click Build → Storage, then "Get started"
2. Click the Rules tab and publish:

rules_version = '2';
service firebase.storage {
  match /b/{bucket}/o {
    match /{allPaths=**} { allow read, write: if true; }
  }
}

Step 4 — Enter Credentials in FVTMS

1. Open FVTMS and log in
2. Go to SYSTEM → ☁️ Cloud Sync & AI Settings
3. On the Firebase tab, enter your Firebase API Key, Project ID, App ID, and (if you set up photo sync) Storage Bucket
4. On the AI (Groq) tab, enter your Groq API key (and optionally a Gemini key for the Photo/Location Analyzer)
5. Click "💾 Save & Connect"
6. Switch to the Status & Sync tab and click "🔌 Test Firebase" and "🤖 Test Groq AI" to confirm everything is working

Step 5 — Initial Data Sync

1. After connecting, on the Status & Sync tab click "⬆ Push All to Cloud" to upload all existing local data
2. From this point on, every new save and delete syncs up to the cloud automatically in the background

Firebase Free Plan Limits

Resource	Free Limit	Typical Production Usage
Storage	1 GB	Well under 1 GB for most productions' text data
Reads/day	50,000	Varies with project size and collaborator count
Writes/day	20,000	Varies with how actively the project is being updated
Auth sign-ins/month	10,000	A few per day per user
Cost	$0.00 — Permanently Free

Getting More Help

This guide covers setup and first steps. For day-to-day use, open SYSTEM → ❓ Help inside FVTMS itself — it includes a step-by-step Guided Path for your specific project type (Film, Stage, Commercial, or Music Video), a Highlights tab covering deeper features like the On-Location Map Generator and Song Structure & Markers waveform tool, and a full feature index. SYSTEM → ℹ️ About FVTMS shows your current version.

Let's Begin

To begin using this Software System: 1) Create your first project (FILE → ➕ New Project), 2) Import or view your script (FILE → 📥 Import Script or 📄 Script Viewer) to build your scene breakdown, 3) Build out your Scene List, Shot Lists, and Strip Board (BREAKDOWN menu), 4) Add your cast and crew to the Registry and assign them to the project (PEOPLE menu), 5) Add filming locations and track permits (LOCATIONS menu), 6) Build your production Schedule and generate Call Sheets (PRODUCTION menu), 7) Track props, costumes, equipment, vehicles, SFX/VFX, and your Budget (ASSETS / BUDGET menu), 8) Explore the 14 built-in AI production tools (✦ AI TOOLS button) once your Groq key is set, and 9) Generate reports and AI-drafted proposals — the Production/Commercial/Music Video Proposal, the Pitch Deck (exports as a real PowerPoint file), One-Liner Schedules, Budget Reports, Cast Lists, Location Reports, and the final Wrap Report — from the REPORTS menu.

Best and Warmest Regards...
SRM