PropsHub — Project Overview

Market Gap & Vision

Why PropsHub Exists

Props teams today stitch together planning tools, spreadsheets, photo apps, messaging, rental systems, and PDF binders. The market is split into two worlds with no bridge — and nothing is encrypted for high-security productions.

⚠ How Props Teams Work Today

Multiple disconnected tools (breakdown + inventory + continuity + budget)
Duplicate data entry across systems
Broken handoffs between prep and shoot
No single source of truth for asset location
Continuity captured on paper or personal phones
No approval trail or chain of custody
No revision-aware script diff for props impact
Zero encryption — studios cannot approve for classified productions

⚠ What the Market Offers

Film-native tools (SyncOnSet, StudioBinder, Celtx): strong on breakdown & continuity, weak on physical asset lifecycle
Warehouse tools (Flex, Current RMS): strong on scan/track/return, not film-scene-native
No tool bridges both worlds
No tool offers zero-knowledge encryption
No tool covers the full prep-to-wrap lifecycle in one place

Film-Native Tools Know

Script breakdown by scene
Episode/character/location logic
Continuity photos & notes
Revision & change tracking
Call sheet integration
Budget per scene/prop

⊕

Warehouse Tools Know

Serialized asset tracking
Barcode / QR / RFID scanning
Check-in / check-out / returns
Pick lists & pull sheets
Shortage & substitution handling
Transport & chain of custody

PropsHub combines both worlds, adds zero-knowledge encryption, and covers the full lifecycle from script to wrap.

Non-Negotiable Differentiators

Five Core Pillars

If any single pillar is weak, the product falls back into an existing category and loses differentiation.

01

Script & Revision Intelligence

Import scripts in any format. Parse scenes. Track revision diffs. Show exactly what changed for props with every new draft.

02

Scene-Native Prop Planning

Every prop requirement linked to scene, shoot day, episode, character, and location. DOOD views, readiness scoring, daily pack lists.

03

Physical Asset Accountability

Serialized inventory, QR/barcode scanning, check-out/check-in, condition tracking, chain of custody, transport manifests, shortage flags.

04

Continuity & On-Set Capture

Mobile-first scene cards, continuity photos, placement notes, reset instructions, actor interaction notes. Offline-capable on-set capture.

05

Role-Based Information Distribution

Right data to the right person at the right time. Department-scoped views, change alerts, daily briefings, confirmation tracking.

Product Architecture

Seven Product Modules

MODULE A

Script Breakdown & Revision Engine

Create and maintain prop requirements directly from the script. Track every revision and its impact on the props list.

Script importScene parsing Revision diffProp tagging AI extractionCharacter links

MODULE B

Prop Catalog & Asset Master Data

The canonical record for every prop and its variants. Hero/backup/stunt classifications, images, references, and rich metadata.

Central catalogProp profiles Media galleryHero/stunt links QR/barcode IDsCustom fields

MODULE C

Procurement / Sourcing / Fabrication

Source and fund required items across purchase, rental, borrow, and fabrication. Track vendors, ETAs, approvals, and costs.

Buy / rent / borrowFabrication orders Vendor DBLead times Approval flowReceipts

MODULE D

Inventory / Warehouse / Transport

Move and control physical objects. Serialized tracking, scanning, containers, kits, pick lists, transport manifests, returns.

Serialized assetsBarcode scan Pick listsCheck-out/in Transport chainsCondition log

MODULE E

Continuity & On-Set Operations

Preserve scene truth under real shooting conditions. Mobile capture, placement notes, reset instructions, usage logs.

Continuity photosScene notes Reset instructionsDamage log Mobile captureTake annotations

MODULE F

Reports / Distribution / Communication

Push the right information to the right people at the right time. Daily reports, role-specific briefings, PDF export, email delivery.

Daily reportsRole briefings PDF exportEmail push Confirmation trackingWrap reports

MODULE G

Budget / Governance / Audit

Management-grade controls. Budget estimates vs actuals, safety classifications, chain of custody, approval workflows, full audit trail.

Budget per prop/sceneSafety class Chain of custodyApprovals Audit logRBAC

PLATFORM

Zero-Knowledge Foundation

All production data encrypted client-side. Server stores opaque blobs. Studios can approve for Marvel, Bond, and classified productions.

XChaCha20-Poly1305Argon2id Blind indexesZK auth Per-item keysHKDF subkeys

Feature Coverage

165 Features by Priority

■ P0 MVP — required for market-fit ■ P1 Roadmap — highly competitive ■ P2 Differentiators — strategic advantage

Script & Breakdown

Script import (PDF, FDX, Fountain)

Scene parsing

Revision import and diff

Tag prop elements in script

Custom categories

Character / actor linkage

Location / set linkage

Scene notes

Prop Catalog

Central prop catalog

Prop profile page

Images / reference boards

Documents / manuals / graphics files

Linked variants / family grouping (Hero/Stunt/Breakaway)

Status field

Ownership/source model (buy/rent/borrow/fabricate)

QR / barcode-ready asset IDs

Procurement & Planning

Purchase / rental / borrow / fabrication tracking

Vendor database

Lead times / ETA

Cost estimate vs actual

Approval workflow

Scene-to-prop association

Shoot day to prop readiness view

Scene grouping by set / location

Inventory & Warehouse

Serialized asset instances

Bulk / non-serialized items

Barcode / QR scan

Storage locations

Containers / flight cases / boxes

Pick lists / pull sheets

Check-out / check-in

Shortage flags

Continuity & On-Set

Continuity photos

Scene-linked notes

Placement notes

Reset instructions

Usage / damage log

Mobile capture

Character-linked continuity notes

Governance & Reports

Daily prop reports

Missing / risk alerts

Wrap reconciliation

Role-based access control (RBAC)

Audit trail basics

Safety classification on prop

Budget per prop

Estimate vs committed vs actual

AI & Automation

AI-assisted breakdown suggestions

Duplicate merge

Breakdown confidence / review queue

Multi-episode / cross-board support

Omitted / duplicated scenes handling

Procurement Advanced

Receipt / invoice attachment

Alternative supplier options

MOQ / quantity / expendable tracking

Rental period management

Fabrication milestone tracking

Inventory Advanced

Batch scanning

Validate against pick list

Substitution handling

Maintenance / repair lifecycle

Truck / transport manifests

Offline scanning mode

Continuity Advanced

Take / setup annotations

"As seen in scene/take" timeline

Before / after states for damage props

Gallery by scene / character / day

Actor personal props tracking

Distribution

Individualized role-based briefings

Push notifications / alerts

Confirmation tracking

Call sheet sync / export

Print packs / labels

Wrap box labels

Budget & Collaboration

Budget per scene / day

Multi-currency

Spend approval thresholds

Activity feed

Comment threads

API / webhooks

Intelligence

Predictive shortage / risk scoring

Generative revision impact summaries

Automated scene / day readiness score

Recommendation engine for substitutes

Supplier performance analytics

Visual Continuity

Visual continuity compare view

Prop family hero/backup visual compare

Multi-language script support

Scene estimated prep complexity / time

Enterprise & Hardware

RFID asset tracking

Label printer integrations

Scanner hardware support

SSO / enterprise auth

Studio archive / reusable stock intelligence

Legal / compliance evidence pack

Technical Foundation

Architecture & Tech Stack

⚛ Frontend Stack

FrameworkReact 19 + Vite 6

StateZustand 5 (memory-only for keys)

API CacheTanStack Query v5

RouterReact Router 7 (data mode)

CSSTailwind CSS 4 (CSS-first)

FormsReact Hook Form + Zod

TablesTanStack Table v8

PDF@react-pdf/renderer (client-side)

ExcelSheetJS (client-side)

i18nreact-i18next 15 (DE + EN)

Camera / QRgetUserMedia + ZXing-js

⚙ Backend Stack

ServerFastify 5 + TypeScript (ESM)

DatabasePostgreSQL + Prisma

AuthZero-knowledge (Argon2id → ZK)

ValidationZod via fastify-type-provider-zod

EmailM365 Graph API + SMTP fallback

AI (on-device)Transformers.js + WebGPU

AI (cloud)OpenAI / Anthropic (opt-in)

TestingPlaywright E2E

Crypto (client)@noble/ciphers + @noble/hashes

KDF WorkerComlink 4 + Argon2id WASM

Server hostmacxpress.net (Hetzner)

🔐 Zero-Knowledge Encryption

The server is a thin encrypted blob store. All domain logic lives in the React client. Server cannot read production data.

Password + Salt
↓ Argon2id (Web Worker)
↓ Master Key (256-bit)
├→ HKDF("auth-v1") → auth_hash → server only
├→ HKDF("enc-v1") → wraps per-item keys
├→ HKDF("meta-v1") → encrypts list metadata
├→ HKDF("search-v1")→ HMAC blind indexes
└→ HKDF("share-v1") → X25519 project sharing

Cipher: XChaCha20-Poly1305

🗄 Data Architecture

Hybrid model: plaintext tables for auth/config, encrypted VaultItems for all production data.

Plaintext tables28 Prisma models

VaultItem types30 encrypted types

API endpoints~100 routes

Permission codes~50 atomic permissions

Predefined roles14 roles

Blind index fields7 (name/category/scene/status…)

Export formatsPDF, Excel, CSV, Print

AI features8 (transcribe/vision/parse/NER…)

Users & Personas

Who Uses PropsHub

🎭

Prop Master

Full control: breakdown, approval, budget, risk, wrap

📋

Asst. Prop Master

Inventory, procurement, pack lists, daily readiness

🎬

On-Set Props

Scene cards, continuity, reset notes, mobile capture

🛒

Prop Buyer

Purchase lists, vendor contacts, ETAs, receipts

📅

1st AD / 2nd AD

Read-only prop readiness, missing item alerts

💰

UPM / Line Producer

Budget view, risk flags, cost vs estimate

🏛

Dept Head / HOD

Department overview, approvals, collaboration

📦

Warehouse Staff

Scan-based check-in/out, storage, transport

🔫

Armorer / Special

Safety class, chain of custody, restricted access

🏭

Workshop / Graphics

Build orders, fabrication milestones, approval chains

Development Roadmap

From MVP to Differentiator

P0 — MVP

Beat the Spreadsheet

Minimum viable combination of film context, object accountability, and daily operational usefulness.

Script import + scene parsing
Revision compare & prop impact
Prop catalog with images & docs
Buy / rent / borrow / fabricate workflows
Budget estimate vs actual
Serialized + bulk inventory
QR / barcode asset IDs
Storage locations + containers + kits
Pick lists + check-out / check-in
Continuity photos & notes
Mobile capture on set
Daily prop reports + missing alerts
Wrap reconciliation
RBAC + audit trail

P1 — Roadmap

Highly Competitive

Strong features that push the product into market leadership against direct competitors.

AI-assisted breakdown suggestions
Individualized role-based briefings
Call sheet sync / export
Confirmation tracking
Batch scan workflows
Substitution handling
Repair lifecycle
Cross-boarding / episodic carry-over
External vendor portals
Multi-currency and tax detail
Approval thresholds
Prop family visual compare
API + webhooks
Comment threads + activity feed

P2 — Differentiators

Strategic Advantage

Features that no competitor offers — creates a moat and unlocks enterprise / high-security market segments.

RFID asset tracking
Predictive shortage / risk scoring
Generative revision impact summaries
Automated readiness scoring
Visual continuity compare
Supplier performance analytics
Legal / compliance evidence pack
Label printer integrations
Studio archive intelligence
Recommendation engine (substitutes + reuse)
SSO / enterprise auth
Multi-language script support

Encrypted Data Architecture

Data Model Overview

All production data lives in encrypted VaultItems. The server stores opaque blobs — domain relationships are resolved client-side after decryption.

Script & Scheduling

SEASON

EPISODE

SCENE

BREAKDOWN_TAG

SCRIPT_REVISION

SHOOTING_DAY

DAY_PLAN

CHARACTER

ACTOR

SET

LOCATION

Props & Assets

ASSET

ASSET_VARIANT

ASSET_BUNDLE

PROP_SCENE

CHARACTER_PROP

REFERENCE_IMAGE

STORAGE_LOCATION

TRANSFER

Procurement & Finance

PROCUREMENT_RECORD

BUILD_ORDER

SUPPLIER

BUDGET_POOL

APPROVAL

WRAP_BOX

Operations & Governance

CONTINUITY_RECORD

SAFETY_RECORD

INCIDENT

TASK

COMMENT

CONFIG

Plaintext tables 28

VaultItem types 30

API endpoints ~100

Permission codes ~50

Blind index fields 7

Competitive Positioning

Competitor Analysis

8 competitors analyzed across film-native planning tools and warehouse/asset systems. PropsHub targets the uncovered combination.

Product	Props Workflow	Script Breakdown	Continuity	Inventory / Scan	Transport / Custody	ZK Encryption	Type
🏆 PropsHub	✦ Purpose-built	✦ Full	✦ Full	✦ Full	✦ Full	✦ Yes	Both
SyncOnSet	●● Strong	●● Strong	●● Strong	● Medium	○ Low	○ No	Film-native
StudioBinder	● Medium	●● Strong	○ Low	○ Low	○ Low	○ No	Film-native
Celtx	● Medium	●● Strong	○ Low	○ Low	○ Low	○ No	Film-native
Yamdu	● Medium	●● Strong	○ Low	○ Low	○ Low	○ No	Film-native
Studiovity	● Medium	●● Strong	○ Low	○ Low	○ Low	○ No	Film-native
SetHero	○ Low	○ Low	○ Low	○ Low	○ Low	○ No	Call sheets
Flex Rental	○ Low	○ Low	○ Low	●● Strong	●● Strong	○ No	Warehouse
Current RMS	○ Low	○ Low	○ Low	●● Strong	● Medium	○ No	Warehouse

Strategic positioning: Film-native tools (SyncOnSet, StudioBinder, Celtx, Yamdu, Studiovity) excel at script & planning but lack physical asset depth. Warehouse tools (Flex, Current RMS) excel at scan/track/return but are not film-scene-native. No competitor bridges both worlds. No competitor offers zero-knowledge encryption. PropsHub targets this exact intersection.

The Operating System for Props Departments