Ask for a take admin
Pick a take from today and ask. Nothing plays until you say yes, and requests wait while the camera is rolling.
Video assist for macOS
Every take, back on screen before they call reset.
the abby. records your cameras' SDI feeds, slates every take, and plays it back in seconds. Your clients watch on their own iPad with Abby Monitor, free. Built by a working VTR operator, for the cart.
Try it free for a day on your own Mac and hardware.
Illustration of the Shoot screen.
Abby Monitor · free for iPad and iPhone
Your clients get their own monitor.
No more crowding around video village. Directors, producers, agency and clients watch the shoot live on their own iPad or iPhone, from anywhere on set.
It's one free app. When you let someone in, you choose their level: a viewer just watches, and an admin gets the VIP tools.
ViewerWatches live, switches cameras, sends quick notes and reactions
Admin · VIPEverything a viewer gets, plus group chats, take requests and talk-back to video village
What clients can doApp Store link TBD
For your admins
Your VIPs, talking quietly.
Make the director, producer or agency lead an admin, and Abby Monitor opens up. They get private group chats like Clients, Camera or Producers, and can start their own. Feedback goes to the right people without anyone walking over to the monitors or shouting across set.
Admins can ask for a take and hold to talk to video village. Everyone, viewer or admin, can pin a note to the take that's rolling. Notes and requests show up with the take and go straight into your wrap report.
- You choose who's an admin, device by device
- Encrypted end to end on each device
- Video village can only read a group it's part of
- Messages are cleared when you end the session
Talk-back admin
Hold to talk to video village and hear it answer, over the set's Wi-Fi. A quick question never needs a walk across set.
Private by design
Only devices you approve can watch. Pictures and messages are encrypted end to end, and each viewer's name sits faintly on their picture.
On the big screen
AirPlay or cable to a TV in the client area for a clean, full-screen picture, steered from the phone.
Roll alerts
A soft buzz when cameras roll and two when they cut, so people away from the monitors know when to be quiet.
Easy for anyone
Switch cameras with a tap, or let it follow what you're showing. Hand an iPad to a client and lock it to watching only, with Face ID to unlock.
Clients can try Abby Monitor's demo mode before the shoot, with no Mac needed.
Try it as a client
Be the client for a minute.
This is a pretend iPad running Abby Monitor. Switch cameras, ask for a take, leave a note. Video village will answer.
● LIVE
Next: 42A / 3
You · Agency
As an admin you can ask for takes and chat with your group. Switch to Viewer to see what everyone else gets.
- You're connected and following video village.
Pretend operator, pretend pictures. In the real app, every request waits for a real person.
What it does
The whole video village, on one Mac.
From first rehearsal to wrap: live feeds, takes, playback, and the monitors around set.
SDI 1–49
Live multicam
Up to four cameras over SDI through AJA hardware, in A/B, single or four-up layouts. Press 9 from anywhere to go back to live.
RA
Takes that slate themselves
Scene, take and roll go on every recording. Roll with the camera's record flag or timecode, or press R. It can even read the clapper.
TSpaceK
Instant playback
Last take in one key. Step frames, loop, change speed, set in and out, and wipe against a reference frame.
CN
Circle takes and notes
Circle the keepers, rate and note takes, and export a camera report at wrap with every take listed.
iPadiPhone
Monitors for the whole crew
Crew watch on Abby Monitor, the free iPad and iPhone app, over the set network. You approve every device. They can ask for a take, and you decide.
SDI OUTROUTER
Outputs and routing
Send the picture to the director's monitor, and switch AJA KUMO or Blackmagic Videohub routers from the top bar.
- Runs on
- Mac, macOS 14 or later
- Capture hardware
- AJA Io X3 tested full list TBD
- On set
- Works offline. No internet needed.
- Crew app
- Abby Monitor for iPad and iPhone, always free
Who it's for
For the person behind the director's monitors.
Fast record and playback on single keys. The app won't quit in the middle of a take, so a stray click can't cost you a recording.
Clean SDI capture with the camera's timecode and clip name on every take, organised by scene and ready to hand off at wrap.
Give the director, script supervisor and clients their own approved monitors on set, with no extra hardware. License by the job.
Licenses
Pay for the days you shoot.
Rent the abby. by the day, the week or the month. Every license includes every feature and all four camera inputs.
temporary pricesThese prices may change before launch.
- Full app on one Mac
- Up to four cameras over SDI
- Abby Monitor for the crew included
- Seven days for the price of three
- Everything in Day
- Email support
- A month for the price of ten days
- Everything in Week
- Priority support
Abby Monitor is free
Directors, script supervisors and clients install Abby Monitor on an iPad or iPhone. Only the Mac running the abby. needs a license.
For operators
Make it pay for itself.
Many operators charge production for client monitors as part of their kit. Put in your numbers and see what's left after the license.
Production pays you$750
Best license for 5 days$1491 Week
You keep$601
Uses the temporary prices above. Your rate is up to you.
How licensing works
Four steps, and no internet on set.
- 1
Copy your Mac ID
In the abby., open Settings → License and press Copy.
- 2
Choose and pay
Pick Day, Week or Month and paste your Mac ID at checkout.
- 3
Paste in your key
Your key arrives by email. Paste it into Settings → License and press Use this key.
- 4
Shoot
The key works offline. When it ends, only recording stops. Every take stays on your drive.
FAQ
Before you take it to set.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. The first day is free on any Mac, with every feature switched on.
Does it need internet on set?
No. Your license is checked on the Mac itself, and crew monitors connect over the local set network.
What hardware do I need?
A Mac and an AJA capture interface for SDI. the abby. is developed and tested on the AJA Io X3. full list TBD
Can crew play back takes themselves?
No. Crew can ask for a take from their iPad, and the request waits for the operator to approve it. Requests hold while the camera is rolling.
Will it roll by itself when the camera rolls?
Yes, with most cameras. It reads ARRI and RED record flags over SDI, can learn other cameras' flags, and follows running timecode for cameras set to REC RUN.
Can I move my license to another Mac?
Each key is locked to one Mac. If your Mac fails on a job, contact us and we'll reissue it. confirm policy
Got a show coming up?
Tell us about the job and we'll get you set up.