Navigation & Sidebar

A structured overview of the Studio Color sidebar — how it's organized, what each section contains, and how to navigate between global and project-level features.

Used by:All users

Overview

The sidebar is the primary navigation surface in Studio Color. It is divided into sections that change depending on whether you are inside a project or on the global dashboard. The sidebar can be collapsed to an icon-only rail to maximise screen space, and all items retain tooltip labels in that state.

Tip:Click the panel arrow icon in the top-left of the sidebar to toggle between expanded and collapsed (icon-rail) modes. Your preference is saved automatically.

Navigation section

The top section is always visible regardless of whether you are in a project. It contains:

Home — the main dashboard listing your active projects.
My Schedule — every day you are called to, across every production you work on.
My Projects — quick link to your full project list.
Archived — past or closed projects you no longer actively work on.

Pinned items

Inside a project, any sidebar item you have pinned appears at the top of the project nav for one-click access. Pins are personal to your account and scoped to the current project.

Pinning and unpinning

Right-click any navigation item — a section tile (Production, Story, People, Admin), a department branch (Art, Camera, etc.), or an individual page (Scenes, Script Management, etc.) — to open a context menu. Choose Pin to sidebar to add it to your Pinned section. Right-click a pinned item and choose Unpin from sidebar to remove it.

Pinned branches

Pinning a parent branch (e.g. Art or Camera) adds a collapsible group to your Pinned section that contains all of that branch's child pages. This lets you keep a whole department or section one click away without expanding the full Departments tree each time. Children you do not have access to are automatically hidden.

Tip:You can pin individual pages and whole branches at the same time. For example, pin the Camera department for quick access to its full menu, and also pin Shot List as a standalone shortcut.

Production section (project)

The Production section surfaces live operational status for the shoot:

Schedule — the stripboard and every view built from it. Readable by everyone on the show; editable by producers.
Current Scene — live view of the scene currently being filmed, with a pulsing accent dot indicating active production.
Production Pulse — high-level progress charts and stats for the project.

Story section (project)

The Story section groups all creative and narrative assets for the production:

Script Management — upload and manage script drafts and revisions. Accessible to all project members.
Scenes — the full scene library with location photos, department notes, palettes, props, and script text per scene. Visible to camera, art, directorial, and admin roles.
Locations — scout photos, overhead maps, and location details. Visible to camera, art, directorial, and admin roles.

People section (project)

The People section covers the human layer of the production — who is on the project, how the team is structured, and how leadership communicates with everyone:

My Page — your personal profile within the project, showing your role, assignments, and availability.
Org Chart — interactive crew structure for the whole production.
Announcements — project-wide messages and polls from production leadership.

Admin section (project)

The Admin section is visible only to admins and super admins, and contains cross-project operational tools:

Budget Overview — top-level budget summary across all departments.
Production Files — central file storage for the whole production.

Departments section (project)

All department-level tools are grouped under a single Departments collapsible that is closed by default. Expanding it reveals only the departments you have access to. Each department can be further expanded to show its sub-pages.

Available departments

Production
Directorial
Cast
Art
Camera
Grip
Electric
Sound
Wardrobe
Hair & Makeup
Locations
Transportation
Post Production
Accounting

Per-department sub-pages

Every department provides at minimum: Crew (roster), Budget (department spend), and Files (department-specific documents). Some departments include additional pages — for example Camera has Shot List and Equipment, Production has Timeline, Equipment, and Paperwork, Art has Prop Management, and Locations has Scout Photos. The schedule lives in the Production section above rather than inside the Production department, since everyone on the show needs it.

Note:The Departments parent auto-expands when you navigate directly to a department page (e.g. via a link or notification), so you never have to manually open it after a deep-link.

Footer

The bottom of the sidebar contains account-level utilities:

Notifications — inbox bell showing unread count with a popover for recent notifications.
My Profile — your Studio Color account settings.
Help & Docs — opens contextual documentation in a new tab based on the page you are currently viewing.
Light / Dark mode — toggles the app theme.
Sign Out — signs you out and returns to the login screen.

iOS App

A compact tile near the top of the sidebar promotes the Studio Color iOS app. Tap App Store → to download, or Share to send a link to a crew member who needs it on set.